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diff --git a/32069-8.txt b/32069-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8f42e1f --- /dev/null +++ b/32069-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1291 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters from a Cat, by Helen Jackson + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Letters from a Cat + +Author: Helen Jackson + +Release Date: April 20, 2010 [EBook #32069] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS FROM A CAT *** + + + + +Produced by V. L. Simpson and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + [Illustration: YOUR AFF PUSSY] + + + Letters from a Cat. + + PUBLISHED BY HER MISTRESS + + For the Benefit of all Cats + + AND + + THE AMUSEMENT OF LITTLE CHILDREN. + + BY H. H., + AUTHOR OF "NELLY'S SILVER MINE." + + _WITH SEVENTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY ADDIE LEDYARD._ + + BOSTON: + + ROBERTS BROTHERS. + + 1879. + + _Copyright, 1879,_ By Roberts Brothers. + + +[Illustration: Helen] + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + +Dear Children: + +I do not feel wholly sure that my Pussy wrote these letters herself. +They always came inside the letters written to me by my mamma, or other +friends, and I never caught Pussy writing at any time when I was at +home; but the printing was pretty bad, and they were signed by Pussy's +name; and my mamma always looked very mysterious when I asked about +them, as if there were some very great secret about it all; so that +until I grew to be a big girl, I never doubted but that Pussy printed +them all alone by herself, after dark. + +They were written when I was a very little girl, and was away from home +with my father on a journey. We made this journey in our own carriage, +and it was one of the pleasantest things that ever happened to me. My +clothes and my father's were packed in a little leather valise which was +hung by straps underneath the carriage, and went swinging, swinging, +back and forth, as the wheels went round. My father and I used to walk +up all the steep hills, because old Charley, our horse, was not very +strong; and I kept my eyes on that valise all the while I was walking +behind the carriage; it seemed to me the most unsafe way to carry a +valise, and I wished very much that my best dress had been put in a +bundle that I could carry in my lap. This was the only drawback on the +pleasure of my journey,--my fear that the valise would fall off when we +did not know it, and be left in the road, and then I should not have +anything nice to wear when I reached my aunt's house. But the valise +went through all safe, and I had the satisfaction of wearing my best +dress every afternoon while I stayed; and I was foolish enough to think +a great deal of this. + +On the fourth day after our arrival came a letter from my mamma, giving +me a great many directions how to behave, and enclosing this first +letter from Pussy. I carried both letters in my apron pocket all the +time. They were the first letters I ever had received, and I was very +proud of them. I showed them to everybody, and everybody laughed hard at +Pussy's, and asked me if I believed that Pussy printed it herself. I +thought perhaps my mamma held her paw, with the pen in it, as she had +sometimes held my hand for me, and guided my pen to write a few words. I +asked papa to please to ask mamma, in his letter, if that were the way +Pussy did it; but when his next letter from mamma came, he read me this +sentence out of it: "Tell Helen I did not hold Pussy's paw to write that +letter." So then I felt sure Pussy did it herself; and as I told you, I +had grown up to be quite a big girl before I began to doubt it. You see +I thought my Pussy such a wonderful Pussy that nothing was too +remarkable for her to do. I knew very well that cats generally did not +know how to read or write; but I thought there had never been such a +cat in the world as this Pussy of mine. It is a great many years since +she died; but I can see her before me to-day as plainly as if it were +only yesterday that I had really seen her alive. + +She was a little kitten when I first had her; but she grew fast, and was +very soon bigger than I wanted her to be. I wanted her to stay little. +Her fur was a beautiful dark gray color, and there were black stripes on +her sides, like the stripes on a tiger. Her eyes were very big, and her +ears unusually long and pointed. This made her look like a fox; and she +was so bright and mischievous that some people thought she must be part +fox. She used to do one thing that I never heard of any other cat's +doing: she used to play hide-and-seek. Did you ever hear of a cat's +playing hide-and-seek? And the most wonderful part of it was, that she +took it up of her own accord. As soon as she heard me shut the gate in +the yard at noon, when school was done, she would run up the stairs as +hard as she could go, and take her place at the top, where she could +just peep through the banisters. When I opened the door, she would give +a funny