FURRY-PURRY BECOMING GOLD ELSIE.
Miss Ruth found on her table the next Wednesday afternoon a note very
neatly and carefully written, which read as follows:--
Miss RUTH,--Will you Please tell us Another Cat Story, becaus I
like them best. So does Fannie Eldridge she said So after You told
Worm stories.
Miss Ruth I Have Named my Black Kitty After your Dinah Diamond, her
Last Name has to Be Spot Becaus her Spot is not a Diamond, this is
from your Friend.
NELLIE DIMOCK.
"I hold in my hand," Miss Ruth said, when she had carefully perused this
epistle, "a written request from two members of our Society for another
cat story. Susie and Mollie, have I any more cat stories worth telling?"
"Yes, indeed, Auntie" said Mollie. "Don't you remember the pretty fairy
story you used to tell us about the good little girl who saved a cat
from being drowned by some bad boys, and carried her home? and she
turned out to be a fairy cat and gave that girl every thing she wished
for--cakes and candy, and a lovely pink silk frock packed in a nutshell
for her to wear to the party?"
"O Mollie! that's too much of a baby story," said Susie. "Tell us about
the musical cat who played the piano by walking over the keys, and all
the people in the house thought it was a ghost."
"Yes, Auntie; and the funny story of the cat and the parrot--how the
parrot got stuck up to her knees in a pan of dough, and in her fright
said over every thing she had learned to say: 'Polly wants a cracker!'
'Oh, my goodness' sakes alive!' 'Get out, I say!' 'Here's a row!' 'Scat,
you beast!' and so on;--and how the cat got her out."
"These are old stories, girls, and you have told them for me."
"Our old cat Jane," said Eliza Ann Jones, "is a regular cheat. You see,
she _would_ lie in grandma's chair. She used to jump in if grandma left
it only for a minute; and grandma wouldn't know she was there, and two
or three times sat right down on her. Why, it was just awful, and scared
poor grandma half to death. Well, ma whipped the old cat every time she
caught her in the chair, and we thought she was cured of the habit; but
one day ma came into the room and there was nobody there but Jane, and
she was stretched on the rug and seemed to be fast asleep; but grandma's
chair was rocking away all by itself. Ma wondered what made the chair
go, so she thought she'd watch. She left the door on a crack and peeped
through, and as soon as the cat thought she was alone she jumped into
the chair and settled herself for a nap; but when ma made a little
noise, as if somebody were coming out, she hopped out and stretched
herself on the rug and made believe she was fast asleep. 'Twas her
jumping out so quick that set the chair rocking. Now, wasn't that cute?"
"I never knew till the other day," said Florence Austin, "that cats
scatter crumbs to attract the birds, and then watch for them and spring
out on the poor things when they are feeding."
"What a shame! I wouldn't keep a cat who played such a cruel trick,"
Mollie said.
"My Dinah Spot doesn't catch birds or chickens," said Nellie Dimock;
"only mice."
Mrs. Elliot had come in with a message to her sister while this talk
went on, and had lingered to hear Eliza's story of old Jane.
"Girls," she said, "with your President's permission, I will tell you a
story about a cat. It is curious, because it proves that a cat remembers
and reasons much as a man or woman would in similar circumstances. Susie
and Mollie, I have told it to you before, but you will not mind hearing
it again.
"When my brother Charles was a young man he kept a bachelor
establishment in the country, and with other pets owned a beautiful gray
cat he had; brought with him from Germany. She was very intelligent and
docile, a great favorite with her master, and was allowed many
privileges in the house. She came in and out through a small door cut in
the side of the house which she opened and closed for herself. A chair
was regularly placed for her at the table; she slept at the foot of my
brother's bed, and perched herself on his shoulder when he took a stroll
in the garden. She could distinguish the sound of his bell from any
other in the house, and was greatly disturbed if the servant delayed in
answering his call.
"One summer my sister Helen and her two boys were staying with Charles,
and in the midst of the visit he was called away on business, and was
absent for several weeks. Now, Carl and Teddy were dear little fellows,
but full of mischief; and in their uncle's absence they so teased and
tormented poor Miess, taking advantage of her amiable disposition, that
she was forced at length to keep out of their way. About a week before
Charles came home she had kittens, which she carefully hid behind a
heavy book-case in the library.
