Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1910-08-10
work hin .n Mas smuggled I'M and out

work kip en- was snuggled In and out
under various c%oncealing aprons for
his daily exercise in the garden: By
the end OF that time he had learned
to climb brayely up and down the
trellis path, and while Miss Timpkins
was on her tour of marketing, ten to
eleven precisely each weekday morn-
ing-there is nothing like methodical
habits in the head of a household to
promote harmopy-Joseph entered
upon his new kingdom.
He strolled in upon Miss Sally
Sloane, snuggled among Mrs. Ford's
couch cushions, cuddled down in old.
Mrs. Farwell's ever-ready lap, and
was the one living being with whom
bashful Mrs. Prendergast talked
freely.
These we're indeed days of fearful
joy, not only days. but nights also.
For often at midnight the young
scamp would Chamber up the trellis
and new plaintively, and little Mrs.
Wells. starting up in her bed, would.
exclaim:
There's our Josie! Amt he
clever??"
And while Mrs. Dodd was mutter-
ing sleepily, "Most too clever!!" the.
little woman, s%currying to the win
dow, would welcome the visitor af-.
fectionarely, and as she crawled back
beneath the blankets, the patchwork
kitten would nestle down beside her,
pur.ing with satisfaction, only to
rouse her again at daybreak, demand
irD: instant egress.
Then December blasts began to-
blow, and January SHOWS to fall. and
Joseph came not once. but sometimes
twice and thrice between midnight
and dawn; and although Mrs. Wells
still attended upon the small tyrant
with alacrity, Mrs. Dodd grumbled,
not
Upon what meat doth this Caesar
feed
That he hath grown so create"
but its Yankee equivalent. "%Joseph's
getting too big for his boots. He
needs a hot loaf on his head"
1t was the winter Of the influenza
epidemic, and when n morning Mrs.
Wells was found to have a headache
and some fever. Mrs. Dodd was trans
ferred to another room and a trained
nurse installed.
That night. as usual, there sounded
from the window-ledge an imperious
summons; but the nurse, a stalwart
maiden. and one who knew not Jos
eph, did not admit the young rascal,
but instead, cufed his ears vigorous
~; and while he clattered down the
%trellis, little Mrs. Wells wept silently
among her pillows.
And when, at seven o'clock, Betty
Macdonald tiptoed in to make sympa-
thetic inquiries, the little woman
stretched forth an appealing hand,
and murmured:
Josie came to the window, and
she wouldn't let him I'M"
Never you mind" consoled Betty.
''Ill look after Joseph" And an
hour later the patchwork kitten,
with a dish of cold water for his only
sustenance and cheer. was roaming
forlornly about the cellar. while Nora
o'Hara wa asking:
"Ain't. you going to give the little
felly a bite to eat??"
"He ain't a little fellow any
longer" asserted Betty. "He's GET
ting grown up, and must earn his
own living like the rest of US. He's
equal to It,"
And the patchwork kitten justified
Betty's confidence, for when on the
following morning she opened the
cellar door, a naughty shape in yell
low and black and white darted forth
and laid at her feet a small gray
Fee" screamed Betty.
"a mouse! A mouse!" exulted
Nora. Then to the m%atron, emerging
from the dining-room, 20 Miss limp
kins, ~Joseph's caught a mouse"
The matron stared. Joseph!
Joseph?"
1.-THE patchwork kitten, ma'am."
responded Nora. Mrs. Farwell
named him, and now he's proved
himself the grand mouser, ma'am.
and amt only pet no longer, ma'am,
don't you s'pose the board'll let him
stay, ma'am?" And Betty Macdonald
chimed in:
1.-THE old ladies, ma'am, they do
set store by Joseph something ire
menjous, ma'am."
~"Joseph!" repeated the dazed
Miss Timpson. Mrs. Farwell named
him. The old ladies set store by
She recalled doors gliding to
at her approar'. half-uttered phrases.
"Why to be sure" regarding
the sleek, well-nourished feline be-
fore her, that's where the milk the
old ladies have been refusing for
their tea has gone to! Dear me!
Gear me-" Then aloud, We'll, under
the circumstances, perhaps the board
will consent. only"
But the head of the household was
speaking to empty air, for Betty, with
oseph in her arms and Nora at her
heels, was racing up the stairs to tell
the joyful tidings; and while Mrs.
Dodd, sitting in Miss Sally Sloane's
room, carescad tho natchwork kitten.