little mew, something like the mew cats make when they call +their kittens. Then as soon as I stepped on the first stair to come up +to her, she would race away at the top of her speed, and hide under a +bed; and when I reached the room, there would be no Pussy to be seen. If +I called her, she would come out from under the bed; but if I left the +room, and went down stairs without speaking, in less than a minute she +would fly back to her post at the head of the stairs, and call again +with the peculiar mew. As soon as I appeared, off she would run, and +hide under the bed as before. Sometimes she would do this three or four +times; and it was a favorite amusement of my mother's to exhibit this +trick of hers to strangers. It was odd, though; she never would do it +twice, when she observed that other people were watching. When I called +her, and she came out from under the bed, if there were strangers +looking on, she would walk straight to me in the demurest manner, as if +it were a pure accident that she happened to be under that bed; and no +matter what I did or said, her frolic was over for that day. + +She used to follow me, just like a little dog, wherever I went. She +followed me to school every day, and we had great difficulty on Sundays +to keep her from following us to church. Once she followed me, when it +made a good many people laugh, in spite of themselves, on an occasion +when it was very improper for them to laugh, and they were all feeling +very sad. It was at the funeral of one of the professors in the college. + +The professors' families all sat together; and when the time came for +them to walk out of the house and get into the carriages to go to the +graveyard, they were called, one after the other, by name. When it came +to our turn, my father and mother went first, arm-in-arm; then my sister +and I; and then, who should rise, very gravely, but my Pussy, who had +slipped into the room after me, and had not been noticed in the crowd. +With a slow and deliberate gait she walked along, directly behind my +sister and me, as if she were the remaining member of the family, as +indeed she was. People began to smile, and as we passed through the +front door, and went down the steps, some of the men and boys standing +there laughed out. I do not wonder; for it must have been a very comical +sight. In a second more, somebody sprang forward and snatched Pussy up. +Such a scream as she gave! and scratched his face with her claws, so +that he was glad to put her down. As soon as I heard her voice I turned +round, and called her in a low tone. She ran quickly to me, and I picked +her up and carried her in my arms the rest of the way. But I saw even my +own papa and mamma laughing a little, for just a minute. That was the +only funeral Pussy ever attended. + +Pussy lived several years after the events which are related in these +letters. + +It was a long time before her fur grew out again after that terrible +fall into the soft-soap barrel. However, it did grow out at last, and +looked as well as ever. Nobody would have known that any thing had been +the matter with her, except that her eyes were always weak. The edges of +them never got quite well; and poor Pussy used to sit and wash them by +the hour; sometimes mewing and looking up in my face, with each stroke +of her paw on her eyes, as much as to say, "Don't you see how sore my +eyes are? Why don't you do something for me?" + +She was never good for any thing as a mouser after that accident, nor +for very much to play with. I recollect hearing my mother say one day to +somebody,--"Pussy was spoiled by her experience in the cradle. She would +like to be rocked the rest of her days, I do believe; and it is too +funny to see her turn up her nose at tough beef. It was a pity she ever +got a taste of tenderloin!" + +At last, what with good feeding and very little exercise, she grew so +fat that she was clumsy, and so lazy that she did not want to do any +thing but lie curled up on a soft cushion. + +She had outgrown my little chair, which had a green moreen cushion in +it, on which she had slept for many a year, and of which I myself had +very little use,--she was in it so much of the time. But now that this +was too tight for her, she took possession of the most comfortable +places she could find, all over the house. Now it was a sofa, now it was +an arm-chair, now it was the foot of somebody's bed. But wherever it +happened to be, it was sure to be the precise place where she was in the +way, and the poor thing was tipped headlong out of chairs, shoved +hastily off sofas, and driven off beds so continually, that at last she +came to understand that when she saw any person approaching the chair, +sofa, or bed on which she happened to be lying, the part of wisdom for +her was to move away. And it was very droll to see the injured and +reproachful expression with which she would slowly get up, stretch all +her legs, and walk away, looking for her next sleeping-place. Everybody +in the house, except me, hated the sight of her; and I had many a +pitched battle with the servants in her behalf. Even my mother, who was +the kindest human being I ever knew, got out of patience at last, and +said to me one day:-- + +"Helen, your Pussy has grown so old and so fat, she is no comfort to +herself, and a great torment to everybody else. I think it would be a +mercy to kill her." + +"Kill my Pussy!" I exclaimed, and burst out crying, so loud and so hard +that I think my mother was frightened; for she said quickly:-- + +"Never mind, dear; it shall not be done, unless it is necessary. You +would not want Pussy to live, if she were very uncomfortable all the +time." + +"She isn't uncomfortable," I cried; "she is only sleepy. If people would +let her alone, she would sleep all day. It would be awful to kill her. +You might as well kill me!" + +After that, I kept a very close eye on Pussy; and I carried her up to +bed with me every night for a long time. + +But Pussy's days were numbered. One morning, before I was up, my mamma +came into my room, and sat down on the edge of my bed. + +"Helen," she said, "I have something to tell you which will make you +feel very badly; but I hope you will be a good little girl, and not make +mamma unhappy about it. You know your papa and mamma always do what they +think is the very best thing." + +"What is it, mamma?" I asked, feeling very much frightened, but never +thinking of Pussy. + +"You will never see your Pussy any more," she replied. "She is dead." + +"Oh, where is she?" I cried. "What killed her? Won't she come to life +again?" + +"No," said my mother; "she is drowned." + +Then I knew what had happened. + +"Who did it?" was all I said. + +"Cousin Josiah," she replied; "and he took great care that Pussy did not +suffer at all. She sank to the bottom instantly." + +"Where did he drown her?" I asked. + +"Down by the mill, in Mill Valley, where the water is very deep," +answered my mother; "we told him to take her there." + +At these words I cried bitterly. + +"That's the very place I used to go with her to play," I exclaimed. +"I'll never go near that bridge as long as I live, and I'll never speak +a word to Cousin Josiah either--never!" + +My mother tried to comfort me, but it was of no use; my heart was nearly +broken. + +When I went to breakfast, there sat my cousin Josiah, looking as +unconcerned as possible, reading a newspaper. He was a student in the +college, and boarded at our house. At the sight of him all my +indignation and grief broke forth afresh. I began to cry again; and +running up to him, I doubled up my fist and shook it in his face. + +"I said I'd never speak to you as long as I lived," I cried; "but I +will. You're just a murderer, a real murderer; that's what you are! and +when you go to be a missionary, I hope the cannibals'll eat you! I hope +they'll eat you alive raw, you mean old murderer!" + +"Helen Maria!" said my father's voice behind me, sternly. "Helen Maria! +leave the room this moment!" + +I went away sullenly, muttering, "I don't care, he is a murderer; and I +hope he'll be drowned, if he isn't eaten! The Bible says the same +measure ye mete shall be meted to you again. He ought to be drowned." + +For this sullen muttering I had to go without my breakfast; and after +breakfast was over, I was made to beg Cousin Josiah's pardon; but I did +not beg it in my heart--not a bit--only with my lips, just repeating the +words I was told to say; and from that time I never spoke one word to +him, nor looked at him, if I could help it. + +My kind mother offered to get another kitten for me, but I did not want +one. After a while, my sister Ann had a present of a pretty little gray +kitten; but I never played with it, nor took any notice of it at all. I +was as true to my Pussy as she was to me; and from that day to this, I +have never had another Pussy! + + + + +I. + + +My Dear Helen: + +That is what your mother calls you, I know, for I jumped up on +writing-table just now, and looked, while she was out of the room; and I +am sure I have as much right to call you so as she has, for if you were +my own little kitty, and looked just like me, I could not love you any +more than I do. How many good naps I have had in your lap! and how many +nice bits of meat you have saved for me out of your own dinner! Oh, I'll +never let a rat, or a mouse, touch any thing of yours so long as I live. + +I felt very unhappy after you drove off yesterday, and did not know what +to do with myself. I went into the barn, and thought I would take a nap +on the hay, for I do think going to sleep is one of the very best things +for people who are unhappy; but it seemed so lonely without old Charlie +stamping in his stall that I could not bear it, so I went into the +garden, and lay down under the damask rose-bush, and caught flies. There +is a kind of fly round that bush which I like better than any other I +ever ate. You ought to see that there is a very great difference between +my catching flies and your doing it. I have noticed that you never eat +them, and I have wondered that when you were always so kind to me you +could be so cruel as to kill poor flies for nothing: I have often wished +that I could speak to you about it: now that your dear mother has taught +me to print, I shall be able to say a great many things to you which I +have often been unhappy about because I could not make you understand. I +am entirely discouraged about learning to speak the English language, +and I do not think anybody takes much trouble to learn ours; so we cats +are confined entirely to the society of each other, which prevents our +knowing so much as we might; and it is very lonely too, in a place where +there are so few cats kept as in Amherst. If it were not for Mrs. +Hitchcock's cat, and Judge Dickinson's, I should really forget how to +use my tongue. When you are at home I do not mind it, for although I +cannot talk to you, I understand every word that you say to me, and we +have such good plays together with the red ball. That is put away now in +the bottom drawer of the little workstand in the sitting-room. When your +mother put it in, she turned round to me, and said, "Poor pussy, no more +good plays for you till Helen comes home!" and I thought I should +certainly cry. But I think it is very foolish to cry over what cannot be +helped, so I pretended to have got something into my left eye, and +rubbed it with my paw. It is very seldom that I cry over any thing, +unless it is "spilt milk." I must confess, I have often cried when that +has happened: and it always is happening to cats' milk. They put it into +old broken things that tip over at the least knock, and then they set +them just where they are sure to be most in the way. Many's the time +Josiah has knocked over that blue saucer of mine, in the shed, and when +you have thought that I had had a nice breakfast of milk, I had nothing +in the world but flies, which are not good for much more than just a +little sort of relish. I am so glad of a chance to tell you about this, +because I know when you come home you will get a better dish for me. + +I hope you found the horse-chestnuts which I put in the bottom of the +carriage for you. I could not think of any thing else to put in, which +would remind you of me: but I am afraid you will never think that it was +I who put them there, and it will be too bad if you don't, for I had a +dreadful time climbing up over the dasher with them, and both my jaws +are quite lame from stretching them so, to carry the biggest ones I +could find. + +There are three beautiful dandelions out on the terrace, but I don't +suppose they will keep till you come home. A man has been doing +something to your garden, but though I watched him very closely all the +time, I could not make out what he was about. I am afraid it is +something you will not like; but if I find out more about it, I will +tell you in my next letter. Good by. + + Your affectionate Pussy. + + [Illustration: "I felt very unhappy after you drove off yesterday." + Page 28.] + + [Illustration: "I hope you found the horse-chestnuts which I put in + the carriage for you. I had a dreadful time climbing up over the + dasher with them."--Page 33.] + + + + +II. + + +My Dear Helen: + +I do wish that you and your father would turn around directly, wherever +you are, when you get this letter, and come home as fast as you can. If +you do not come soon there will be no home left for you to come into. I +am so frightened and excited, that my paws tremble, and I have upset the +ink twice, and spilled so much that there is only a little left in the +bottom of the cup, and it is as thick as hasty pudding; so you must +excuse the looks of this letter, and I will tell you as quickly as I can +about the dreadful state of things here. Not more than an hour after I +finished my letter to you, yesterday, I heard a great noise in the +parlor, and ran in to see what was the matter. There was Mary with her +worst blue handkerchief tied over her head, her washing-day gown on, and +a big hammer in her hand. As soon as she saw me, she said, "There's that +cat! Always in my way," and threw a cricket at me, and then shut the +parlor door with a great slam. So I ran out and listened under the +front windows, for I felt sure she was in some bad business she did not +want to have known. Such a noise I never heard: all the things were +being moved; and in a few minutes, what do you think--out came the whole +carpet right on my head! I was nearly stifled with dust, and felt as if +every bone in my body must be broken; but I managed to creep out from +under it, and heard Mary say, "If there isn't that torment of a cat +again! I wish to goodness Helen had taken her along!" Then I felt surer +than ever that some mischief was on foot: and ran out into the garden, +and climbed up the old apple-tree at the foot of the steps, and crawled +out on a branch, from which I could look directly into the parlor +windows. Oh! my dear Helen, you can fancy how I felt, to see all the +chairs and tables and bookshelves in a pile in the middle of the floor, +the books all packed in big baskets, and Mary taking out window after +window