a handsome fellow with a coat of wavy golden red hair and eyes of
such beseeching softness that he won all mankind. Until the advent of
Thursday he had been sole proprietor and sovereign owner of the sunny
back porch and playground, not to mention the hearts he ruled. But
with the coming of the little black lady all his previous rights were
changed, she, with nonchalant impudence, taking cool and unchallenged
possession of all, including the king himself, who seemed one of
her most willing subjects. She quickly learned and presumed on her
power over him but with heroic patience this handsome fellow yielded
glad obedience and was ever ready to bend before her small feminine
coquetry, his gallantry seeming boundless. Like a knight of old, he
was always rushing to her rescue and ever espousing her cause, using
his strength generously at all times in her behalf. If she happened
to cry within her privileged precincts of the house, screened from his
entrance, if he was anywhere on the grounds within sound of her call,
he would instantly come to her succor, peering through the screen with
such an anxious, troubled expression in his dear goldy-brown eyes,
his head turned first on one side and then on the other, a way setters
have when trying to fathom mysteries. Having satisfied himself that she
was in no serious trouble or in need of his gallant protectorship, he
would lift his appealing brown eyes to us with an air of unutterable
reproach for his unnecessary disturbance, and drop to the floor with
a huge sigh, perhaps to try again for a few quiet winks. Life with
him was no longer dull or lacking in color after Thursday became a
member of our household, but was full of rich and varied interests
for every waking hour, which were many more than formerly, as it was
only under the greatest difficulties that he could get even half of
his accustomed hours of greedy sleep through the interrupted days. Of
old, his choice of pleasant places of repose had been the shady back
porch, where he would stretch himself at full length, his velvety ears
lying broad and flat, and he still indulged himself in this chosen
spot, although under difficulties. For Thursday had soon learned that
to snuggle close to his curly coat meant warmth and comfort, but not
for the dog, for it teased and worried his naps dreadfully to have her
cuddle so close. However as he seemed loathe to surrender this adopted
spot, his by "right of domain," he was most gentlemanly and patient,
never even saying "bow." When sleepy time came the kitten would boldly
hunt his resting place and nestle under the softness of his downy
ear for her siesta. Feigning sleep, his nose between his paws and one
eye half-open, the dog would bide the time when she was fast asleep
and then, most cautiously and carefully, draw himself away in order
to have his ear to himself. Little Lonesome, feeling the want of her
comfortable covering, would sleepily creep under his ear again and
the setter would again, with touching resignation, watch his chance
and get away. This exchange of courtesies would go on until the dog
evidently realized that he might as well give up and let the little
wilful torment have her way. Or there might be times when he would
get his lazy self up and off, but even this manoeuvre might be only
temporary relief, if the kitten still longed for his companionship.
Never once was the dog known to growl or fail in politeness, even when
the kitten trespassed on his hospitality to the extent of selecting
such dainty bits from his dinner plate as pleased her fancy. At
such times he would stand by, big and stern, wistfully watching the
choice pieces disappear, and patiently wait until she had finished
her selection and was seated on her haunches near by, washing her
little black face, before he would presume to take that which, in her
gracious indulgence, she had left for him. In this elaborate ceremony
of her toilet, she would sometimes pause, and with a kind of pensive
wondering, gaze at her now greedy host. In this attitude, with one tiny
paw raised meditatively, and her mouth half-open showing a bit of pink
tongue between her gleaming teeth, she looked as if actually smiling
in supreme affability on an attendant chamberlain. At all times, the
attitude of affected condescension assumed by this mite of a kitten
toward her big gentlemanly comrade, was so absurd as to be very funny.
[Illustration: THURSDAY
As She Never Attained the Full Stature of an Ordinary Cat, She Always
Looked But Half Grown But Was the Very Perfection of Dainty Symmetry,
Her Coat a Solid Black, Almost Blue in its Depths]
And so the summer and fall months passed and the dog and kitten grew
in friendship and intimacy and were an endless source of interest to
the family. Unfortunately for these pets, the country home was soon to
be broken up and closed for the winter. Thursday's devoted friend and
protector, the setter, was sent to the hunting lodge, and a home was
provided for the kitten with a friend who lived only a couple of miles
away.
