Jimmy was lying on an old cot out in the orchard, getting some of the
nice spring sunshine on his thin body. There was an anxious frown on his
face now, and every little while he would turn on his side, look through
the orchard, and call "Kittv kitty! kitty! Annette, Come, Ann-ette."
But Annette did not come. His mother came and reminded him that Annette
was very old indeed, and it might be that she would never come again.
"She was here yesterday, Mother," he answered her, and the big tears
came to his eyes "She felt perfectly fine then."
"I know, but she's an old cat. She never strays away of her own accord,
and certainlv no one would steal an old blind cat."
Later on during the day a man came walking up to their house. He introduced
himself as the new neighbor who just moved across the little creek. He
made inquiries as to where he could buy fresh vegetables and milk. And
just as he was about to leave he remarked, "I did a strange thing early
this morning. There was an old cat came over to my place. One ear was
almost gone and it was blind. I'm not much of a hand to make way with
things, but I felt so sorry for that poor old animal that I killed it."
"Oh!" With a strangled sob Jimmy quickly left the room.
His mother explained to the man it had been their old pet. He was very
sorry, but of course that did not bring the cat back.
"When I saw it, I just banged it over the head with a stick and then
buried it. You will never know how badly I feel about it."
When he was gone, mother went out to find Jimmy and comfort him. He was
out in the orchard on his knees. Quietly she went up and knelt beside
him, slipping her arm about his shoulder.
He turned to her at once. "Mother, there's something funny about Annette.
I've been praying and I feel all happy inside. It's just as if she wasn't
dead at all!"
"What would we ever do without our Comforter, son?" she said. "He does
help us bear our burdens in a wonderful way."
"I'll say he does. This morning I felt so bad I didn't know what to do,
and then when that man said--he had killed Annette--I thought I just
could not stand it. And here I am happy as anything again. And just
because I took it all to Jesus. I think Annette is all right now."
"She was very old, son. It wouldn't have been much longer anyway.
Why--why--Jimmy!"
But Jimmy was running swiftly across the field toward an old blind cat
that was staggering in his direction.
Apparently the new neighbor had only stunned the cat and she had dug her
way out of the shallow hole and come home again.
It was years before she really died, and long before she presented Jimmy
with a very tiny kitten with two whole ears and two very bright eyes.
This story may sound strange to you, so perhaps I had better add that
it is really true.
--Mary M. Naylor.