"The morning of his return he had the cat in his lap petting and
caressing her as usual, and then went out for an hour. As soon as he was
gone, pussy brought her kittens one by one from their hiding-place and
laid them on the rug in the corner of the room where she had nursed and
tended all her young families before. Now she must have reasoned in this
way: 'My good, kind master has come home, and those dreadful boys who
have pinched my ears and tied things to my tail, and teased and
frightened me almost to death, will be made to behave themselves. All
danger to me and to my babies is over. Why must the pretty dears be
hidden away in that musty place? Of course master wants to see them, and
they are well worth looking at. The thing for me to do is to bring them
out of that dark hole and put them where I always have put my kittens
before.'"
"Wise old Miess!" said Mollie. "Mamma, please tell the girls how she
saved uncle's pet canary from a strange cat."
"Yes, dear. Miess was so obedient and well trained that her master often
trusted her in the room while he gave the bird his airing, and Bobby
became so accustomed to the cat's presence that he hopped fearlessly
about the floor close to pussy's rug, and more than once lighted on her
back; but one day your uncle discovered Miess on the table with the bird
in her mouth. For an instant he thought her cat nature had got the upper
hand, and that Bobby's last moment had come; then he discovered a
strange cat in the room and knew that his good cat had saved the
canary's life. As soon as the intruder was driven out, Bobby fluttered
away safe and sound."
"Wasn't that nice of Miess, Auntie?" said Susie. "I have thought of a
story for you to tell us this afternoon--the story of the barn-cat that
wanted so much to become a house-cat. Don't you remember that story you
used to tell us long ago?"
"Oh, yes!" Mollie said; "her name was Furry-Purry, and she lived with
Granny Barebones, and there was Tom--Tom--some thing; what _was_ his
name? Tell us that, Aunt Ruth, do!"
"Isn't it open to the objection you made to Mollie's choice a while ago,
Susie?" she asked. "I remember it went with 'The Three Bears' and 'Old
Mother Pig' and 'The Little Red Hen.'"
"No, Auntie, I think not; it's different, somehow."
"Very well, then, if you are sure you haven't outgrown it."
"Is it a true story?" Nellie Dimock wanted to know.
"It is made out of a true story, Nellie. A young cat which was born and
brought up in a barn became dissatisfied with her condition in life, and
made up her mind to change it. She chose the house of a friend of mine
for her future home, and presented herself every morning at the door,
asking in a very earnest and humble way to be taken in. When driven away
she went sadly and reluctantly, but in a few moments was back again
waiting patiently, quietly, hour after hour, day after day. If noticed
or spoken to, she gave a plaintive mew, looked cold and hungry, but
showed no signs of discouragement. She didn't once try to steal into the
house, as she might have done, but waited patiently for an invitation.
"And when one morning she brought a mouse and laid it on the door-step,
and looking up, seemed to say: 'Kind lady, if you will take me for your
cat, see what I will do for you,' my friend could no longer refuse. The
door was opened, the long-wished-for invitation was given, and very
soon the little barn-cat became the pet and plaything of the family. She
proved a valuable family cat, and her descendants, to the fourth
generation, are living in my friend's family to-day.
"Out of these materials I have dressed up the story of
HOW FURRY-PURRY BECAME GOLD ELSIE.
"The door of the great house stood open and Furry-Purry looked in.
"Furry-Purry was a small yellow cat striped down the back with a darker
shade of the same color. Her paws, the lower part of her body, and the
spot on her breast were white.
"This is what the little cat saw, looking through the open door into the
great house:--
"A pleasant room hung with pictures, the floor covered with a soft
carpet, where all kinds of bright-colored flowers seemed to be growing,
and, in the sunniest corner, lying in an arm-chair piled with cushions,
a large tabby cat.
"Just then a gust of wind closed the door, and Furry-Purry ran round the
house to the barn and remained all day hidden in her hole under the
boards.