The girl cherished this little darling kitten which she had rescued,
devotedly, and was very sad at the necessary parting, but never
dreamed for a moment but that she would be the only one to experience
any regret. She thought, of course, that the heart of her apparently
frivolous little pet would readily accept the new conditions without a
homesick thought, as it meant the same kindness, food and shelter to
which she had been accustomed, and to leave her alone at the country
house was out of the question, as it would be to risk letting her
perish with cold and hunger. So the kitten was carried to the home of
the friend and left, with a big heartache but, as the girl thought,
only on her part.
The next day through the telephone came the report that Lady Thursday
did not take at all kindly to her change of residence, but expressed
a decided dissatisfaction with the new order of things, scorning all
food with a painfully injured air, staring straight ahead in black
misery, ignoring everybody and all overtures in the way of coaxing,
petting and comforting. Every means possible was tried to make her
feel settled and as happy as a kitten ought to be in such a good
home, but all in vain. Late in the afternoon this bonnie wee bit of
homesickness appeared at our door, looking so pathetically small and
weary, but still determined, that it made the tears come just to look
at her. She was as quiet and demure as an injured saint but there was
an anxious wistfulness in her big pleading eyes that went straight
to one's heart. She evidently realized that she had transgressed the
law in eluding the vigilance of her keepers, and in running away, and
her trembling little heart was thumping a wild tattoo. But her mental
and physical rapture at being in her own home once more was glowing
in triumphant satisfaction in every movement. And that she had been
shrewd enough to find her way back all by herself in a road where
there were no sign-posts a cat might read, but only scent for guide
was also obviously a source of great self-congratulation to her. This
demonstration of preference on the kitten's part for her home, and for
her, was a surprise to the girl and touched her heart, for she had not
thought her saucy, independent little favorite capable of such deep
appreciation. It was so evident that this obstinate little pet objected
to this change of abode that it was with the greatest reluctance
that the girl felt forced to send her back again. There surely could
be no mistaking the small queen's sentiments in the matter, for her
manner was so haughty and reproachful. It might be a lovely joke her
perfidious family were playing on her, but they had made a sad mistake,
if they were serious, to think for one moment she would condone such
treachery or that she would tolerate the other house as home, even for
one day. She bestowed a royal "not-to-do-it-again" sort of threat on
all, but in spite of her scathing remonstrance, she was told of the
absolute need she had of another shelter, consoled and again carried to
the distant home, rather than be allowed her stubborn way and left at
the deserted country place to take her chances against starvation and
neglect.
This time the little black visitor was shown special attention by the
rather indignant friends of the girl, and more carefully guarded. If
she showed a tendency to wander, she was made a prisoner in the hope
that she would soon forget her former home and accept the inevitable,
which from their point of view, was certainly very nice. Although the
kitten was unnaturally patient and seemed to look upon their soothing
efforts with a desire to be soothed, time showed that she remained,
through all, unmoved in purpose, proving that in her apparently
indifferent and trivial nature there were depths that had not been
suspected.
The great master passion of home-love and, for a small cat, a
tremendous wilfulness were developing in her sturdy little body. She
would not be reconciled to this new home but was slyly on the alert,
constantly devising all sorts of shrewd ways in which she might cheat
her keepers and gain her end.
One day toward evening, their vigilance being somewhat relaxed, owing
to her seeming submission, she managed to escape. She had been very
crafty in her "seeming submission" as it had evidently been only a
subterfuge, for she showed she had not been vanquished by any manner
of means, or even discouraged by the delay. All the time she had
seemed so sad and passive she must have been only biding her time
and opportunity, scheming all the while desperately in feminine
ingenuity to outwit her jailors. When finally she was rewarded, and the
instant she was free, she went scampering down the path, through the
timberland, taking by instinct the "short cut" which was the nearest
and straightest way to the one place on earth to her, each bounding
step keeping time to the homesick beat of her heart.
