Transcriber's note: Unusual and inconsistent spelling is as printed.
[Illustration: Frontispiece.]
TABBY'S TRAVELS
OR
The Holiday Adventures of a Kitten.
BY LUCY ELLEN GUERNSEY.
[Illustration: "Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat, where have you been?"]
EDINBURGH:
ANDREW ELLIOT, PRINCES STREET.
1864.
EDINBURGH: T. CONSTABLE,
PRINTER TO THE QUEEN, AND TO THE UNIVERSITY.
CONTENTS.
[Illustration]
CHAPTER FIRST.
TABBY'S ESCAPE
CHAPTER SECOND.
THE WARRINGTON FAMILY
CHAPTER THIRD.
THE PARTY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES
CHAPTER FOURTH.
AGNES'S REWARD
CHAPTER FIFTH.
THE HARD ROAD
CHAPTER SIXTH.
THE RIVER
CHAPTER SEVENTH.
THE POLICE OFFICE
CHAPTER EIGHTH.
CONCLUSION
[Illustration: TABBY'S TRAVELS.]
TABBY'S TRAVELS
[Illustration]
CHAPTER FIRST.
TABBY'S ESCAPE.
I SUPPOSE a pleasanter kitchen was hardly ever seen than the one in
which my story commences. It was not one of those under-ground places,
with little square windows close to the low ceiling, and on a level
with the street, or shut in by a grim area-wall, in which so many girls
spend all their working time, without being able to see so much as
a square foot of sky, except by twisting their heads half off their
shoulders. No, it was a high, light room, with two large windows,
which let in so much light and air that the geraniums and verbenas on
the window seats flourished as if they had been in a green-house; and
looking out upon a square yard, small to be sure, but kept so nicely,
and in summer so filled with flowers that it was a pleasure to look
into it. There were no flowers or other growing things to be seen,
however, at the time our story commences, for the ground was frozen
hard, and covered with a light snow, which a cold wind was driving here
and there, and twirling high up into the air, till the flakes caught
the sunbeams and glittered like showers of diamonds.
It might be cold out of doors, but it was warm enough in the kitchen,
where a good fire was burning in the stove, making the tea-kettle
send out clouds of steam, and the cover of the boiler pop up and down
as if there were something alive under it which wanted to get out.
Dorothy the cook, and Anne the housemaid, had gone into the dining-room
to family prayers, and three cats—that is to say, a cat and two
kittens—were the only inmates of the kitchen.
The old cat was sitting up in Dorothy's patchwork cushioned chair,
washing her face very demurely and sedately, at the same time keeping
her eye on the kittens, that they might not get into any mischief, and
be whipped by the cook when she came down stairs—an event which, I
am sorry to say, had happened more than once. The two kittens, whose
names were Tody and Tabby, were frolicking round the floor, chasing
their own and each other's tails, and twisting round and over the rungs
of the chairs, till any one might have thought they would certainly
have broken their necks. Tody was black and white. His breast, paws,
and the tips of his ears and tail were as white as snow, while all
the rest of his body was jet black, and shone like satin. He was a
very pretty kitten indeed, but not so pretty as Tabby, who was a true
tortoise-shell. Her face and paws were also white, but the rest of
her body was curiously mottled with yellow, black, and grey, disposed
in spots and stripes, while her tail was regularly ringed with black
and yellow down to the tip, which was white. She was a very beautiful
kitten indeed, but not so neat as Tody, for her fore-paws were
blackened, and there was a great black mark on the side of her face.
"Miaw!" said Tody presently. "Don't bite so hard, Tabby, you hurt me!"
"You always think you are killed, if any one touches you," said Tabby,
pettishly. "You have bitten me a great deal harder than that many a
time, and I did not mew at all. However, I am not going to play with
you if you are going to quarrel all the time." And with these words,
Tabby went and sat down by the fire in a very dignified manner.
Tody looked rather sorry, but he did not say anything. He got up in the
chair, by the side of his mother, and began licking her face and head,
now and then playfully biting her ears and pulling her tail.
"I should think mother could wash her own face without any of Tody's
help," said Tabby, after watching them a few minutes discontentedly.
"I should think mother could govern her own kittens without any of
Tabby's help," returned the old cat good-naturedly, straightening
herself up in the chair, and rolling Tody over with her paw. "And, by
the way, talking of washing, what makes your paws so black?"
"I don't know, I am sure," said Tabby, hastily sitting down, and
folding her paws under her. "I must have got them dirty playing about
the fire, I suppose."
The old cat jumped down from the chair, and going up to Tabby, pulled
her paws from under her breast, looked at them, smelt them, and then
said, in a tone of grave displeasure: "Tabby, you have been playing
among the coals again!"
Tabby did not attempt to deny it. She hung down her head, and looked
very much ashamed.
"You have been playing in the coal-box again, though you know I forbade
you to go near it," pursued her mother, very seriously; "and worse than
that, you have been running over the cook's baskets, and have left the
marks of your black paws upon her clean napkins, which were folded and
sprinkled, ready for ironing. I should not wonder if she should whip
you, and make you go without your breakfast, and I should not blame her
if she did.