"That night there was a storm, and several cats in the neighborhood
crept into the barn for safety. There was old Mrs. Barebones, a cat with
a bad cough, which was thought to be in a decline; Tom Skip-an'-jump, a
sprightly young fellow with a tenor voice which he was fond of using on
moonlight nights; and Robber Grim, a fierce, one-eyed creature--the pest
of the neighborhood--with a great head and neck and flabby, hanging
cheeks and bare spots on his tawny coat where the fur had been torn out
in his fierce battles.
"The thunder roared overhead and the lightning, shining through the
cracks, played on the barn floor and showed the cats sitting gravely in
a circle. Only Tom Skip-an'-jump, who still kept his kittenish tricks,
went frisking after his tail and turning somersaults in the hay.
Presently he tumbled over Furry-Purry and bit her ear.
"'Come, play!' said he: 'it's a jolly time for puss-in-the-corner.'
"'Tom,' said Furry-Purry, 'I never shall play again. I am very unhappy.
I have seen Mrs. Tabitha Velvetpaw lying on a silk cushion, while I make
my bed in the hay. She walks on a lovely soft carpet, and I have only
this barn floor. O Tom, I want to be a house-cat.'
"'A house-cat!' repeated Tom disdainfully. 'They sleep all day. They
get their tails pulled and their ears pinched by horrid monsters with
only two legs to walk on, and nights--beautiful moonlight nights when we
barn-cats are roaming the alleys and singing on the roofs and having a
good time generally--they are locked in cellars and garrets and made to
watch rat-holes. Oh, no! not for Tom.'
"He was off with a whisk of his tail to the highest beam in the barn,
looking down on them with the greenest of green eyes, and singing,--
'Some love the home
Of a lazy drone,
And a bed on a cushioned knee;
But in wild free ways
I will spend my days,
And at night on the roofs I'll be.
Oh, 'tis my delight,
On a moonlight night'--
"'Don't listen to him, my dear,' said Mrs. Barebones, the consumptive
cat; 'he's a wild, thoughtless creature, quite inexperienced in the ways
of the world. Heed the counsels of one whose sands of life are almost
run and who, before she goes to the land of cats, would fain warn a
youthful friend and, if possible, avert her from her own sad fate. This
racking cough (ugh! ugh!) and this distressing _cat_-arrh, (snuff!
snuff!) with which you see me afflicted were brought on by the hardships
and exposure incident to the life of a barn-cat: midnight rambles, my
dear (ugh!), in frost and snow; days when not so much as a mouse's tail
has passed my hungry jaws, and winter nights when my coat was too thin
to keep out the cold. And all these sufferings, past and present, are in
consequence of my being a barn-cat.'
"'Now, may the dogs get me, if I ever heard such a string of nonsense!'
said Robber Grim. 'Don't believe a word she says. She's an old granny.
She's got the fidgets. She wants a dose of catnip-tea. Don't believe Tom
Skip-an'-jump, either. What does _he_ know about war? He never was shot
at. Look at me! I'm Robber Grim! I'm an old one, I am! I've got good
blood in my veins. My great-grandfather was a catamount and his
grandmother was a tiger-cat. I've been in a hundred battles. I've had
one eye knocked out and an ear bit off. I left a piece of my tail in a
trap. I've been scalded with hot water and peppered all over with shot.
_I'll_ teach you how to get a living without being a house-cat. I hate
houses and the people who live in them, and I do them all the mischief
I can. I eat up their chickens and I suck their eggs. I climb in at the
pantry window and skim their milk. Once when the cook left the kitchen
door open I snatched the beefsteak from the gridiron and made off with
the family dinner. They hate me--they do. They've tried to kill me a
dozen times; but I'm Robber Grim, ha! ha! and I've got nine lives!'
"At this instant there came a flash of lightning, followed by a peal of
thunder that shook the barn to its foundations, and every cat fled in
terror to its hole.
"The next morning Mrs. Tabitha Velvetpaw took a stroll round the garden
and down the lane a little way, where the catnip grew. The ground was
wet after the shower, and she was daintily picking her way along, very
careful not to soil her beautiful feet, of which she was justly proud,
when suddenly there glided from behind a tree and stood directly in her
path a small yellow cat.
"'Oh, my paws and whiskers!' exclaimed Mrs. Tabitha, surprised out of
her usual dignity.