Oh, poor, plucky, obstinate morsel of a kitten! If there had only
been some kindly hand to have turned you back; turned you back from
that demon, hungry and savage, lying in wait for you in the narrow
path through which you were sure to pass! Oh, that there had been
some Spirit of Pity that cherishes the kittens, to have had a saving
compassion on you!
But on sped the flying feet, with eyes blind to all but the one
big home-impulse that was giving her the courage of ten. All grief,
disappointment and heartaches forgotten as the old friendly place
grew nearer and nearer. Down through the valley and up the fatal
hill, racing as fast as she could go on the ragged path, clearing
brambles and ditches and fallen tree-trunks with flying leaps, turning
neither to the right nor the left, going straight for home. Panting
and throbbing she finally reached a tiny roadway among the briars
and undergrowth, a narrow trail seldom used except by small fur and
those in a hurry, like Thursday. Faster and faster she went exultingly
on through this shadowy thicket to the next descent, and deeper and
deeper into the depth and mystery of the woods, where loomed a silent
murderer, set in rabbit land for the unwary, which had marked this
little pitiful victim to clutch in its fatal curve.
Have courage, little Thursday, and turn back. Oh, in mercy turn back
and save yourself from the horrible fate of this half-concealed shadow
so near to you now! Or, halt an instant and go round this deadly trap.
Home is so near, only a little way now. Home! Home! almost in sight,
in answer to the burning desire in your heart. A sudden stop! The
twinkling of a black shape twirling in the air, and the path is empty!
The deadly grip of the cruel wire has borne Thursday home in a flash.
[Illustration]
A MINE, A MINER, AND A CAT
The mining camps of California in the days of '49 are full of romance
and history and any man who has once tasted their free independent
adventure can never more escape the influence. The gambling chance
which every miner took in those fascinating days, is continually
tempting him again to the old life. This charm, which that most
merciless Enchantress of the California Hills casts on all alike, is
unfathomable, and grips the mighty as well as the weak. The quest of
gold, which rewarded some and eluded others in those days, still has
a grappling temptation to every man who has once been under its spell.
To the pioneer Californian, it is a summons forever luring him to that
old battle ground round the big shaft where the sky is big and it feels
good just to be alive. You will find that the old-time miners forever
chafe in the dullness and conventionalities of any humdrum existence
along commercial lines, and for any slight excuse will exultantly take
the wide tramp road that leads to what they call "God's own country."
They are found ever eager to give body, and soul if necessary,
joyously, in the intoxicating excitement this fickle sorceress holds
out to them in the game of chance which they think _must_ win in the
end.
One of these sturdy relics of the early days in the golden west, after
years of struggle and vain trials to settle down into the drudgery of
precarious success in trade, grew tired of waiting for the miracle
of prosperity to even begin to happen, and was in despair. In his
blue discouragement those dream ghosts of the happy mining days were
ungovernable in their insistent presence and pulling at his heart
strings with an almost visible and steady line.
Long ago when he first came to the west, in the mad rush after gold
in '49 he had been one of the "pardners" to locate and work a certain
claim. In the fever and scramble of making a fortune in a minute, and
expecting to pick up handfuls of gold with little trouble, this company
had become discouraged at the slow profits yielded by this claim, and
had abandoned it upon the report of much richer discoveries farther on,
he following with the others. During all these years that he had tried
to settle down into steady, legitimate business a haunting certainty
had grown in his mind that they had been too hasty in abandoning this
mine. The remembrance of a promising lead, which had been discovered
in one of those hustling days and which, in their breathless hurry for
big lumps, had not been followed faithfully enough, and consequently
had been overlooked and forgotten, obsessed his present gloomy outlook
until it could no longer be ignored.
