Mitch was a beautiful Persian kitten and lived in Kansas City,
Missouri. City kittens do not have such large playgrounds as kittens on
the farm for many times they are kept in the house almost all the time.
There are many dangers for kittens outside in the big cities, too. Some
one may steal them and take them away from their homes or they may get
run over by the cars and big trucks.
A little girl whose name was Mitchell gave the kitten to the lady who
told me this story. The family called him Mitchie for awhile after
the name Mitchell. Some of them thought that name too long so they
shortened it to Mitch, and that became the name of this beautiful
Persian kitten.
The mistress kept a large fruit basket on the dining table and when
there was no fruit in it, Mitch used it for a bed. He learned to run
toward the table and with one jump he would land right in the basket.
Then he would curl up for a long nap and be perfectly satisfied for
hours. He always liked to get into boxes and when the dresser drawers
were left open he would get into them. It did not make much difference
to Mitch just what it was for he could feel contented in anything. One
day a member of the family brought something home in a paper sack and
taking the articles out, laid the sack on the bed. In a few minutes
Mitch was curled up in the sack, fast asleep.
The lady’s husband worked at night, or about half the night, and when
he came home about midnight, Mitch would always meet him at the head
of the stairs ready for a romp. He loved to play with the man’s watch
chain but one day it was a costly play. The watch was left on the
dresser with the chain hanging over the edge and Mitch decided to romp
with it a little while. Of course, he did not know the watch might
fall and break. In some way he got his claws fastened in the chain and
jerked the watch to the floor. Mitch did not mean to break the watch
but it cost about seven dollars to have it repaired. Mitch could not
repair the broken watch and he had no way of paying the debt except by
love and affection for his master.
Mitch was like Snooks (in the other story), he liked water and liked
to play in it. He was very careful about keeping clean and would go to
the lavatory and put his feet in the water and then wash his face. One
faucet in the bathtub leaked a little and Mitch found that he could get
a drink there. In some way he learned that he could strike the faucet
with his feet and turn on more water. One day some member of the family
had prepared a half tub of water for a bath and about the same time
Mitch decided that he wanted a drink. He went to the bath room and as
usual jumped right over into the tub, but this time he landed in all
the water. You should have seen him scramble to get out for he was
terribly frightened.
One day the lady and her husband moved away from the city to the farm
and of course Mitch went along and became a country kitten. I am sure
that he liked to be on the farm where he could get out into the big
outdoors and catch lots of mice. About a year passed and the family
moved back to the city, but Mitch was left on the farm with the family
who moved on the place. Evidently he did not like his new friends or
else decided to go back to the city for he disappeared one afternoon
and has not been heard of since. If you should see Mitch anywhere it
would be kind of you to tell him that the fruit basket is on the table
in the city waiting for him. His mistress, too, will be very glad to
hear from him or have him return to his former home.
[Illustration]