"'If you please,' said Furry-Purry,--for it was she,--'I have made bold
to come out and meet you to ask your advice. I am a poor little
barn-cat, and I was contented with my lot till I saw you yesterday in
your beautiful home; but now I feel that I was intended for a higher
sphere. Tell me--oh, tell me, Mrs. Velvetpaw, how I may become a
house-cat!'
"'Well, did I ever!' said Mrs. Velvetpaw. 'The idea!' and she moved a
step or two away from poor Furry-Purry, her manner, as well as her
words, expressing astonishment and disdain.
"'I know it seems presuming, Mrs. Velvetpaw, but'--
"'Presuming! I should say so. What is this generation of cats coming to,
when a low creature reared in a barn--a paw-paw (pauper) cat, as I may
say--dare lift her eyes to those so far above her?'
"'I have heard my mother say "a cat may look at a king,"' said
Furry-Purry.
"'Go away, you low-born creature! How dare you quote your mother to me?
Go away, this instant! I am ashamed to be seen talking with you! What if
my friend Mrs. Silvercoat or Major Mouser should happen to pass! Begone,
I say! scat!'
"'O Mrs. Tabitha,' said the poor little cat, 'don't send me away! I
can't go back to that barn. Indeed, indeed, after spending this short
time in your company, I can never endure to live with Tom Skip-an'-jump
and Mrs. Barebones and that horrid Robber Grim. If you refuse to help me
I will go straight to Growler's kennel. When he has worried me to death,
won't you be sorry you drove me to such a fate? Dear, dear Mrs.
Velvetpaw, your face is kinder than your words. Oh, pity the sorrows of
a poor little cat!'
"Now, Mrs. Tabitha was not at heart an ill-natured puss; and when she
saw Furry-Purry's imploring face, and listened to her eloquent appeal,
she was moved with compassion.
"'Rather than see you go to the dogs,' said she, 'I will lend a paw to
help you. But what can I do, you silly thing?'
"'Mrs. Velvetpaw, you have lived a long time in this neighborhood?'
"'All my life, Yellow Cat.'
"'And you know every body?'
"'If you mean in the first rank of society--yes. Your Barebones, and
Hop-an'-jumps, and creatures of that vulgar herd, are quite out of my
_cat_egory.'
"'Perhaps you know of some house-cat dead or gone away?'
"'And if I do?'
"'You might put me in her place, you know.'
"'Yellow Cat,' said Mrs. Tabitha, severely.
"'If you please, my name is Furry-Purry.'
"'Well, Furry-Purry, then. Your presumption can only be pardoned in
consideration of your ignorance of the usages of society. House-cats,
you must know, hold their position in families by hereditary descent.
My place, for instance, was my mother's and my grandmother's before me.
We are prepared by birth and education for the position we occupy. Have
you considered how utterly unfitted you are for the life to which you
aspire? I am sorry to disappoint you, but I fear your hopes are vain.
There is, indeed, a vacancy in the brick house opposite. Cæsar--a
venerable cat--died last week. He was much admired for his gentlemanly
and dignified deportment. "Who shall come after the king?"'
"'I, Mrs. Tabitha, I'--
"'You, indeed!' she interrupted, scornfully.
"'Oh, yes, if you will but condescend to give me instructions. I am
quick to learn. The short time I have been so happy as to be in your
company I have gained much knowledge. I am sure I can imitate the
_mew_-sic of your voice. I know I can gently wave my tail, and touch my
left whisker with my paw as you do. When I leave you I shall spend every
moment till we meet again in practising your airs and graces, till I
make them all my own. Dear friend,--if you will let me call you
so,--help me to King Cæsar's place.'
"There was much that was flattering to Mrs. Velvetpaw in this speech.
"'Well,' said she, 'I will see what can be done. There, go home now, and
the first thing to be done is to make yourself perfectly clean. Wash
yourself twelve times in the day, from the end of your nose to the tip
of your tail. Take particular pains with your paws. A cat of refinement
is known by the delicacy and cleanliness of her feet. Farewell! After
three days, meet me here again.'
"You can imagine how faithfully Furry-Purry followed these
directions--how with her sharp tongue she smoothed and stroked every
hair of her pretty coat, and washed her face again and again with her
wet paws.
