Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1919-07-25
Beauty and
Beethoven
i!
Bv R, RAY BAKER
tENNHNN1%1HR11H&1& OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
copyright. 1919. by tho Mcclure News
paper Syndicate.)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Copyright. 1919. BY tho Mcclure News
paper Syndtcate.)
There was nothing AngOra or other
wise stylish about Beethoven. He
came Of family of ordinary striped
gray and black cats, but he was far
from being an ordinary cat. At least
such was the opinion Of Velma Blake,
who occupied two rooms on the third
floor back in the Jordan flats, and
who adopted the feline wanderer and
christened him.
Velma was employed as head Of the
music department in the Emporium
five and ten-cent establishment. She
was pretty busy girl and also she
was pretty, busy girl. With or with
out the comma the phrase fits. She
had little time to spend in the care
of pets, but when a stray cat knocks
at ones door and one happens to be
particularly fond of that species Of
animal, what can one do but offer a
home?
She took him in and fed him, and
as he proceeded to make himself COM
Portable and refused to leave the
vicinity of her rooms when she set him
out in the hall, she was forced to the
conclusion that she was elected to be
the creatures mandatory.
Velma's roommate didn't care for
cats. "Why didn't you get dogT'
she demanded, but she managed to
reconcile herself, In time, to the addi-
ton to the little family.
Beethoven proved to be a mysteri-
Gus being He would vanish for two
or three days at time, and then sud
denly reappear and remain at home
for a period of equal length, making
his arrival known by the usual wailing
serenade. Velma got used to these
comings and goings, for there was a
certain amount of regularity about
them, and soon she was able to fore
cast almost with certainty the day
from his sojourn.
At the from, of the apartment
house, in the basement, lived Ned
Sayre, bachelor young man. he
shared the rooms with an acQuaint-
ance, but his life was rather lonely,
for the two had little in common, A.
though they got along we'll enough to-
gether.
Like Velma, Ned was cat fancier,
and like her he had taken possession
Of one that paid him visit on two or
three occasions When his living-rOom
window was open. The roommate
voiced some objections, but these
were overruled, the Beauty as the cat
was christened, soon occupied vel
come place in the household, If two
rooms and bath may be called such.
Like Beethoven, Beauty went away
on strange missions which he never
explained or even tried to explain.
Neds duty as clerk In a haberdashery
kept him away from home most of
the day, and it is next to impossible
to follow cat in the dark, so
Beauty's whereabouts during these
periodical absences remained secret.
Ned was of a timid nature; that is,
he was timid when member Of the
other sex was in proximity. However,
he had struck up an acquaintance
with Velma Blake and had got to the
stage where he could relapse into a
day dream when crossing the busiest
corner of the busiest street.
He mustered sufficient courage once
q week to take Velma to theater or
some other kind Of entertainment, but
had never been in her apartment, that
being against the rules Of the house.
Consequently he was never introduced
to her Beethoven.
Such trivial subjects as cats are not
often discussed between young men
and young women who are keeping
company. There are more important
matters, such as music, bon-bons, au-
tomobiles, vaudeville and clothes; so
why should a couple of stray pets get
into the conversation? 1t would be
a queer way to carry on love af-
fair, would it not? Can you imagine
q couple holding hands and at the
same time a heated argument con-
corning the merits Of their respective
cats? So, in spite of the fact that
both Velma and Ned were very fond
Of their pets, the subject never entered
their talk.
Two things puzzled Ned, and the
more he thought about them the more
puzzled he became. One was the
peculiar and repeated disappearance
Of Beauty and the other was how to
win Velma for his lifelong partner.
Rather a strange combination of wor-
ries for young man, but Ned could
not understand the girl any more than
he could the cat.
Similar mysteries concerned Velma.
One was the strange absences Of
Beethoven, and the other was how to
win Ned for the head of her family.
If one Of them had been able to look
into the others mind there would have
been no trouble about solving one of
the puzzles, and Of course that was
the more important one of the two.
Just when it seemed that Ned and