"I really don't know what will become of you, Tabby, if you are such a
naughty kitten. Only the day before yesterday you pulled the raw turkey
off on the floor, and ate half of its neck. And last Sunday morning you
jumped upon the breakfast table, and turned a cup of coffee all over
the clean cloth. You will surely come to a bad end, my daughter, if
you are so heedless and disobedient. Once I knew of a kitten who would
persist in getting on the table and into the pantry, and one day the
coachman tied her in a bag, with a stone round her neck, and threw her
off the railway-bridge. The river was very high, and she was carried
over the falls and drowned."
At the thought of his dear little sister going over the falls in a bag
with a stone tied round her neck, Tody turned quite cold all over. He
jumped down from the chair where he had been sitting, and came to his
mother.
"Dear mother, pray don't say such dreadful things as that," said he,
with tears in his eyes. "I am sure Tabby will be a good kitten, and do
as you tell her—won't you, Tabby, dear?"
But Tabby made no answer, and went on licking her paws, trying to look
as though she did not care, and the old cat, seeing how sulky she was,
called Tody away to sit up among the plants in the sunshine, leaving
Tabby to her own thoughts by the side of the fire.
Tabby felt very naughty indeed. It was not the first time nor the
second that she had been in mischief that week, and she had been twice
whipped, once by the cook, for pulling down the turkey, and once
by Miss Sophia, in the drawing-room, for jumping upon the commode,
and knocking down a little china cup. It was very pretty and round,
and Tabby thought she should like to roll it about the floor. She
was frightened enough when she saw it break all to pieces, for she
knew how much the family valued this cup, which had been sent home
by Mr. Edward, all the way from Japan, whither his ship had gone:
so terrified, indeed, was she that she forgot to run away, and so
Miss Sophia caught her, and gave her a good whipping with her little
whalebone riding-whip which hung in the hall.
The worst of it was that no one was sorry for her but Tody; even her
mother, though she licked her all over and did what she could to
comfort her, told her that she was served right for going where she
had no business, and Tabby, instead of confessing that she had been a
naughty pussy, and resolving to do better in future, thought herself
a very ill-used cat. She made up her mind that nobody loved her, and
that all the world had a spite against her, so that when Tody came to
console her, and brought her a little mouse which the stable-boy had
caught and given him, she snatched it up growling, and carried it off
without so much as saying "Thank you."
She had often been told that she must not play among the coals, and
it was difficult to see why she was so fond of doing so, but all her
mother's admonitions and cuffs did no good. This very morning she had
jumped into the bin after a feather which she saw there, and had chased
it up and down among the coals, till all the under part of her body was
as black as the coal itself. She had succeeded in getting rid of most
of it, but her paws were too dirty to be cleaned with one washing, and
she had kept out of the way, hoping her mother would not observe them
till the tell-tale colour had worn off.
Presently the cook and housemaid came down from prayers bringing the
breakfast dishes with them, and Dorothy, scraping the contents of the
plates together upon a large dish, and pouring some milk into a bowl,
called all the cats into the outer kitchen, and set the provision
down before them. There were well-buttered rolls, some pieces of cold
ham and chicken, and quite a quantity of hash, enough to satisfy any
reasonable cat, one would think. But Tabby was not in the humour to be
pleased with anything.
"I should think they might have fresh fish for breakfast, sometimes,"
she said peevishly, turning over the contents of the plate with her
paw. "We have not had a bit of fish since I can remember."
"It is not the season for fish," said her mother, "but there is a piece
of cold chicken for you. I should think that was a very nice breakfast
for a kitten."
Tabby murmured something about being sick of chicken, but took the
offered piece nevertheless, and ate it all herself without offering
to divide with Tody, who was very contentedly munching his cakes and
hash. She ate so greedily, indeed, that she almost choked herself, and
was reproved by her mother for her ill manners. This filled up the cup
of her discontent, and she felt as though she would like to do almost
anything that was naughty.
All the morning she sat sullenly by the side of the fire, resisting all
the attempts of Tody to entice her into a game of play, and brooding
over her fancied wrongs, till she really convinced herself that she
was the most ill-used kitten in the whole world. She would not even go
up stairs when little Ella and Marian called them all into the nursery
for a frolic, and she ran and hid behind the boiler in the cellar, when
Ella came after her the second time.
"Go along then, you contrary little thing," said Ella, after she had
coaxed and called in vain, till her patience was exhausted. "I never
saw such a kitten in my life. I don't see, for my part, how such a
little cross-patch ever came to be Tody's sister." And away she ran,
leaving Tabby to come out when she got ready, which she did with her
paws blacker than ever, and a great smudge on her side, where she had
rubbed against the pots.
"O Tabby! Why didn't you come up stairs?" said Tody, when he came into
the kitchen some time afterward. "You don't know what a nice time we
had. Miss Ella rolled her glass balls and marbles all over the floor
for us to play with, and gave mother and me each a piece of pound-cake."
"I suppose you would not have saved any for me for the world," said
Tabby scornfully.
"I was going to bring you part of mine," said Tody, "but mother
wouldn't let me. She said you ought to come when you were called, and
if you did not, you must take the consequences."
"Mother thinks I am the very worst kitten that ever lived in the
world," said Tabby, tears of vexation coming into her eyes, as she
thought of the pound-cake and the pretty glass balls, her favourite
playthings, all lost by her own perversity. "I do believe she would be
glad if I were dead and out of the way. But never mind," she continued,
not heeding Tody's exclamation of horror at this wicked and undutiful
speech; "I shall not be in her way very long. I am not going to stay
where I am abused all the days of my life."
