The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1912-12-09
,.,C5I COMPETENT CAT
BY ALEX SiYRE.

cal. The cat merely bIin,led, yawned,
ar - md stretched Itself IN an in
sui5.h-lg careless mGnner, then gazed
ont Of the window, o5liyious OF
DeGfiGs.
III il is true thai care killed cat
NUT 'reI Denkins. then say bully
for care
Rv nature Denkins was not at all
blcod-ihirsty. He loved his fellow
men and had been known to buy
candy for babies, but he hated that
cat. 1t was in the first place. tramp
cat, the sort one would De ashamed
to claim as a member OF ones family.
No amount of cream and chops ever
could have made it look like anything
else AN moncrel The family had
intimated in every possible way to
the cat that its presence was undesir.
able. but the animal remained oh
lvious TO all hints. Denkins was alp.
raiiad 10 realize the force OF its
sh.~r pcrsistency.
"Whv. ii | had Onetenth the per.
sis:ency Of that cat" he told callers
OF evening. Il should now be push.
iia Pierpont Morgan off the map or
should be president of the United
! States. That cat has simply made
/ up its mind to camp here and nothing
can prevent it. If we lock it outdoors
/ il claws open basement window and
II We lock the basement windows it
i :. -eenls the woodbine trellis and sits
on The bedroom window ledge and
/ yowls or else raises the screens and
comes in triumphantly. 1t approves
| Of the butcher and grocer with whom
We trade and nothing else matters.
/ u i truly an awful thing to be adopt.
/ a. by a cat"
! When the nenkins family decided
/ 70 he away for some weeks, Mrs.
Jenkins announced that the cat must
hn Killed. She said it was not human
II go away and leave Il to s:arve
! TO death. as it surely would, if neg.
! l"cird
"Starva." echoed Denkins, scorn.
fdlly. why. that cat, dropped on a
dns"rt island composed entirely OF
l'tsa rock and coral reefs and dvna-
it,. would root Out a living for it.
SEM"
don't care" persisted his wife
u wouldn't enjoy minute of my
vacation for thinking about the poor
thial beck here starving helplessly.
You've gol % rrt il ont of its misery"
Very well" agreed Denkins. And
h; II put me out of mine | will
chl"roform it,
Tine noyt time Denkns had a few
moments to spare he assembled the
wash boiler. a sponge and bottle of
eh'orofo"m end hVpocritically called:
Kitty. kitty. Nice kitty" Then
when the animal was trustingly with.
il his grasp he deposited 1t IN tie
boiler with the deadly sponge To his
surprise the cat did not stay there.
but came out as he withdrew his arm.
lie barely caught the escaping al.
NAL by the hind paw. It scratched
wildly.
"Here." said Denkins severely.
"You go back in there and stay"
Then Denkins learned something.
The cover to a wash boiler Is an In.
flexible object and raising It enough
to get his arm out meant raising all
one side of 1t. That afforded room
for six cats to slip out il necessary.
He let his arm hang inside as he
meditated upon the situation and the
cat scuffled about Indignantly. Final.
~ 1t planted its claws in Denkins'
bare wrist Denkins yelled and jerkel
cut his arm. The cat came, too. and
made gray streak through the at.
mosphere.
/ For two weeks after that whenever
/ Denkins appeared the cat at once
! arose and with obvious dislike left
/ the room The speed with which It
/ left depended in some degrees upon
j the speed with which Denkins pur-
| sued. Usually the chase ended in tho
cats learing TO the top of tn, furnace
where 1t was out of reach. There
| It's green eyes shone maliciously rs il
would sit and wave It's tail and taunt
/ Denkins silently.
He could think OF nothing else ex
cept killing that cat So when he
| walked into the living room ard found
/ the cat crr,cd up IN ball asleep in
! the very last chair he gasped with
the suddcnness Of the thought that
/ came to him.
kitty" he said. 1T strikes ME that
you would just about ct into pail.
I'll sec"
! Tiptoeing to tho kitchen, he rot 4
! pail and the sponge ard chloroform
| and with the sponge inside tie bal
he clarped 1t down over the cat and
sat upon it. 1t was lot pleasant
performance, but Perkins vas des.
perate man. Finally he arose AMI re-.
moving the pail. surveyed his work
aha" said Denkins. with mucb
| satisfaction. He removed the remains
to the back yard. deposited them in
box. dug hole and hastily buried
the cat. Then In celebration of his
victory he took Mrs Denkins 20 81