El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-06-19
H.

Tom walked SLOW " down the road.
be had been the ring leader in the
plan 70 rob the cherry trees at the
home OF the Bunnies for two seasons.
and they had come off very success
fully But this year. although the trees
were heavy with fruit and the night
was dark, he was a little troubled He
oll not know whether u was the
thought OF the silly. noisy Spot boys
or the Idea OF making a candle light
Mrs Tabby an6. in fact, all OF the
people in Tabbyland were very care
tul OF fire They warned their chill
dren against it, and an awful punish
ment awaited the kitty girl or boy
who played with il foolishly-
-Oh, Well said Tommy to himself
7 suppose I must take some chances
But I viii be very careful" In this way
he satisfied himself. and went into the
house quite innocent and happy
lle only thing that troubled him
was how TO get the matches Where did
Mrs Tabby keep them2 he had often
searched but had never found them
But he did not need to hunt this time.
Tommy" said Mrs Tabby, get ne
the small box OF matches under my bu-
reau- You are big enough TO have some
sense now. and 7 viii trust you TO go
and get them Tom hurried out OF the
room on the errand- and if Mrs Tabby
could have seen his face she would
have known that there was something
wrong. Tom was blushing as much as
a kitty can. and his very ears were laid
back flat with embarrassment
he trotted back with the box. let Mrs
Tabby take one cut and then carried
10 back and put II carefully under the
bureau Mrs. Tabby wondered at his
silence. but said nothing about IL. The
time passed slowly for Tom until din
ner was over. Gradually they all went
TO bed.
Late that night when all were asleep.
Tom sat I'D in bed Then he-looked
around Quickly he took his clothes in
his hand. padded softly out, and
dressed IN the hall Then he made his
way TO his mothers room
His paw made no noise as he pulled
out the match box Then up the creaky
attic stairs he crept, match IN hand. leav-
ing the open box at the foot OF the
stairway. suddenly he stopped. Surely
he had heard q noisel his little heart
beat fast-but nothing happened. He
felt better, and on reaching the top
hurried TO the window There sat the
candle. He pushed aside the curtain
Now 10 light that match He dare NOT
strike 10 on the wood, 10 would make
noise so he bent over and drew IL
sharply down his side
He heard it light as he brought his
arm up, but there was no light on the
end-it had broken Off He stepped
back IN a fright and stopped a scream
Just in time. The top had broken OFF.
and had lighted the curtain
brave even il he was naughty. and he
stood his ground Forgetful OF his fur
and precious whiskers that would
catch, he pulled AZ the curtain jerked
Il down. covered It with an old quilt
and stamped out the fire in the twink
lfnc- OF an eve He was trembling and
shuddcring like q leaf when he finished.
re looked AZ the ruin about him. and
then passed his paw over his burnt fur
no his Whiskers were not all gone.
Then he turned and walked down
stairs. and did the bravest thing OF all
for be weRt straight TO Mrs Tabhy.
woke her W and told her the whole
story.
and the strange part about Il was
that she aid not even scold him. but
held HIM I'm her soft arms and patted
his back sand wiped his eyes. He never
touched matches again. and never let
my Of the other children play with
hem either. Mrs. Tabby could al last
rust him-