"'You are wretchedly thin!' Mrs. Tabitha said at their next meeting.
'That fault can only be remedied by a generous diet. You must look me
full in the face when I talk to you. Really, you have no need to be
ashamed of your eyes, for they are decidedly bright and handsome. When
you walk, don't bend your legs till your body almost touches the ground.
That gives you a wretchedly hang-cat appearance. Tread softly and
daintily, but with dignity and grace of carriage. There must be other
bad habits I have not mentioned.'
"'I am afraid I spit sometimes.'
"'Don't do that--it is considered vulgar. Don't bristle your tail. Don't
show your claws except to mice. Keep such control over yourself as never
to be surprised out of a dignified composure of manner.'
"Just here, without the slightest warning, there rushed from the thicket
near them a large fierce-looking dog. Up went Mrs. Velvetpaw's back in
an arch. Every hair of her body stood on end. Sharp-pointed claws
protruded from each velvet foot, and, hissing and spitting, she tumbled
over Furry-Purry in her haste, and scrambled to the topmost branch of
the pear-tree. The little cat followed, imitating her guide in every
particular. As for the dog, which was in pursuit of game, he did not
even look at them; and when he was out of sight they came down from the
tree, Mrs. Tabitha descending with the dignified composure she had just
recommended to her young friend. She made no allusion to her hurried
ascent.
"'To-morrow night,' said she, 'as soon as it is dark, meet me in the
backyard of the brick house.'
"Half glad and half frightened, Furry-Purry walked by her side the next
evening, delighting in the soft green turf of the yard and the
sweet-smelling shrubs against which she ventured to rub herself as they
passed. Mrs. Tabitha led her round the house to a piazza draped with
clustering vines.
"'Come here to-morrow,' said she. 'Walk boldly up the steps and seat
yourself in full view of that window. Look your prettiest--behave your
best. Assume a pensive expression of countenance, with your eyes
uplifted--so. If you are driven away, go directly, but return. Be
strong, be brave, be persevering. Now, my dear, I have done all I can
for you, and I wish you good luck,'
"The next morning a little girl living in the brick house, whose name
was Winnie Gay, looked out of the dining-room window.
"'Come quick, mamma!' she called; 'here's a cat on our piazza--a little
yellow cat, and she's looking right up at me. May I open the door?'
"'No, indeed!' said Mrs. Gay; 'we want no strange cats here.'
"'But she looks hungry, mamma. She has just opened her mouth at me
without making a bit of noise. Can't I give her a saucer of milk?'
"'Come away from the window, Winnie, and don't notice her. You will only
encourage her to come again. There, pussy, run away home; we can't have
you here.'
"'Now, mamma, you have frightened her. See how she keeps looking back.
I'm afraid you've hurt her feelings. Dear little pussy! I wish I might
call you back.'
"Furry-Purry was not discouraged at this her first unsuccessful attempt.
The child's blue eyes beamed a welcome, and the lady's face was gentle
and kind.
"'If I catch a mouse,' thought the cat, 'and bring it to them to show
what I can do, perhaps I shall gain their favor.' Then she put away all
the fine airs and graces Mrs. Velvetpaw had taught her, and became the
sly, supple, watchful creature nature had made her. By a hole in the
granary she crouched and waited with unwearied patience one, two, almost
three, hours. Then she gave a sudden spring, there was one sharp little
shriek from the victim, a snap of pussy's jaws, and her object was
accomplished. She appeared again on the piazza, and, laying a dead mouse
on the floor, crouched beside it in an attitude of perfect grace, and
looked beseechingly in Mrs. Gay's face.
"'Well, you _are_ a pretty creature!' that lady said, 'with your soft
white paws and yellow coat,'
"'May I have her for my cat, mamma?' Winnie said. 'I thought I never
should love another cat when dear old Cæsar died; but this little thing
is such a beauty that I love her already. May I have her for mine?'
"But while Mrs. Gay hesitated, Furry-Purry, who could not hear what
they said, and who, to tell the truth, was in a great hurry to eat her
mouse, ran off with it to the barn. The next morning, however, she came
again, and Mr. Gay, who was waiting for his breakfast, was called to the
window.
