Evening star., 1928-12-23
This and That
By caarls. ). Ttace,o.n

Jack spratt insisted on sticking his
head out. ~ e
Since the whole point Of the ensuing
narrative depends upon this one fact.
the kind reader will please remember
that Jack Spratt, the cat, insisted on
sticking his head out.
Jack was making his first ride IN a
dufne bag. Ever since we saw, many
months ago, q buff Persian carried
| hither and yop in one Of those sawed
of pieces Of luggage we had q keen
longing to purchase one for Spratt.
There are, Of course, any number of
perfectly good cat boxes on the mar
ket, but they are so obvious. 81 have q
cat here in this box" might as well be
labeled upon them in bold letters.
The beauty Of the DUNE bag is that
when closed It offers no suggestion of
what is inside. 1t might be filled with
a bathing suit and towels. or o suit of
clothes, or papers. ora cat.
There is no telling from outward
signs, since there are no outward signs.
The dufne bag keeps its secret well.
Usually it is In gay red, green or blue
plaid, closing along the top, with handles
in the top center.
The way Jack Spratt came to get his
ride was as follows:
Suffering from an aiIment which put
him under the weather." as the saying
is, the cat faced the necessity of going
to the veterinarians for an examina-
ton.
The question was how to get him
there. It was one thing to talk about
taking a lat some place, and quite an
other thing to take him there. Oats are
docile enough creatures, when they are
IN their best moods, but when they
begin to struggle to get loose, they be-
come veritable hucking broncios
Eels are no more slippery than TOM
cat which has finally decided that 1t is
high time that he get away from the
encircling arms. Then he digs his front
paws into ones shoulder, and literally
climbs out by way Of the neck-your
neck, alas. II you are the one holding
him!
Wrapping the creature In large bath
towel is an excellent maneuver, but this
method attracts great deal Of atten-
ton In public. 1t has its drawbacks.
The duffle bag was placed on the
dining room table, and Jack Spratt was
placed in the duffie bag. No sooner had
Jacks four legs been put in the bag
than the front two came out, one on
each side.
AS soon as the front legs were
cramned in again the right hind leg
managed to ride up over the side of the
craft. When this was tucked In again,
the right forepaw came out. At last,
however, all four legs were slowed
away.
Then came the problem of inducing
Spratt to sit down so the bag might be
shut over his furry ears. A decided
the desired result, with the distinct ex-
ception of his nose.
When space as little as an inch
long was left for air. Jack crammed his
white nose into 1t like . cork into a
bottle.
He thought he could force his way
out.
On the way over to the hospital the
bag was opened enough to permit Mr..
Jack Spratt to stick his head out. which
he proceeded to do with o right good
will
Nothing could induce him to with
draw 1t. He regarded the streets, and
the passing people, and the houses with
great, round eyes.
Always ne kept sticking his head out
farther and farther. trying his best to
get his shoulders through His style,
however, was decidedly cramped, owing
to the fact that he was neatly incased-
at least, nine-tenths of him was.
Once at the hospital, Jack continued
to struggle to get out. until he heard
the step of the cat doctor, and when
he saw him.
Well. Jack Spratt drew in his head
just like . turtle. He simply disap-
peared from sight, content TO lluddlo
down u the bottom Of his Dune nag.