In fact, Tabby had thought over her imagined wrongs, till all her
musings and broodings had resulted in a settled purpose. She had made
up her mind to run away! Yes, to such a pitch had her perversity
arrived that she had determined to leave the kind mother and brother
who loved her so dearly, and the friends who had fed and petted her
ever since she was born, and go out into the world to seek her fortune.
Now, what the world was like, she had no idea. She had never been
outside the garden-walls, except when her mother had once or twice
taken her and Tody to a neighbour's barn to give them a lesson in
mousing, and the only persons she had ever seen besides Mrs. Merriam's
family, were the little girls who sometimes came to see Miss Ella and
Miss Marian, and the butcher's boy who now and then gave her a piece of
meat out of his basket.
Tabby was a self-willed kitten. She had a great deal of perseverance
too, and would never give up anything she attempted till she had tried
every way to attain the object of her wishes. She knew very well that
she should have no trouble in accomplishing her ends this time, for her
mother was accustomed to go out for a walk every afternoon, leaving
her and Tody to take care of themselves. Tody usually took a nap in
the window seat, and nothing would be easier than, while he was fast
asleep, for her to slip out of the kitchen when the door was opened,
run along the garden-wall to the neighbouring house, which was on the
corner, and then jump into the street and go where she pleased.
Having thus made up her mind to escape from what she considered the
evils of her lot, and seeing clearly how to bring it about, she was
inclined to be very good-natured, and was so playful and pleasant the
rest of the morning that her mother thought she was sorry for her
perverseness, and had made up her mind to be good; and very glad she
was to see it, for whatever Tabby might imagine in her naughtiness, if
her mother made any difference between her kittens, she loved Tabby the
best.
Tody was naturally of a very placid and cheerful disposition, and had
given her very little trouble. He had also a strong constitution, and
had never seen a sick day, while Tabby was delicate from her birth, and
for some days her mother had considered it doubtful whether she would
ever live to get her eyes open. Then she had had two very bad fits in
her infancy, and she was almost two months old before she began to grow
strong and hearty. This circumstance induced not only her mother, but
all the family, to bear with her infirmities of temper, and treat her
with great indulgence, and she had been allowed to do many things which
would have insured a sentence of banishment against any other cat. She
was exceedingly handsome, and very playful when in a good humour, and
the children were quite as fond of her as of Tody, who was never out of
temper, and always ready for a game of romps.
But all this had no influence upon Tabby. She had been so mischievous
lately that it had been absolutely necessary to punish her more than
once. But instead of seeing that it was her own fault and amending her
ways, she had made up her mind that she was a very ill-used cat, and
would be better off almost anywhere else than at home. This feeling had
been brewing in her mind for some time, and the events of the day had
brought it to such a point that she was determined to act upon it. How
she did so, and what adventures she met with, we shall see hereafter.
As Tabby sat down to her excellent dinner of bread and meat, she could
not help having some misgivings, when she reflected that she did not
know where she was to get her supper, nor whether she were likely to
have any, but she had made up her mind, and she was not a kitten to be
easily frightened. So she made a hearty meal, and took a good drink
of milk and water as a provision for her journey, and then began to
put her fur in order, watching impatiently for the time when she might
leave all her troubles behind her and escape to that unknown future
which her fancy pictured to her in such gay and attractive colours.
She had not to wait long. As if to favour her designs, her mother went
out earlier than usual, telling the kittens that she might be gone till
after tea, and giving them a great charge not to get into any mischief.
It was the day but one before Christmas. The cook was busy baking
mince-pies, stuffing her turkey, and getting all things ready for the
Christmas feast. The young ladies of the family, Miss Sophia and Miss
Fanny, were finishing up their presents, frosting cakes, and making
preparations for the children's party on Christmas eve, and the little
girls, Ella and Marian, were too happy in being allowed to help to care
anything about playing with the kittens.
It was about three o'clock in the afternoon. The sun was shining
brightly and it looked very pleasant out of doors, but in the house it
was necessary to keep up large fires to make the rooms comfortable.
Tabby watched her opportunity when the cook went out into the yard,
and slipped out after her, hiding behind the rose-bushes till she
went into the house and the door was shut. Then she jumped up on the
wall, skipped along the top till she came to where it joined the
back-wall of her next neighbour, and was just about to jump over,
when, to her consternation, she beheld her mother sitting below under
some grape-vines, in company with two or three other cats of the
neighbourhood. She drew back in haste, afraid lest her mother might
have seen her, and sat for some moments hardly daring to breathe.
Presently she ventured upon another peep. The mother had not stirred,
but was busily engaged in conversation with her friends, and Tabby took
courage. Instead of crossing directly into the next street, however, as
she had at first intended, she jumped over into the garden which joined
the back of Mr. Merriam's, crept along under the wall, then jumped over
into the next and the next, nor did she look round till she had put at
least half a dozen gardens, and quite a long street, between herself
and her fond mother and happy home.
