THE CATNIP MOUSE
There is a first time for everything, whether one is a little girl, or
a boy, or a kitten. For a little girl, there is her first doll, and
later her first pretty doll with real hair and blue eyes that will
open and shut. For a boy there is his first ball, and his first set of
marbles; but if you are a kitten, greater than all of these joys put
together is the thrill that comes when you have your first catnip mouse.
Oxford Gray, Junior, and Sally could measure their young lives by
months instead of weeks before this exciting event occurred. They
had heard there were such things, for there had been a tradition in
the family of a glorious catnip mouse that had belonged to their
ancestress, Martha Furbush-Tailby. But it is one thing to hear about a
catnip mouse and quite another to have it for one’s very own plaything.
Cool days and nights had come. It was the autumn, and all things furry
were seeking snug quarters for the winter. The kittens were glad that
they had their cozy kitchen to live in. Oxford Gray, Junior, however,
sometimes went off on an excursion for hours, but Sally kept pretty
closely to the house. And besides cats and kittens, there were others
that sought winter quarters.
‘There seem to be a lot of mice about,’ Miss Winifred had said to
Elvira. ‘I hear them in the wall.’
‘I can do a good deal for you, Miss Winifred,’ said Elvira, ‘but
catching mice is not in my line.’
Miss Winifred laughed. ‘I should think some of your followers might do
it for you,’ she said, and she looked at Oxford Gray, Junior.
Although Oxford Gray, Junior, did not care much for the owner of the
house, this put him on his mettle, and the very next night he caught
his first mouse. The praise given him was so great that he caught
three others within a week.
It was then that Miss Winifred said to Elvira, ‘I wonder if the kittens
are not old enough to like a catnip mouse?’
‘Old enough?’ said Elvira. ‘I have been thinking for weeks they ought
to have one, but I have been out very little it has stormed so much.’
‘A catnip mouse!’ The kittens were entranced at the idea. They could
hardly wait for the time to come when they could have one for their
very own.
It was late one November afternoon when Elvira came into the house
after a trip to Boston. She had hardly got inside the door before the
kittens noticed a peculiar and very delicious smell. It seemed to them
to be sweeter than the odor of roses and violets and mignonette and
sweet peas. They looked at each other in glad surprise.
‘I am sure she has brought us a catnip mouse,’ said Sally.
She got up on the kitchen table and sniffed at Elvira’s bag.
‘Yes, you witch,’ said Elvira. ‘It is a catnip mouse all right, but
you must be patient and wait until I get my things off.’
Learning that it really was a catnip mouse, Oxford Gray, Junior, jumped
up on the table and joined his sister. She was sitting there patiently,
but Oxford Gray, Junior, began to claw at the bag to try to get at the
catnip mouse.
‘You are a bad kitten,’ said Elvira, taking her bag away. ‘You don’t
deserve the catnip mouse. Why can’t you behave well like your sister?’
‘It was I that caught all those mice. Sally could never catch a mouse
to save her life,’ said Oxford Gray, Junior.
‘I could, too, and I will some day,’ said Sally.
But even the intelligent Elvira did not seem to understand what was
being said.
Elvira undid her bag and flung something down on the floor. It was
the catnip mouse. It was shaped like a real mouse, and was full of
catnip. Oxford and Sally ran toward it. Sally had it in her mouth and
Oxford knocked it with his paw. Sally dropped it and Oxford tried to
capture it. And then to their surprise, another of the wonderful things
fell to the floor. There were two of them! Two catnip mice--one for
each of them! Who but Elvira would have thought of bringing home two
catnip mice. Oxford took his mouse and ran under the table to enjoy it
by himself, and Sally went under a chair with hers. The mice were so
marvelous the kittens were afraid that some one would take them away
after a short time.
Such thoughts they had as they inhaled the delicious scent. Oxford came
out into the room at last and threw his mouse up into the air. It fell
lightly to the ground. Then Sally came out with her mouse and threw
it up into the air. They were so excited and overstimulated that they
began to break into verse.
Elvira, Elvira, how we admire her!
We give her warmest praise.
She must sometime have been a cat,
We both are very sure of that,
A cat who lived in prehistoric days.
Elvira, Elvira, how we admire her!
It seemed almost as if Elvira had understood, for she said to Miss
Harvey, ‘See how excited the kittens are. It reminds me of Martha
Furbush-Tailby’s first catnip mouse and her verses.’
Sweet are the lessons of adversity,
At least so people say;
But sweeter is prosperity,
I’ve learned that much to-day.
For when the catnip mouse is new
And full of catnip strength,
The hours fly by on shining wings
Not measured by their length.
If I were asked what I would like
To beautify my house,
I’d say without a moment’s thought,
‘Give me a catnip mouse.’
[Illustration]