Evening star., 1923-12-16
Heard and Seen

! Listen now to the tale Of Jack
| Spratt, an alley cat with doglike
ways. poor Jack Spratt! He ran
| through a swinging door once too
| often for the good of his tail.
Jack came into the alley as kit
! ten. Maybe he was born there, no.
body knows; all that is certain is
! that Jack and the alley came into
! existence about the same time.
! He was not a particularly prepos-
! sessing kitten. He was thin, almost
ugly, with a straight lip and utter
lack of the cute ways Of most kit
! tens.
The most striking thing about him
was his indignant meow. It seemed
to be the reflection of an indignant
mind, disgusted with life in general
and the world in particular.
Yet somehow Jack managed to sur
vive, what with saucers of milk pro-
vided him during the summer by
plying householders and provident
garbage cans left with loose lids.
X
AS autumn came around Jack Spratt
grew In comeliness.
His coat of dark gray and brown
stripes took on a pleasing sickness
His head broadened out. his body fat
tened in all directions. his whiskers
cleaned.
The little cat began to take more
care of his personal appearance. He
began to learn how to wash himself,
SO that his snowy breast and white
paws cleaned.
Pretty soon there began to be
rivalry among some of the house
holders as to who would have the
honor of harboring Jack Spratt. Ger
many saucers of good milk.
His purr, after he had Tapped up
four saucers of milk. was something
to hear. 1t could easily be heard all
certain doglike traits that distin-
guished him from the average cat.
Just like a dog, he followed one
from room to room. Even the charm
OF an overstuffed chair would not in
duce him to stay in room by him.
standing up on his hind legs like
dog.
AS winter came along Jack took to
lecturing the other alley cats on
! their way of life.
You could see him any evening
standing in front of a group of
felines. tail waving, head up, earnest
! lyr exhorting them.
This is a pretty good world, after
all Jack seemed to be saying. Yes.
and this is the best possible alley in
| the best possible world. l am quite
positive of that.
Look at me- 1 have a series of
houses here, with men to shovel coal
and keep me warm and provide com
Portable chairs for me in sleep in, and
milk and cream for me to drink.
"Of course, one has to possess GER
tain qualities Of. ah. leadership, GER
ahead in this alley. But If you will
work hard, and not look at the clock,
my young friends, success will be
yours. as 1t is mine. Gods In his
heaven. alrs right with the alley"
So came the morning of the first
real snow of the winter.
1t was cold, wet, strange white
ness which came down upon Jack
Spratt. as he paced along the alley
he heard call from his favorite
house he was glad enough to slip in.
There was a warm welcome for him,
too. Snow on the ground made hu-
one thinks of Christmas in the right
spirit 1t makes for loosening Of the
heart strings
More milk than he could drink
flowed from the milk DOttle Lndt
never seemed to be empty.
The house was warm, and chairs
beckoned. -.
MY. how Jack spratt did purr!
!. Alas for feline felicity.
F Just as Jack started to slip from
the kitchen into the dining room, on
his way to the living room, the mas
ter of the house swung the swinging
door shut.
Jack got through--all except half Of
Master and mistress. both in the
kitchen, vainly struggled with the
door to pull 1t their way, but found
IL impossible, owing to the fact that
the door had merely a smooth brass
Jack screamed and tugged on the
other side.
There was but one thing to do, and
the householder did It, He pushed on
the door, scrunching the cats tail un-
til the door swung through the cas-
ing.
Jack spratt fed upstairs and hid
under q bed. leaving behind him a
tuft of hair from his tail, a smear Of
hair along the door, and two very
much chagrined human beings.
CHARLES e. TRACEWELLA