Evening star., 1924-12-07
Heard and Seen

Jack Spratt, reformed alley cat, is
as SNUG a gentleman as Catdom
knows. He lives in proper house,
has the best beefsteak, salmon and
milk the good old town affords.
sleeps on silk pillow and gets rub
bed under the chin as much as heI
likes.
But at times the call of the wild is
strong within him, so he must go out
lot at the west end of his alley.
What grand thoroughfare the al
ley is TO Jack!
There he prowls on his nights out.
hoping that he will not run against
Capt. Kidd. that dread avenger from
the next block. whose snow white
body and inky black tail make him
stand out like a lighthouse in a fog.
Our friend Spratt is not as big as
Kidd, therefore he fears that bucca
neer The law of the alley is that
the heaviest cat wins. Maybe that
accounts for Jacks Unsuitable appC-
tite.
Most of the other cats he can whip
or intimidate. His clear sorpano cuts
loose on the night air like a siren,
but only lasts Is seconds, while any
dog can bark necessarily for
hours at a stretch.
But with Capt. Kidd it is different.
That piratical fellow s a shape to
be feared at monday, and TO be
Stunned at midnight. Don't let
Capt. Kidd see you first" is Spratt's
motto.
Lurking in the lot for field mice.
then, is sport enhancing in itself,
as we'll as battling to Kidd, for once
a fellow is down in the weeds, neither
| the captain nor the mice can see
| him. Ha, ha.
Base ball appeals to men, playing
harps to angels, catching mice to
cats. 1t all depends upon which
circle of creation you find yourself
in. And who shall say that it is
any more wicked of Spratt' to catch
field mice than it is for the angels to
sing together?
To our limited vision it may seem
cruel. but in the grand, shake-up
| of the universe I am sure that Jack
will emerge with soul as white as
his own snowy breast.
| Down in the weeds our furry fell
| low turks, waiting, waiting. waiting.
| The cold west wind whips through
| the withered stalks and smooths out
the dull, brown grass and rustles the
odds and ends of paper lying about.
Like giant emeralds, the cats green
eyes shine with the reflected light
of the stars, as well as with their
| own light, given him by the same
Creator who made you and me.
For the same God who loveth us,
He made and loveth all"
Hours go by. The bell in a dis
tant tower chimes midnight, chimes
l o'clock, rings out the hour of .,
tolls forth sand there is a rustic
in the weeds-there is a scamper in
the grass-there is the CLINT of two
black button eyes.
1t is poor little Johnny Field Mouse.
| children, come out to play. His good
| mother had warned him against go
| ing out at such an early hour, but he
I knew better than his mother Moth
| ing would do Johnny but that he step
out into the world.
Alas. alack for poor little Johnny
| Field Mousei
We draw a curtain over his fate
It is not pleasant to think about
The next scene shows a cat going
down the alley with something in his
mouth. He reaches his house, drops
the mouse, let's out a tremendous
meow, grabs his victim again.
A light shows upstairs, then ono
downstairs. The kitchen door opens
The mister of the house must be
shown the trophy. In darts Jack
/ Spratt. He makes a bee-line for
the living room.
Are you sure that was Jack? He
went in so fast I couldn't see his
tiger stripes
Lights flash on in the living
room.
'Oh. he's over there by the win
dow playing with his catnip mouse"
Another look, however,
why, there are two mice-it's
real mouse-he's brought in a live
mouse-tafe that mouse right out OF
here, you shrimp!"
CHARLES f. TRACEWELI.