Democratic messenger., 1919-08-02
Beauty and
Beethoven
By r. RAY BAKER
(COpyright. 1919. by the Mcclure Ssws-
paper Syndieate)

paper syndieate)
There was nothing Angora or other
wise stylish abou Beethoven. lie
came Of family of ordinary striped
gray and black eats. but he was far
from being an ordinary eat. At last
such was the opinion Of Vclma Blake
who occupied two rooms on the third
floor back in the Jordan Hats. and
who adopted the feline wandercr and
chriStencd him.
vrlmn was employed rs head of the
music department in the Emporium
five and tcn-ccnt establishment She
was pretty busy girl and also she
was II pretty. busy girl With or with
out the comma the phrusc tits. She
had little time 10 spend In the care
Of pets but when a stray cat knocks
at ones door ana one happens to be-
particularly fond OF that species of
animal. what Gun one de- but offer II
hOmey
She took him In and fed him and
as he proceeded 10 make himself com
Portable and refused 10 leave III"
vicinity of her rooms when she set him
out In the hall. she was forced tO the
conclusion that she WIS elected 20 be
the creatures mandatory.
Vemas roommate didn't care for
cats why didn'j you get n d"gf'
she demanded hut sh" managed 10
reconcile herself. in timr To the addi.
tlon to the little family
Beethoven proved to be- a mySteri-
ouS being He would Vanish for two
or three days AT u time, and then sud
denly rcnpp"nr and remain AT home
for period of equal length. making
his arrival known by the usual waling
serenadr Nelma got used to these
comlngs and goings for There was a
ccrtnin amount of regularity about
them aud soon She was able to fore
cast almost with certainty Ia" day
and hour he wanderrr would return
from his Solourn
Al The front of N" apartment
house. in the basement lived Ned
Suyr". "a bachelor Young man. He
shared the rooms with an acquant-
ancr. but his life was rather lonely.
for The two had littlr III common al.
though they got along We'll enough To-
gethcr.
Likr Nelma. Ncd VAS cat fnncirr.
and Ike her he had taken possession
OF onc that paid him . visit on two or
three occasions when his living room
window was open The roommate
voiced some objections hut lheS"
We're ovrrrulcd, the Beauty, rs the cat
was christrned Suon occupied wei
come place in the household. IL two
rooms and bath may be called such.
Like Beethoven. Beauty went away
on strange missions which he never
explained or even tried 70 explain.
N"d'S duty aS clerk IN II hahrrduShcry
KEEP him away from HON" most Of
the day. and 1t IS next 10 impossible
To follow cut IN th" dark. so
Beuuty's whereabouts during these
periodical absences remained secret
Ned was OF a timid nature: that is.
he VAS tinid when Il member of the
other Sex was in proximity. However.
with Ycma Blake and had got To the
stage where he could RELAPSE into
day dream when crossing the busiest
corner of the busiest street.
He mustered sufficient courage once
a week 70 take Nelmu to Il th"ater or
some other kind OF entertainment but
had never been In her apartment. that
being against IN" rules of the house,
Consequently he was never introduced
to her Beethoven.
Such trivial subjects rs cats are not
often discussed between young men
and young women who are keeping
company. There nre more important
matters such rs music. bon.honS. Au-
tOmObiles. vaudeville and clothes: 81
why should II couple of stray pets get
into the conversation? II would be-
"a queer way To carry On love af.
fair, would II noti Can you Imagine
couple holding hands aud at the
same time a heated argument con.
cntst So. IN spite Of the fnct that
both Nclmn nud ned We're very fond
Of their pets. the subject never entered
their talk.
Two lhiugs puzzled Ned. and the
more he thought about them the more
puzzled he hccHm", one was the
peculiar ana repeated disappearance
of Beuuty and the other was how to
win Vclna fur his lifelong partner.
Rnihcr Il strange combination Of wor-
rics for a young man, but Ned could
not understand The girl any more than
he could the cut
Similar mysteries concerned Vclmu.
one WAS the strange absences uf
Beethoven. and the other was how tn
win Ned for the hend of her family.
Ii one of them hnd been able to look
into the others mind there would have
been no trouble about solving one Of