She was now in quite an extensive garden, much larger than any she had
passed through, and planted with a variety of evergreens, and other
trees and shrubs, such as she had never seen before. Among them was one
covered with large bunches of crimson berries, and around this were
gathered many robins, some of which were perched on the branches, while
others perched on the snow, picking up the berries which had fallen on
the ground. Tabby wagged her tail and chattered her teeth with pleasure
at the sight.
"Now for a famous supper," she said to herself, as she crept softly
forward in the shadow of a large cedar tree. "If I can get one of these
nice large birds, and I am almost certain I can, I need not envy Tody
his supper of milk and cold toast. I think cold toast is miserable
stuff myself. Now for it!" said she, as, crouching close to the ground,
and wriggling her body, she prepared for a spring, already tasting the
game in anticipation.
But a bird in the bush is not the same as a bird in the hand, as Tabby
learned to her cost. She sprung with all her force, and alighted
exactly where she intended, but the bird which she had intended for
her supper was quicker than herself. He saw her as she sprang, and was
safely perched upon the top branches of the tree before she reached the
place where he had been. All the other robins took the alarm, and when
she looked around, after assuring herself that she had missed her aim,
every bird had disappeared.
The sun had set, and the piercing wind penetrated her fur, and made her
shiver all over. It was getting late; she had had no supper, and she
did not know where to turn to find any. Gladly would she have eaten
a piece of the cold toast she had so lately despised, or even one of
the buck-wheat cakes, which she would never condescend to touch. She
looked around her, and considered what was best to be done, and at last
determined to go boldly up to the house and ask for something to eat.
"It is such a grand house," she reflected, "that I am sure they must
have much nicer meals than we used to get at home."
Poor Tabby! She had yet to learn that the comforts of housekeeping are
not always proportioned to the size of the house by any means.
She stole gently along toward the kitchen, intending to watch her
opportunity and slip in when the door was opened, but she had not
reached it by a good many yards, when she heard a savage bark which
made her hair stand on end, and in another instant a fierce dog made a
dash at her. It was a fortunate thing for Tabby that a tree was close
at hand, or my story would have had a sudden termination. Terror lent
her wings, and in a moment she was safe among the branches, wondering
at her own escape, and feeling almost as if the bull-dog's teeth were
already in her back.
She was safe, however, for this time, but what to do next? The dog
was at the foot of the tree, barking savagely, and every now and then
leaping up as if to catch her. It was quite dark; she was chilled
through, and ready to faint from hunger. This was very different
certainly from the bright future she had portrayed to herself, sitting
by the fire in the nursery, and she began to wish she had stayed at
home. But it was too late now; she must drink as she had brewed, and
the beverage did not seem likely to be very much to her taste.
CHAPTER SECOND.
THE WARRINGTON FAMILY.
TABBY kept hoping that the dog would go away, so as to allow her to
come down, but he showed no signs of any intention to do so, keeping
watch at the foot of the tree, as though he had made up his mind to
have her for his supper at any cost; so Tabby thought at least, for she
did not know that dogs never ate cats.
The night grew colder and colder, the wind pierced through her fur,
and so benumbed her limbs that she could hardly retain her hold on
the branch. She was more hungry than she had ever been in all her
life before, and as she thought of her mother and Tody, snug and warm
in their nest under the back-room stairs, sleeping soundly after a
comfortable supper, she could hardly help mewing aloud.
"Oh!" said she to herself. "How foolish I was! If ever I get back
again, I shall know when I am well off. I daresay they are both sound
asleep, never thinking or caring what becomes of me."
Tabby knew better in her own mind, but her conscience accused her for
her undutiful conduct, and she felt as though it would be a relief to
blame somebody beside herself. If she had seen her dear mother hunting
for her up stairs and down and all over the neighbourhood, calling her
lost child in the most pitiful tones, her hard heart might have been
touched. But at present she thought of nothing but her own discomfort
and danger. At last, after what seemed an age to the poor kitten, the
gate opened, and some one came in whistling to the dog, who started up
and ran to meet the new-comer, and then ran back to the tree, looking
up at the kitten and then at his master, saying as plainly as a dog
could say it: "There is a strange cat up in this tree."
"Why, Carlo, old dog, what are you barking at?" said the young
gentleman, looking up into the tree. "Some unlucky cat, I suppose?"
"Miaw," ventured Tabby, thinking he looked very good-natured, and
resolved on making an appeal to his sympathies. "Miau—au! Miew!"
The result of this experiment proved that she had not been mistaken in
her estimate of character.
"Down, Carlo, down, old dog," said he to Carlo, and the old fellow
immediately crouched down, looking on, however, with much interest to
see what his young master was going to do.
"If I had minded my dear mother as well as that, I should not have
been in this scrape," was Tabby's passing reflection, as she ventured
to descend from the tree at the repeated invitations of the young
gentleman, still, however, keeping a watchful eye upon the dog, and
ready to betake herself to her place of refuge the moment he showed
signs of another attack. No sooner did she come within reach, however,
than Mr. Warrington seized her, and despite her struggles, for she was
now almost as much afraid of him as of the dog, he carried her into the
house, and introduced her into a warm and light room, where the family
were assembled at supper.
"See here, girls," said he, as he held her out by the back of the neck,
"here is some company for you."
"Another cat! I do think you are out of you senses, George!" said a
young lady who was seated at the table. "You know the children will
torment its life out, and a kitten is a nuisance in the house, at any
rate."
