Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1915-10-26
Evening Star S
Daily Story
THE BLACK CAT
BY LOUISE OLIVER.

all the way home In VAIN TO ma q
way out of very embarrassing
dilemma.
Betty Hollister and he we're to he
married within the month and he had
just discovered that he was almost
without a cent in the world. Donald,
his younger brother at college, had
got into trouble and there was no one
else to help him. The check he had
mailed In the afternoon had just
about cleaned him out Unless some
miracle happened, there was nothing
left in the stocking to pay for a we'd
ding trip, three new suits, bridal
flowers and furniture for the bunga-
low they had rented.
There was no way he could think
of to postpone the wedding without
breaking Betty's heart. All of her
arrangements were complete and he
had heard her say once that she
would rather die than change the daJe
of her wedding
Yes, there was a possible way-Just
mere chance as slim as a spiders
thread! Jim Barlow had dropped In
that day and advised him to invest
in Cascade Steel Jack never played
the market, but Jim did with more
or less luck, and when Jack had re-
piled that he couldn't afford it, Jim
had offered to lend him the where
withai.
mo thanks old fellow!" Jack had
replied. Il may have to start mar
ried life even with the board--but
might lose your money, and couldn't
ask Betty to start with handicap
like that"
Jim's offer now seemed to be the
only straw that could save him. He
had thought over every other pos
sible way but there was none.
He took out his latchkey and un-
locked the front door as a nearby
clock started to strike 12 As he
turned the knob, something soft
rubbed against his legs. He opened
the door and the hall light revealed &.
jet black cat that started to purr con-
tentedly as ii turned for another rub
against his trousers,
Midnight and a black catl
Jack looked cautiously around. He
had come from a New England town
and was as full of superstitions as a
Cantaloupe is of seeds. Surely this
was a lucky sign. He must keep the
cat Nothing could be more hazard
Gus to luck than to turn it loose nov.
But
His landlady hated cats, and be-
sides, she was a relative of Betty
Betty must never know about the cat
because the one thing they ever dis
agreed about was Jacks super
stition." as practical Betty put it.
But this lucky sign meant that ne
was almost sure to win if he took up
Jim's offer of the morning 1t had to
be done, He picked up the cat and
held it under his coat as he slipped
Stealthily ND to his room
Early the next morning Betty, look
ingpale and hollow eyed, met Jack at
zIhe front door on his way to work
~She eyed the travelling bag he carried
curiously, but he explained hastily
Office.
He had been up since dawn trying
TO devise methods of feeding and
hiding his new pet For two hours
ne had looked out of the window in
vain for milkman. The trunk, the
cupboard and each bureau drawer
had ELECTED only dismal yowls of
lonesomeness. There was nothing for
1t but to carry his good luck fetish
back and forth with him to the Of
nee, where he could feed it and keep
an eye on 1t through the day. Better
the Jeers of the boys than the wrath
OF Betty and the risk of having the
IL VII ll6 DOuSe. NOInlnR
on earth could make him part with
1t now until the deal was over which
was to replace his lost fortune
A lew days passed--days of more
than one kind of anxiety for Jack.
First there was Cascade Steel, which
couldn't decide whether to go up or
down. Then there was the cat. which
made him the butt of a thousand
jokes at the office and miserable at
the house nightly for fear of dis
covery. But, last of all, Betty had
taken a notion to droop.
She was as sweetly alIuring as
ever. but there was something in
definable about her he could not
understand. She protested that she
was weli--yet she was pale and alb
stracted and her thoughts seemed to
be miles away. She started at every
sound and flew to the door every
time she heard an unusual noise
Jack was worried. Their wedding
day was approaching and Betty got
worse instead of better.
One thing, however-Cascade Steel
was doing well and in couple of
days he hoped to clear all he had lost
and pay back Jim's loan.
Then the cat could go whittier it
would. In the meantime he watched
il with renewed vigilance.
But the cat got away, One night
Jack woke up with a feeling of dis
aster. His first thought was for
pussy. Sure enough---its bed in the
open wardrobe drawer was empty. A
thorough search of the room proved
futile and the transom solved the
riddle.
HE slipped into few clothes and
peered cautiously out into the hall,
then felt his way slowly downstairs
The parlor, by the light of match,
was catless! Then he started for the
dining-room and stopped, hearing a.
feminine voice. The door stood open
just enough for him to see Betty in
the middle of the floor hugging his
black cat and rubbing her cheeks
against it's sleek head. He didn't
even know she was in the house.
"Oh, Niggy, dear, I'm so glad
found you," she crooned. 1--WE looked
for you for week, ever since the
night lost you over here And it's
such bad luck to have a black cat
come TO you and then lose it, espe-
cially before your wedding, | just
pretty nearly decided not. to marry
Jack at all until I found you But
how YOU came TO me here | don't
know"
And Jack, tiptoeing exultantly back
TO his room, decided that she never
should