Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-03-18
Useful
Morning S tory
LITTLE FIRST FOOT.
ny MOil! McNinstcr.


S5 Upon the frst morning OF the New
Year Dean Richmond had awakened
i 10 find small black kitten providing
.4inauisittvely a.out her studio home.
luck" was Deans first
Thought, and the kitten. realizing that
Z she was being Summoned. s,rollcd over
with bumped back TO receive a ca
ress.
IS They were friends at once Dean
lived alone in the Bohemian section
Sfof the city, where the stables had been
converted into wonderful studios with
trailing vines rambling over windows
and sprinEing up through cobblcstones.
Dean was an editor on one OF the better
magazines, and left her studio each
4 morning sharp at sac o'clock.
y The black kitten. which Dean called
4 First Foot, was waif OF the feline
world who was willing 10 live wher-
%ever she was most affcctionately re-
& ceived She WAS black ana sleek and Il
daintily clean little lady kitten. 1t
would not have been difficult for her
TO find lodgings ia The bohemian sec
ton, where black cats We're considered
tho best OF luck.
The little collar with which Dean
immediately made her ownership GER
tain, was black leather. The name in
scribed on tho tiny silver tag was
= First Foot" since she had been the
L first little visitor 10 put foot over
Deans threshold in the new year.
First Foots maintenance was rather
simple. Milk WAS left on the door each
morning. and the door was arranged
with a bar locking IT a few inches
open, so that the kitten could come
and go nj will. Dean had employed
the slightly open door since she had
taken the position as editor and was
forced TO leave her studio during the
day. Her provisions, which she ordered
as she went TO business. were slipped
within and her studio was nicely aired
n /,
Having little of value in her possess
sion, Dean worried not particle rs
to who might be DESTROYS OF entering
her studio. The Bohemian settlement.
IL burglars were discriminating was
the least likely to be troubled in any
case.
First Foot completed a most happy
domicile for Dean. Coming home tired.
her head swimming with plots and
stories, II was good to see the black
kitten rise. stretch, yawn and come for
ward purring BY way OF greeting. The
absolute lack OF intellect expected from
the companionship made ii delight
fnl rest after a days toll.
First Foot had been Il part OF the
studio life for some five weeks be-
fore she brought down the wrath OF
her mistress upon her own sleek head
Upon picking the kitten UP for her
evening nap in Deans lap the girl had
smelled tobacco. upcn examination she
made the discovery that her pet WAS
reeking of the noXious fumes.
You disEraceful little lady" ad-
monished Dean while she went to the
Kitchen for brush and soap and toilet
water. You have been visiting the
den OF some vulgar gentleman
And since First Foot continued to
reVel in brushing and fondling ii was
evident that her reputation bothered
her not one got.
That proved TO be only the first OF
,I.-., ,t,.l,
her erstwhile pcrfumed pet rocking Of
Lobacco smoke There was no good in
scoldinc. First Foot purred happily on
: during the TRADES and Dean finally ac-
cepted the tobacco as part OF her
troubles She did, however tie Il huge
pink bow ON the neck OF her cat and
saturated 1t with Wild Rose scent.
The guilty man may take u hint WAS
her inward hope.
But III" guilty man did not take the
hint Each day when the small black
cat came silently into hts den he arose
stroked her head and felt that the day
was we'll begun. After tina, he put
milk In n saucer, placed the saucer on
~his writing table and wrote many
stories while First Foot lay his
table, sometimes slightly amused at the
swiftly rushing pencil and more often
sleeping.
When John Rogers finished "a par
ticularly good story and determined to
try 1t on the editor of the Goodyear
Magazine" he talked long and earnestly
to First Foot.
I'VE need the money badly" he said
IF we are TO buy our typewriter We
j must sell this story. II YOU don't bring
-'ine luck ] wifi lose. my faith IN omens."
It was y oiru, Rogcrs'S habit to din
First Foots paw into the inkstand and
make her imprint ON his manuscript,
So far the sign seemed 10 have been
lucky. Rogers had sold many stories
since the advent OF the cat. Tho small
black cats paw became rather well
known in editorial Offices. "Eccentrici-
ties OF genius" was the thought il had
evoked.
So that the story. having passed
through the hands OF the readers and
found its way TO the editor OF the
Goodyear" Dean Richmond found her
self smiling at the imprint Of "A cats
paw on the manuscript awaiting her
Judgment.
She Immediately thought of First
Foot. but did not connect the two cats
In her musings. The story was excel
lent. The cats paw had worked the
charm and Dean put the story among
accepted ones
In the evening she was reminded of
the peculiar sign on the manuscript
she had received and only half con
sciously found herself examining First
Foot's paw. Her amaxcment was very
genuine when she discovered that her
pets foot was sticky ana that close
scrutiny revealed dried ink OH the little
toes.
so" unused Dean, tho person who
blows tobacco smoke all over my lovely
kitten and IN" author OF 'Stagnation'
are one and tho same being" She fell
to specializing as to the mans person
atty. "He assurcdly is human and I
would say--rathcr charming" For a
long time she pondercd over tho strange
happenings OF the world 1t was not
especially a work of the fiction world
( this stra yinG of her cat to the den of
an author, but il was a ,rinc cxtraordi-
nary that the mans story should have
q come TO her hands that her perfume