as fast as she could. I forgot to tell you that your mother went +away last night. I think she has gone to Hadley to make a visit, and it +looks to me very much as if Mary meant to run away with every thing +which could be moved, before she comes back. After awhile that ugly +Irishwoman, who lives in Mr. Slater's house, came into the back gate: +you know the one I mean,--the one that threw cold water on me last +spring. When I saw her coming I felt sure that she and Mary meant to +kill me, while you were all away; so I jumped down out of the tree, and +split my best claw in my hurry, and ran off into Baker's Grove, and +stayed there all the rest of the day, in dreadful misery from cold and +hunger. There was some snow in the hollows, and I wet my feet, which +always makes me feel wretchedly; and I could not find any thing to eat +except a thin dried-up old mole. They are never good in the spring. +Really, nobody does know what hard lives we cats lead, even the luckiest +of us! After dark, I went home; but Mary had fastened up every door, +even the little one into the back shed. So I had to jump into the cellar +window, which is a thing I never like to do since I got that bad sprain +in my shoulder from coming down on the edge of a milk-pan. I crept up to +the head of the kitchen stairs, as still as a mouse, if I'm any judge, +and listened there for a long time, to try and make out, from Mary's +talk with the Irishwoman, what they were planning to do. But I never +could understand Irish, and although I listened till I had cramps in all +my legs, from being so long in one position, I was no wiser. Even the +things Mary said I could not understand, and I usually understand her +very easily. I passed a very uncomfortable night in the carrot bin. As +soon as I heard Mary coming down the cellar stairs, this morning, I hid +in the arch, and while she was skimming the milk, I slipped upstairs, +and ran into the sitting-room. Every thing there is in the same +confusion; the carpet is gone; and the windows too, and I think some of +the chairs have been carried away. All the china is in great baskets on +the pantry floor; and your father and mother's clothes are all taken out +of the nursery closet, and laid on chairs. It is very dreadful to have +to stand and see all this, and not be able to do any thing. I don't +think I ever fully realized before the disadvantage of being only a cat. +I have just been across the street, and talked it all over with the +Judge's cat, but she is very old and stupid, and so taken up with her +six kittens (who are the ugliest I ever saw), that she does not take +the least interest in her neighbors' affairs. Mrs. Hitchcock walked by +the house this morning, and I ran out to her, and took her dress in my +teeth and pulled it, and did all I could to make her come in, but she +said, "No, no, pussy, I'm not coming in to-day; your mistress is not at +home." I declare I could have cried. I sat down in the middle of the +path, and never stirred for half an hour. + +I heard your friend, Hannah Dorrance, say yesterday, that she was going +to write to you to-day, so I shall run up the hill now and carry my +letter to her. I think she will be astonished when she sees me, for I am +very sure that no other cat in town knows how to write. Do come home as +soon as possible. + + Your affectionate Pussy. + +P. S. Two men have just driven up to the front gate in a great cart, and +they are putting all the carpets into it. Oh dear, oh dear, if I only +knew what to do! And I just heard Mary say to them, "Be as quick as you +can, for I want to get through with this business before the folks come +back." + + [Illustration: "I climbed up the old apple-tree, and crawled out on + a branch from which I could look directly into the parlor + windows."--Page 38.] + + [Illustration: "I crept up to the head of the kitchen stairs, as + still as a mouse, if I'm any judge, and listened."--Page 40.] + + + + +III. + + +My Dear Helen: + +I am too stiff and sore from a terrible fall I have had, to write more +than one line; but I must let you know that my fright was very silly, +and I am very much mortified about it. The house and the things are all +safe; your mother has come home; and I will write, and tell you all, +just as soon as I can use my pen without great pain. + +Some new people have come to live in the Nelson house; very nice people, +I think, for they keep their milk in yellow crockery pans. They have +brought with them a splendid black cat whose name is Cæsar, and +everybody is talking about him. He has the handsomest whiskers I ever +saw. I do hope I shall be well enough to see him before long, but I +wouldn't have him see me now for any thing. + + Your affectionate Pussy. + + [Illustration: "They have brought with them a splendid black cat + whose name is Cæsar, and everybody is talking about him. He has the + handsomest whiskers I ever saw."