"We shan't either. That is just like you, Barbara!" said a little girl
about the age of Ella Merriam. "Always meddling. Do give her to me,
George!"
"No, give her to me," exclaimed a younger girl and a boy both together.
"Don't give her to Aggy, give her to me. Aggy has got the parrot now."
"And Dora has got the gold-fish. I think you might give her to me,
George."
"I have not said I should give her to anybody yet," said George,
stroking Tabby, who began to think she had got among a queer set of
people.
"I think, if I make a present to any one, it will be to Tessy, who has
not asked for it at all."
The eyes of the little girl who sat at the end of the table began to
sparkle, and she said gratefully, "Thank you, George. I shall like it
so much. I have always wanted a tortoise-shell kitten."
"Tessy gets everything," said Agnes, her pretty face flushing with ill
temper. "I wish I was lame, and then perhaps I might get something done
for me."
"For shame, Agnes!" said Barbara. "How can you speak so of your cousin,
as though she would be lame if she could help it? I think you have made
a wise choice, George, though I am afraid the poor cat will not fare
the better for it."
"I won't have any quarrelling about it, children," said Mrs.
Warrington, who had hitherto kept silence. "I wish you had not brought
her in at all, George, but since you have, you had better let her go
into the kitchen and get something to eat."
"O mother! Do let us feed her here," exclaimed Dora and Charley
together. "Let us give her some milk under the table."
"You know I do not like to have cats fed at the table," Mrs. Warrington
began, but her voice was overborne in a torrent of remonstrance.
"Yes, mother! What harm will it do? Old Brindle always ate up here. Do
give us some milk for her."
"Well," said Mrs. Warrington resignedly, giving way as usual, "only
don't spill the milk on the carpet."
"I think the kitchen is the best place for her, for my part, if she is
to stay at all," said Agnes. "A little dirty thing; she is not half as
pretty as old Brindle was."
"Agnes thinks the grapes are sour," said Dora, as she set down a china
saucer half full of milk. "She thought it was a beautiful kitten till
George gave it to Tessy."
"Dora!" said her mother reprovingly.
"Well, she did, mother, you know she did."
"I wonder what Mrs. Merriam would say if Miss Ella or Miss Marian were
to speak to her or to each other in that way?" thought Tabby to herself.
She drank the milk eagerly, and then looked up expecting something
more, but nobody offered her anything, though there was cold meat on
the table, and she would have been very glad even of a piece of dry
bread. At last, the little girl called Tessy took a crust from her
plate and offered it to her, but she had hardly seized it, before Agnes
and Charley both exclaimed: "There, mother, Theresa is feeding her off
her plate!"
"I am surprised at you, Theresa," said Mrs. Warrington severely. "You
know I have forbidden the cats to be fed in the dining-room."
"She looked so hungry," said Tessy in excuse, her pale face flushing at
the rebuke.
"Never mind how she looked. I told you once, and that was enough. I
shall not let her stay here at all, if that is the way you are going to
do."
"I don't see why it was any worse for Tessy than for Dora and Charley,"
said Barbara half aside to George. "But, poor girl, she has to take all
the governing for the whole concern."
If Mrs. Warrington heard this speech, she did not see fit to notice it,
and the whole party rose from the table, leaving Tabby alone in the
dining-room, though Tessy looked longingly at her, as though she would
have liked to carry her along.
"What children!" said Tabby to herself. "And what a cross woman! I am
sure I never heard such goings-on at our tea-table, and I think it is a
great deal pleasanter than this, though our dishes and tea-pots are not
half so handsome. I think they might have offered me a bit of that cold
meat; I am half-starved. I mean to have a piece at any rate."
So saying, she mounted upon a chair and was just reaching out her paw
to the dish, when the door opened suddenly, and Agnes came in. Tabby
made a hasty jump, and in her confusion, not seeing where she was
going, she knocked a cup off the table, and broke it in two, besides
spilling the tea all over the cloth.
"Oh! Ho! Miss Kitty! So that is the way you behave, is it?" said Agnes,
seizing upon her as she tried to make her escape under the sideboard.
"We shall see what mother will say to that!" And despite Tabby's
efforts, she was carried off a prisoner to the drawing-room.
"Here is your beautiful tortoise-shell kitten, Miss Tessy! She has
been up on the table, eaten all the cold meat, and broken two or three
cups and saucers!" Such was Agnes's announcement, made in a tone
of ill-natured triumph, as she entered the drawing-room with Tabby
squeezed under her arm.
"Oh! What a story!" thought Tabby, as she struggled to escape from the
pressure of Agnes's elbow. "I never touched the cold meat, and I only
broke one cup."
"So much for bringing a strange cat into the house," said Mrs.
Warrington in displeasure, and looking at Theresa as if she were the
cause of all the mischief. "I will have her sent off or put out of the
way to-morrow."
"Stop, mother. Remember she is my cat," said George. "I am not sure
about having her disposed of so summarily. It was not right to leave
her alone in the room with the meat. I daresay she was half-starved,
poor thing."
"If you had given her to Agnes, she would not have been so ready to
tell of her," said Dora. "Tabby is not the first who has taken things
off the table." Tabby was quite surprised to hear herself called by her
name, not knowing that it was one commonly applied to tortoise-shell
cats.