One especially desperate day, when affairs had been unusually irksome,
he sat down in dejection and thought deep and hard on this inward
and tantalizing urge to the old mountains. Immediately following this
quiet hour with himself he gave up the effort of trying to succeed in
his present uncongenial work, and throwing discretion to the winds,
yielded in glorious abandon to the call in his blood, ringing too
loud to longer oppose. Fortunately there were no ties of family or
responsibilities other than business to shake off, so shouldering his
pick and shovel, treasured through all these years, he joyously started
with his chin up and his back straight, for the splendid freedom of
the old familiar hills. His destination the long abandoned claim hidden
away in the far-off wilds, where there was a chance, sure, and no one
had yet, as far as he could learn, discovered the "lead."
He determined to go there again, to work it alone this time, and to be
deliberate and to stay with it until the hills _did_ deliver up to him
their royal secret. To this miner-man it meant life, real life, health
and above all, freedom, with a big chance of a fortune. If it were a
fool's folly, he would gamely take a "flyer" and abide by the result at
any cost.
So this strong-handed, broad-shouldered man, big in heart and big in
soul and a lover of the silent places, in answering the call of his
old miner days, set his hopeful face toward the great mountains and
the days to come, in reckless venture, with only faith, a pair of
strong arms and a pick and spade to help him solve the problem. It is a
well-known fact that these men going into the wildness and loneliness
of these rugged heights, cherish a cat as indispensable to their camp
life; as important an addition to their "grub stakes" as beans and
coffee. And so intimate do these two become under their isolated,
and often desperate conditions, that an almost human friendship and
affection springs up between them.
At the last trading post nearest the mine the man planned to "outfit"
and to secure a four-footed partner. The cat he thought would be so
easy that he never gave it a second thought, but on his arrival at
the little town busied himself packing and getting everything in
light transportation order for the "return horse" on the morrow.
These arrangements off his mind, he got very busy in looking about
for the last requisite, a cat. His intentions in regard to acquiring
one were perfectly honorable. He would beg one if possible, buy one
if necessary, but he must have a cat at any price, not only for its
company and usefulness, but in accordance with all past traditions
of mines and miners. There were cats and cats a plenty in this little
mining town, clinging to the rough side of the granite hill, but, as
it seemed, none to spare. Not one to give away and not one to sell,
and he might as well have tried to barter with the air, as no price or
accommodation could induce any one of them to part with one of their
precious little beasts, and he was in despair. After strenuous hours
of vain persuasion, which had eliminated the question of choice or
price in regard to the cat, he had gone to the public house for supper,
exhausted and out of patience, but none the less determined on having
the desired "partner." The early starlight found him sitting on the
dark veranda, solitary and alone, pondering the cat question, not as
to spots or breeding or even a cat, but as to which, and how. He must
have a cat and these people being the last resort would have to furnish
it at whatever cost. With his chair tilted back, his hands deep in his
pockets and his face turned heavenward he seemed to be looking at the
stars for inspiration, and from the short, quick puffs and lively glow
of his pipe, it was evident he was thinking hard. After he had finished
his smoke in silent cogitation with the sky, he seemed to have settled
the difficult problem to his satisfaction, for when he rose to "turn
in" there was the gleam of a slow smile on his rugged face. Knocking
out his pipe and brushing the ashes from his breast, with a huge yawn,
he stretched his arms up over his six feet of length, hardening his
muscles for the morrow, and sauntered indoors for the few short hours
of rest in a bed, which luxury he allowed himself as a grand finale to
civilization.
