The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1908-01-05
The Man at the Next Table

Thinking of all these things 1 sat
slipping my Rhine wine in the shadow
OF the yellow awnings. A large white
cat came sauntering by and stopped
in front of me to perform her toilet
until wished she would so away. At
ter a while she sat up, licked her whis-
kers. yaWned once or twice, and was
about to stroll on, when, catching
sight of me. she stopped short and
looked me sNuarely in the face. ! re-
turned the aAention with scowl be-
cause / wished to discourage any ad-
vances towards social intercourse
which she might contemplate; but after
a while her steady gaze disconnected
me. and turned to my Rhine wine. A
few minutes later l looked up again.
The cat was still cycling me.
Now what the devil is the matter
with the animal" I muttered, docs
she recognize in me a relative?"
Perhaps" observed a man at the
next table.
what do you mean by that?" 1 de-
manded.
What I say" replied the man at the
next table.
1 looked him full in the face. He was
old and bald and appeared weak-mind-
ed. His age protected his impudence.
turned my back on him. Then my
eyes fell on the cat again. She was
still gazing earnestly at me.
Disguised that she should take such
pointed public notice Of me, 1 wonder
ed whether other people saw 1t; Won
dersd whether there vas anything pc
culiar in my own personal appearance.
How hard the creature stared. 1t was
most embarrassing.
What has got into that
cat?" thought. Its sheer
impudence. It's an intrusion. and |
won't stand for it,'' The cat did not
move. | tried to stare her out of coun-
tenance. 1t was useless. There was
aggressive inquiry in her yellow eyes.
A sensation of uneasiness began TO
steal over me-a sensation of embar-
rassment not unmixed with awe. All
cats looked alike to me. and yet there
was something about this one that
bothered me-something that l could
not explain to myself, but which be-
gan to occupy me.
She looked familiar-this Antwerp eat.
| An odd sense of having seen her be-
| fore-of having been well acquainted
with her in former years slowly settled
| in my mind, and. although | could
never remember the time when l had
/ not detested cats, I was almost con-
WINGED that my relations with this Ant
werp tabby had once been intimate if
not cordial. I looked more closely al
the animal. Then an idea struck me
an idea which persisted and took def
/ mite shape in spite of me. 1 strove to
| escape from il, to evade il, to stifle and
smother it; an inward struggle ensueG
which brought the perspiration in beads
| upon my cheeks-a struggle snort
/ sharp decisive. 1t was useless-uSeles:
| to try to put it from me-thiS idea sc
| wretchedly bizarre. so grotesque anC
fantastic. so utterly inane-it was use
less to deny that the cat bore a distinct
resemblance to my great-aunt!
! gaZed at her in horror. What enor-
nous eyes the creature had!
Blood is thicker than water" SAID
| the man at the next table.
What does he mean by that?" | NUT
| tered. angrily swallowing tumbler o.
Rhine wine and settler. But l did no
turn. What was the use2
| 'Chattering old imbecile," / added u
myself. and struck a match, for my CT
gar was out: but as / raised the mattel
to relight it. I encountered the cat:
eyes again. I could not enjoy my cigar
! with the animal staring at me, but
/ was justly indignant, and did not in
tend to be routed. THE idea! forced tC
leave for a cat" l sneered I'VE will SCI
I
give her a Jet of settler from the siphon
but the bottle was too nearly empty Il
carry far. Then ! attempted to lur'
her nearer, calling her in French, Ger
man and English. but she did not stir
did not know the Flemish for ''cat."
shes got a name. and won't come.
I thought. Now, what under the SUI
can / call her?"
"Aunty." suggested the man at th'
next table.
! I sat perfectly still Could that mar
have answered my thoughts?-for had
not spoken aloud. OF course motif was
a coincidence-but a very disgusting
one.
"Aunty" I repeated, mechanically
! ''aunty, aunty-good gracious, how hor-
ribly human that cat lOOks!"i Their
somehow or other. Shakespeare's word:
crept into my head and / found my
self repeating: the soul of his grandan
might happily inhabit a bird; the sou
of his grandam might happily inhabi
a bird: the soul of-nonsense!"
growIed-''it isn't printed correctly! On'
might possibly say, speaking in poet
zeal metaphor, that the soul of a blrC
might happily inhabit ones grandam-'
II stopped short. flushing painfully
| What awful rot" I murmured and
lighted another cigar. The cat was still
staring; the cigar went out. l grew
more and more nervous. What rot
7 repeated. 'Pythagoras must have beer
an ass. but I do believe that there are
plenty of asses alive today who swallow
that sort of thing
Who knows" sighed the man at the
nexttable. and l sprang to my feet and
| wheeled about. But l only caught Z
glimpse of a pair of frayed coat tails
and a bald head vanishing into the din
ing room. I sat down again, thorough
ly indignant A moment later the ca
got UP and went away.
II
Daylight was fading in the city o.
Antwerp. Down into the sea sank The
sun, tinting the vast horizon with flakes
of crimson, and touching with rich deer
undertones the tossing waters of the
Scheldt. Its glow fell like q rosy man
tie over red-tiled roofs and meadows
and through the haze the spires o.
twenty churches pierced the air like
sharp, gilded flames. To the west and
south the green plains. over which tht
Spanish armies tramped so long ago
stretched away until they met the sky
the enchantment of the afterglow haC
turned old Antwerp into fairyland; and
sea and sky and plain We're beautiful
and vague as the night mists floating If
the meats below.