"It is no worse to take things off the table than out of the cupboard,"
retorted Agnes.
"You need not squeeze the poor thing so, at any rate," said Charley,
trying to pull Tabby away.
But Agnes held her fast, and the poor kitten began to think she would
be torn in pieces between them. She uttered such a pitiful cry that
Tessy started from her chair, and exclaimed, as her eyes filled with
tears: "Oh! Don't hurt her so, poor little thing! Give her to me,
please, Charley," she added imploringly, as Charley succeeded in
gaining possession of her.
Charley hesitated, but he saw his elder brother's eye fixed upon him,
and he had his reasons for not caring to disoblige George so near to
Christmas time. "Take her then," he said rather sullenly, holding her
out to Theresa, who took her and began smoothing her fur, ruffled by
the violence of the children, "but I don't believe mother will let you
keep her—will you, mother?"
"I certainly shall not have her about, if she gets on the table," said
Mrs. Warrington with decision. "I think if people must have a cat,
the barn is the best place for her. You had better take her out now,
Charley, before she does any more mischief."
"Wait till Tessy goes to bed, mother," interposed Barbara, who had left
the room a few minutes before, and now came back in time to hear her
mother's last words. "The kitten has not done much harm after all. She
has only broken that cup which has been cracked for a long time, and
the meat is quite untouched. I would learn to tell a story straight, if
I were Agnes."
"I would learn to mind my own affairs if I were Barbara," retorted
Agnes, vexed that her sister should expose her exaggerations.
"Hush, Agnes," said her mother. "I am glad it was no worse. That cup
has been unfit to be seen this long time, and so I have told Jane, but
she would always set it out. I am really glad it is out of the way. You
can keep the kitten till bed-time, Tessy, if you like, but don't let
her get on any of the tables here."
Tabby had not the least inclination to get out of the lap of her kind
little protectress, who stroked her so softly, and allowed her to lie
quietly and recover her breath, after the rough treatment to which
she had been subjected. By and by Tabby began to regain her spirits,
to wash herself and to purr in answer to Tessy's gentle caresses. She
had hardly ever been willing to lie in Ella Merriam's lap, though her
little mistress never punished her in her life, but she was beginning
to know a little of the value of kindness.
The children took very little more notice of her, but busied themselves
with some games and puzzles, quarrelling and snapping at each other
every few minutes. George and Barbara played chess and talked to each
other, and Mrs. Warrington sat at a little table under the gas-light,
and busied herself with some very curious-looking knitting. Tessy had
her knitting to, but she spent most of her time patting and talking to
Tabby, who now began to show off some of her accomplishments in the
line of playing. At last Tessy's ball rolled out of her lap, and Tabby
jumped after it, and brought it back in her mouth, as Marian had taught
her to do. Tessy clapped her hands with delight.
"See, aunt—see, George! She has brought my ball back to me. What a dear
little kitty!"
"I don't believe she did it on purpose," said Charley. "Try her again,
Tessy."
Tessy rolled the ball and Tabby sprang after it, bringing it in her
mouth as before, and jumping up into Tessy's lap.
"She is a cunning little thing," said Mrs. Warrington, after the
experiment had been successfully repeated a number of times. "I never
saw a cat do as much as that."
Tabby was delighted to see the effect of the favourable impression she
had made, and tried the effect of her other grand feats, sitting up
very straight on her hind legs, and putting her paws over her nose, as
she had seen her mother do when begging for something to eat. She even
went so far as to lie down on her back and roll over, a feat she had
always been very unwilling to perform for Miss Ella, but she felt the
necessity of making herself agreeable in her new situation.
Every one, even Agnes, agreed that she was a very pretty kitten, and
wonderfully clever, but no one talked of getting her anything to eat,
as she had hoped they would do. And when bed-time came, Mrs. Warrington
gave her to Charley, and ordered him to give her to Jem to be carried
out to the barn.
"Won't Carlo kill her if she is put out in the barn?" Tessy
remonstrated.
"Oh! She can get up on the beams out of his way," replied Mrs.
Warrington carelessly.
Tessy still looked very unhappy, and George remarking it, took the
kitten from Charley's hands, saying to Tessy, "I will carry her out
myself, and give Carlo a lesson on the subject. I will engage that he
shall not touch her if I tell him not to do so. They will be the best
friends in the world in a week's time."
"Friends with that horrible great dog! That I am sure I never shall,"
said Tabby to herself. "O my dear mother! What would you say if you
knew that I was going to be put into such a place?" And for the first
time Tabby began to wish she had been a better kitten.
George carried her out to the barn, and setting her down, called Carlo
to him, who came out of his nest rather unwillingly. His eyes glistened
when he saw the kitten, and he licked his great jaws in a way that made
poor Tabby feel as though she were already devoured. Mr. George sat
down on a box, and placing the kitten on his knee, he called Carlo up
to him.
"See here, Carlo," said he, as Carlo came slowly along, "I want to show
you this kitten. This is 'my' kitten, and you must not hurt her. Do you
hear?"
Carlo turned his head round as far as he could, so as not to see Tabby,
but Mr. George forced him to look at her.
