Jimmie was a drug store cat, following the same occupation as Tiger in
the story called Tiger. One of the clerks in the store found him in the
alley one morning while burning some old boxes. The kitten was poor and
hungry and seemed to be homeless and friendless. He was a stranger in
the neighborhood and no one ever came to the store to claim him. He was
lost and lonesome when picked up and seemed very glad to find a friend.
He was only a stray kitten and no one knew of his mother nor where he
was born. This seems sad but with Jimmie it gave him a distinguished
place later in life which I will tell you about in this story.
In a little while Jimmie was growing and happy in the new home. He had
made friends with all of the clerks in the store and especially with
the proprietor. They became devoted friends for life; even money could
not separate them as a large sum was offered for him but his master
loved him more than money.
Some of the clerks taught him to jump through hoops or through their
arms or over their feet. On one of the counters in the drug store there
was a large clock which became the resting place for Jimmie. When told
to go and get on the clock he would obey instantly and then look around
at those watching him as though he was proud of the feat. One day his
master took a picture of him as he sat on the clock and he seemed to
pose for it. The picture is now in the desk of the drug store although
Jimmie has been dead three years. When I asked Jimmie’s master for the
facts about this story he turned to the desk and showed me the picture.
While we were speaking of the kitten’s life a man came into the room
who used to know and love Jimmie. He was asked if he knew the picture
and when he looked at it he exclaimed, “that’s Jimmie!” This shows
how much he was loved and that he was well known. Like Thomas of the
grocery store in the other story Jimmie had scores of friends and is
remembered by many citizens in the town in which he lived.
During one of the cat shows in Convention Hall in Kansas City a few
years ago, Jimmie was also on exhibition. He attracted much attention
although he was not a thorough-bred and was only a stray. His fur
was striped like a tiger and in the show he received first prize as
the best tiger cat shown. He also won first prize as a stray, but to
receive the premium his master had to take three witnesses before a
notary public and make affidavit that Jimmie was found in the alley and
that no one knew of his birth or his pedigree. After receiving these
prizes Jimmie’s master thought more of him than ever. He attracted much
attention in his home town, too, when the news went out that Jimmie had
won first at tiger and stray. New friends went to the store to see him
and he, too, became a good advertisement for the store.
One day a physician’s wife from another town went into the drug store
and saw Jimmie sitting on the old clock. She soon made his acquaintance
and became attached to him. She was a lover of kittens and Jimmie so
large and beautiful seemed to her an ideal kitten. She asked all about
him, of his birth, pedigree, disposition and many other questions. When
told that he was only a stray picked up in the alley as a homeless
kitten she seemed to think more of him than ever. Perhaps she had been
kind to some homeless kitten sometime in the past and understood what
it meant to care for one that needed a friend. She was anxious to have
him as her own and let him live in her own home. I am sure that she
would have given him the best of care and that he would have had a good
home in which to spend his old age. In a few days the woman’s husband
was in the town and went to the store and offered twenty-five dollars
for Jimmie. The proprietor would not sell him for that, and then the
physician offered him fifty dollars, but Jimmie’s master said that
money could not buy him. Such was the love for a kitten that had been
so kind and obedient during the many years in the store.
About two weeks after the physician had offered the fifty dollars for
him, Jimmie in some way got hold of poison and died. He was nine years
old at the time of his death and left many friends who have greatly
missed him during these past three years.
[Illustration]