"'My cat has come again, papa, with another mouse--a monstrous one,
too.'
"'That isn't a mouse,' Mr. Gay said, looking at the plump, silver-gray
creature Furry-Purry carefully deposited on the piazza-floor. 'Bless me!
I believe it is that rascal of a mole that's gnawed my hyacinth and
tulip bulbs. I offered the gardener's boy two dollars if he would catch
the villain. To whom does that cat belong, Winnie? She's worth her
weight in gold.'
"'I don't believe she belongs to anybody, papa; but I think she wants
to belong to us, for she keeps coming and coming. _May_ I have her for
mine? I am sure mamma will say yes if you are willing.'
"'Why not?' said he. 'Run for a saucer of milk, and we will coax her
in.'
"We who are acquainted with Furry-Purry's private history know how
little coaxing was needed.
"As soon as the door was opened she walked in, and, laying the dead mole
at Mr. Gay's feet, rubbed herself against his leg, purred gently, looked
up into his face with her round bright eyes, and, in very expressive cat
language, claimed him for her master. When he stooped to caress her, and
praised and petted her for the good service she had rendered him, the
happy creature rolled over and over on the soft carpet in an ecstasy of
delight.
"Then Winnie clapped her hands for joy.
"'You are our own cat,' she said. 'You shall have sugar and cream to
eat. You shall lie on Cæsar's silk cushion; and because you are yellow,
and papa says you are worth your weight in gold, your name shall be Gold
Elsie,'
"So Furry-Purry became a family cat.
"The first time she met Mrs. Velvetpaw after this change in her life,
that excellent tabby looked at her with evident admiration.
"'How handsome you have grown!' said she; 'your eyes are topaz, your
breast and paws are the softest velvet, your coat is spun gold. My dear,
you are the belle of cats,'
"'Dear Mrs. Velvetpaw,' said Gold Elsie, 'my beauty and my prosperity I
owe in large measure to you. But for your wise counsels I should still
be a'--
"'Hush! don't speak the word. My dear, never again allude to your
origin. It is a profound secret. You are received in the best society.
Mrs. Silvercoat tells me it is reported that your master sought far and
wide to find a worthy successor to King Cæsar, and that he esteems
himself specially fortunate in that, after great labor and expense, he
procured _you_. The ignorance you sometimes exhibit of the customs of
genteel society is attributed to your foreign breeding.'
"'Mrs. Tabitha, I feel at times a strong desire to visit my old friends
in the barn once more.'
"'Let me entreat you, my dear Miss Elsie, never again to think of it.'
"'But there is poor Mrs. Barebones almost gone with a consumption. I
should like to show her some kindness.'
"'Her sufferings are ended. She has passed to the land of cats,'
"'Poor Mrs. Barebones! and Robber Grim? Do you happen to have heard any
thing of him?'
"Silently Mrs. Tabitha beckoned her to follow, and, leading the way to
the orchard, pointed to a sour-apple tree, where Gold Elsie beheld a
ghastly sight. By a cord tied tightly about his neck, his jaws
distended, his one eye starting from its socket, hung Robber
Grim--stiff, motionless, dead.
"They hurried away, and presently Gold Elsie timidly inquired after her
former playmate, Tom Skip-an'-jump.
"'Don't, my dear!' said Mrs. Velvetpaw; 'really, I can not submit to be
farther _cat_echized. If you are truly grateful to me, Elsie, for the
service I have rendered you, and wish to do me credit in the high
position to which I have raised you, you must, you certainly must, break
every tie that binds you to your former life.'
"'I will, Mrs. Tabitha, I will,' said the little cat; and never again in
Mrs. Velvetpaw's presence did she mention Tom Skip-an'-jump's name,"
"And didn't she ever see him again?" Nellie Dimock wanted to know. "I am
sure there was no harm in Tom."
"Well, but you know she couldn't go with _that set_ any more after she
had got into good society," said Mollie Elliot.
"Mollie has caught Mrs. Velvetpaw's exact tone," said Florence Austin,
at which all the girls laughed.
"Well, I don't care," Mollie answered; "she was a nice little cat, and
deserved all her good fortune."