"Now remember!" said he, as he set the kitten down on the floor under
his nose. "You must not hurt her yourself, nor let any other dog meddle
with her. You must take good care of her."
Carlo looked at the kitten and then at his master, wagged his tail, and
nodded his head, as much as to say, "I will do as you tell me."
And George, satisfied that he would keep his word, took up the lantern
and went out of the barn, shutting the door after him. No sooner was
he gone than Tabby bounced up to the top of the manger, spitting and
spreading out her tail, and making a tremendous fuss, as though she
were going to eat somebody up in a moment. But Carlo only grinned
good-naturedly, and went off to his bed in the straw, leaving Tabby to
settle herself for the night as she pleased.
She did not feel like settling at all, for she had never slept away
from her mother and Tody before, and besides she was very hungry,
having had nothing since dinner except the milk the children had given
her. Tabby had never caught a mouse in her life, though she had eaten
two or three, and liked them very much; and she now began to speculate
on the possibility of procuring one for her supper. She looked about a
little, and seeing a very promising-looking hole under the manger, she
settled herself to watch, as she had seen her mother do. She had not
been long on the look-out, before a sharp nose and a pair of whiskers
peeped out of the hole followed by a head and part of a body.
If Tabby had considered a moment, she would have seen that the head was
much too large for that of a mouse, but she thought of nothing but her
supper, and springing at the intruder, she seized him by the ears. In a
moment she felt a sharp pain in her face, and discovered that she was
caught in her turn by an enormous rat, very nearly as large as herself.
In vain did she struggle and scratch; the rat held on, and presently
another brown head was seen peering from the same hole.
Poor Tabby now gave herself up for lost, but at that moment she
received efficient aid from a very unexpected quarter. Carlo had come
out of his nest on hearing the scuffle, and seeing the state of the
case, he bounced in among the combatants. The rats quickly retreated to
their holes, leaving Tabby ready to faint from fear and fatigue.
"That rat had very nearly finished you, little kitty," said Carlo,
after he had hunted through the straw, and smelt at the hole, to make
sure that the enemy had left the field. "If I had not come in just as I
did, he would have killed you as sure as a gun."
"I am sure I am very much obliged to you, Carlo," said poor Tabby, as
soon as she could find breath. "I thought it was all over with me when
I saw the second rat coming. Just see how he has bitten my face!"
"It is too bad!" said Carlo, giving the little face a compassionate
lick with his great red tongue. "You should not try to catch rats yet,
Tabby, you are quite too little. I should think a mouse would be quite
as much as you could manage."
"I wish I could catch a mouse, any way," said Tabby with her eyes full
of tears, as she licked the blood off her paws and breast. "I am so
hungry I don't know what to do. O my dear mother! If I ever get back to
you, I will be a better kitten than I have been."
"How did you come to leave your mother?" asked Carlo. "Did some one
steal you, or did your people give you away?"
"I ran away," said Tabby, feeling very much ashamed as she made the
confession. "I thought they did not use me well at home, and that it
would be a very fine thing to seek my fortune. But if all the world is
like what I have seen since dinner-time, I don't want to know any more
about it. I am sure I never saw Miss Ella and Miss Merriam quarrel as
the children here do." And then Tabby stopped, all at once, remembering
how she had quarrelled with Tody that very morning.
"The world is a large place, and there are a great many different sorts
of people in it," said Carlo thoughtfully. "I think if one has even a
tolerably good home, it is best to stay in it while one can, and not
try to improve one's condition by running away, one doesn't know where.
But if you want to catch a mouse, there are plenty in this barn. I will
show you where to watch, and I have no doubt you will find one very
soon. Just call me if the rats trouble you again. Good-night."
Carlo showed Tabby a proper place to watch, and then lay down to sleep,
but it was not till after two hours of patient waiting, and one or
two disappointments, that she succeeded in catching a tolerably-sized
mouse. Nothing that she had eaten in her life ever tasted half so good
to her as this mouse; she only wished it had been twice as large; and
having eaten all but the tail, she washed her face and paws, as her
mother had taught her to do after meals, and then went and curled down
in the straw close to Carlo, feeling as though his presence would be a
protection, for she felt very friendless and lonely. Her face pained
her very much at first, but it grew easier by degrees, and at last she
fell asleep, and slept soundly till morning.
She was roused by the entrance of the stable-boy, who was very much
surprised to see a kitten lying asleep between Carlo's paws. It was not
long before a little lame step and the sound of a crutch was heard upon
the brick walk outside, and Tabby, guessing by instinct to whom they
belonged, ran to the door, and met Theresa, who had come out to seek
her as soon as she was dressed.
"Oh! My dear little kitty! How glad I am to see you," she exclaimed,
resting her crutch against the stable-door, and taking Tabby up in her
arms. "But how did you hurt your poor little face so badly? Carlo, you
naughty dog, did you bite my poor pussy?"
"I don't believe it was Carlo, Miss Theresa," said Jem; "I rather think
a rat did that. I found her and Carlo sleeping on the straw together,
as good friends as you please."
If it had been in Tabby's power, she would have told Tessy how Carlo
had taken her part against the rats, and showed her how to catch a
mouse for her supper. But she could not make her little mistress
understand such a long story, so she had to content herself with
rubbing her head against the old dog's legs, and looking up in his
face to show that they were good friends. Tessy was very much pleased
at this exhibition of good feeling between her two favourites; and
taking Tabby in her arms, and followed by Carlo, she was soon at the
kitchen-door, begging the cook to give her some cold meat for their
breakfast.