In what seemed to him but a moment later, it was the next morning, and
throwing aside the blankets he was up and out in the chill gray dawn
without disturbing any of the household. As the eastern sky lightened
the purple mists, he trudged cheerily along under the frosty twinkle
of the receding stars, his back to the dusty little hamlet and a
triumphant smile of contented satisfaction beaming on his happy face,
turned toward the gleaming snow peaks of to-morrow. No one would have
suspected this big happy tramp of having an infamous secret on his
conscience or have surmised that he harbored a wee felony snuggled
closely inside of his outer flannel shirt. As he had been in somewhat
of a hurry in committing this crime, he had not been over-scrupulous
in selecting any particular kind of a cat. Still, as he was at last
in possession of a live kitten, a something he felt he could not have
faced the solitude and silence of his lonely camp life without, in
sweet content he would never be critical. This victory in the small
matter of a small cat, attested well for his future, showing that he
had resources and skillful ways of his own in circumventing an adverse
fate, and that he was made of the stuff that wins in the end.
Just as the white mountain peaks, far above the timber line, caught the
first pink glory of the coming sun, the man with the light of hope in
his dark eyes, reached the foothills. He crossed the first low divide,
and in the sheltered ravine beyond stopped beside a tiny trickle of
snow water, flashing gently down among the boulders, and made camp for
breaking his fast. Here for the first time he took from his bosom the
scraggy little treasure for which he had risked his honest reputation,
and which had safely slept, curled in its snug quarters, all the way.
The very first act of the astonished small tenderfoot on this rather
rude awakening and introduction, was to make a wild dash for liberty,
which came near being a total eclipse of their acquaintance. It was
only after a very lively chase, in which the man had to hide his
terrible anxiety and to use the utmost patient cunning, that the
frightened little animal was captured by his more than frightened
mate. In the quiet moments that followed, when they were sizing each
other up by the comfort of their little friendship fire, their intimacy
began. In admonition his baby highness was given a serious and profound
lecture on the futility of having such independent ideas as he seemed
to possess. The poor little motherless captive looked meek and helpless
enough beside the big man, and in this big unknown world, his great
baby eyes glancing and searching about in vague apprehension; but
although he was terribly puzzled over the situation, he was finally
brought to reason and to the straight and narrow path of obedience.
With a firm and tender touch, electric with love and sympathy, the man
stroked his prize, answering the questioning, luminous yellow eyes so
steadily fixed on his own dark ones, with a gaze of such mysterious
power and assurance that the kitten sat charmed, with curling paws,
the wonder-stare melting into one of understanding and implicit trust,
that was to be lifelong. So comforting was the man's trick of hand
and voice, that this trying moment ended forever all controversy as
to doctrine or discipline between them. From that momentous time on,
as long as they lived together, they fought out the grim battle in
moments of importance, as of one mind. Already the touch of his master
hand and the sound of his commanding voice had taken tight hold of the
baby heart and held it like magic, and as the kitten grew in wisdom
and caution he learned to trust this big man more and more, as one who
understood and sympathized.
In resuming their tramp, the rougher country began and the trail was
a puzzle. The man could not find even a ghost of a track, as he worked
his way through the thick masses of underbrush, for it had been years
since anybody had traveled this way. But mile after mile, crossing
cañons, over small mountains, up and down, in and out, the hardy
pioneer picked his difficult way across the trackless country, going
straight, guided by a miner's mysterious sixth sense, which is an
instinct enabling him to see things and read things to which others are
blind.
Toward the last of the daylight, on the second day, these tired
tramps, the man footsore but with unwearied spirits came upon the
small clearing of the old mining camp of the halcyon days of '49. Once
it had swarmed with eager, buoyant men, but now it lay deserted and
wrapped in solitude. In great exhilaration they took possession of the
one and only remaining dilapidated shack, standing, dark and doorless,
silhouetted against the fading light. Nobody had been in this forsaken
place or probably thought of it for years and years. In its prime it
had been a rather pretentious cabin of the regulation kind built of
logs but was now only a suggestion of its former grandeur. Hordes of
small furry tribes were "holding down the claim" and using its shelter
to rear generations of their kind. The fireplace, with its great
outside chimney, built of mud and rocks, was standing intact, the smut
of the old log fires still clinging inside where myriads of bats had
hung their nests against its sooty walls.