Now Tessy, even in the short time she had been in her aunt's family,
had become a great favourite with all the servants, from her kindness
and her obliging manners, and they were all ready to do anything in
their power for the little lame girl, who took such good care of her
things and never gave them any unnecessary trouble. So as soon as
Martha heard what it was that Tessy wanted, she went into the pantry
and soon returned with a plateful of bits of cold meat and potatoes,
bread-crumbs, and other scraps, which she set down before the hungry
animals.
Tabby ate her share very thankfully, and did not grumble when Carlo
took a large part of the meat for his share, leaving her the cold
potatoes and crumbs. Could this be the same kitten who only twenty-four
hours before had turned up her nose so scornfully at the cold hash,
and would hardly condescend to eat a bit of chicken? Yes, but Tabby
had learned more wisdom in that twenty-four hours than in all her
life before; for she had learned to know when she was well off, and
to appreciate the goodness of her kind mother and brother. She almost
choked over her breakfast as she thought of Tody, and imagined how
lonely he must be with nobody to play with; and she resolved that as
soon as the weather moderated a little, she would find her way home,
tell her mother how sorry she was, and endeavour to make amends for
giving her so much trouble.
As Tessy stood leaning on her crutch watching Tabby and Carlo, some one
called her from the top of the stairs, and looking up at the sound, she
saw her cousin Barbara.
"What are you doing in the kitchen so early, Tessy?" asked Miss
Warrington.
"I am feeding my kitten," said Tessy. "The rats have bitten her
terribly; at least Jem says it is the rats, and I don't like to have
her stay in the barn, but I don't know what to do with her."
"Why don't you take her into the play-room?" asked Barbara.
"I would," replied Tessy, "but—" she hesitated, and Barbara seemed to
understand her.
"I know, but never mind, Tessy, try to keep the peace as long as you
stay. Remember we shall go away after the holidays, and I am sure
you will like being at school. You can take the kitten into my room,
and play with her there in peace, for the children are all going out
directly after breakfast. I know they are troublesome little torments,
but it cannot be helped."
Theresa felt very grateful for the permission, but as she picked up
Tabby and followed her cousin up stairs to her own room, she could not
help thinking that Barbara did not always take the best way to help it,
and that she might do a good deal to improve matters if she went to
work in the right way.
Tessy had been used to a very different state of things. Her father
and mother had been dead a long time, and she and her two little
brothers had resided with an aunt, who took care of them. Tessy could
not recollect having quarrelled with her brothers but twice in her
life, and both times when they were all very little children. She well
remembered how sorry and ashamed she had felt, and how glad they had
all been to kiss and be friends again. When her good aunt died, and her
brothers were placed in situations proper for them, she had been in
some degree consoled for the distress of parting by the idea that in
her cousins she should have companions of her own age, and little girls
too.
But she had not been long in her aunt's family before she discovered
that it was very possible for "children of one family" to be anything
but pleasant companions. Agnes, Dora, and Charley quarrelled from
morning till night. If Dora particularly liked any of her schoolmates,
it was reason enough for Agnes to dislike her; and she never failed
to take every opportunity of displaying her feelings. Dora, in her
turn, hated all Agnes's pets, declaring that Madge, the parrot, was
a perfect nuisance, and Mary Parker, Agnes's favourite playmate, the
most disagreeable girl she had ever seen in her life. Charley was his
mother's pet, and, secure in her favour, he teased every one in the
house, except his brother George, of whom he stood considerably in awe.
Mrs. Warrington was an indolent woman who loved her children in a
passive way, especially when they were small, but she could never take
the trouble to teach, much less to govern them. The only approach she
ever made to the latter, was to threaten to send them to bed if they
quarrelled. But as she never put her threat into execution, it had
very little effect in stopping their contentions. Barbara and George
were only her stepchildren. They were about eight years old when she
married Mr. Warrington, and had been kept at school almost ever since,
meeting only in the holidays. They were twins, extremely fond of each
other, and caring very little for any other society when together;
they were, in a measure, independent of the circle at home, even of
their step-mother, who, however, always treated them very kindly in her
passive way, and to whom they were generally respectful.
Barbara had very little influence with her brothers and sisters, and
did not act in a way to increase it, for she did not take pains to
conceal her opinion that they were as she expressed it, "troublesome
little torments." George had more, and used it more wisely, and he did
now and then succeed in putting a stop to their endless contentions.
Agnes was sometimes induced to give up her own way, and Dora to
cease her sarcastic speeches, and even Charley to restrain his fit
of passion, when his older brother's calm eye was fixed upon him,
especially about Christmas time; for George was abundantly supplied
with pocket-money, and made a very wise as well as a very generous use
of it.
It was into such a family as this that Tessy was introduced to spend
the remainder of her life, at least till she should have a home of her
own. It may be easily believed that she did not find it very pleasant.
She was, as one of the servants expressed it, like a cat without claws
in the midst of her young cousins, and most thankful she was when her
aunt and her guardian decided that she should go to boarding-school
with Barbara after the Christmas holidays.