--Page 46.] + + + + +IV. + + +My Dear Helen: + +There is one thing that cats don't like any better than men and women +do, and that is to make fools of themselves. But a precious fool I made +of myself when I wrote you that long letter about Mary's moving out all +the furniture, and taking the house down. It is very mortifying to have +to tell you how it all turned out, but I know you love me enough to be +sorry that I should have had such a terrible fright for nothing. + +It went on from bad to worse for three more days after I wrote you. Your +mother did not come home; and the awful Irishwoman was here all the +time. I did not dare to go near the house, and I do assure you I nearly +starved: I used to lie under the rose-bushes, and watch as well as I +could what was going on: now and then I caught a rat in the barn, but +that sort of hearty food never has agreed with me since I came to live +with you, and became accustomed to a lighter diet. By the third day I +felt too weak and sick to stir: so I lay still all day on the straw in +Charlie's stall; and I really thought, between the hunger and the +anxiety, that I should die. About noon I heard Mary say in the shed, "I +do believe that everlasting cat has taken herself off: it's a good +riddance anyhow, but I should like to know what has become of the plaguy +thing!" + +I trembled all over, for if she had come into the barn I know one kick +from her heavy foot would have killed me, and I was quite too weak to +run away. Towards night I heard your dear mother's voice calling, "Poor +pussy, why, poor pussy, where are you?" + +I assure you, my dear Helen, people are very much mistaken who say, as I +have often overheard them, that cats have no feeling. If they could only +know how I felt at that moment, they would change their minds. I was +almost too glad to make a sound. It seemed to me that my feet were +fastened to the floor, and that I never could get to her. She took me up +in her arms, and carried me through the kitchen into the sitting-room. +Mary was frying cakes in the kitchen, and as your mother passed by the +stove she said in her sweet voice, "You see I've found poor pussy, +Mary." "Humph," said Mary, "I never thought but that she'd be found fast +enough when she wanted to be!" I knew that this was a lie, because I had +heard what she said in the shed. I do wish I knew what makes her hate me +so: I only wish she knew how I hate her. I really think I shall gnaw her +stockings and shoes some night. It would not be any more than fair; and +she would never suspect me, there are so many mice in her room, for I +never touch one that I think belongs in her closet. + +The sitting-room was all in most beautiful order,--a smooth white +something, like the side of a basket, over the whole floor, a beautiful +paper curtain, pink and white, over the fire-place, and white muslin +curtains at the windows. I stood perfectly still in the middle of the +room for some time. I was too surprised to stir. Oh, how I wished that I +could speak, and tell your dear mother all that had happened, and how +the room had looked three days before. Presently she said, "Poor pussy, +I know you are almost starved, aren't you?" and I said "Yes," as plainly +as I could mew it. Then she brought me a big soup-plate full of thick +cream, and some of the most delicious cold hash I ever tasted; and after +I had eaten it all, she took me in her lap, and said, "Poor pussy, we +miss little Helen, don't we?" and she held me in her lap till bed-time. +Then she let me sleep on the foot of her bed: it was one of the happiest +nights of my life. In the middle of the night I was up for a while, and +caught the smallest mouse I ever saw out of the nest. Such little ones +are very tender. + +In the morning I had my breakfast with her in the dining-room, which +looks just as nice as the sitting-room. After breakfast Mrs. Hitchcock +came in, and your mother said: "Only think, how fortunate I am; Mary did +all the house-cleaning while I was away. Every room is in perfect order; +all the woollen clothes are put away for the summer. Poor pussy, here, +was frightened out of the house, and I suppose we should all have been +if we had been at home." + +Can you imagine how ashamed I felt? I ran under the table and did not +come out again until after Mrs. Hitchcock had gone. But now comes +the saddest part of my story. Soon after this, as I was looking out of +the window, I saw the fattest, most tempting robin on the ground under +the cherry-tree: the windows did not look as if they had any glass in +them, and I took it for granted that it had all been taken out and put +away upstairs, with the andirons and the carpets, for next winter. I +knew that there was no time to be lost if I meant to catch that robin, +so I ran with all my might and tried to jump through. Oh, my dear Helen, +I do not believe you ever had such a bump: I fell back nearly into the +middle of the room; and it seemed to me that I turned completely over at +least six times. The blood streamed out of my nose, and I cut my right +ear very badly against one of the castors of the table. I could not see +nor hear any thing for some minutes. When I came to myself, I found your +dear mother holding me, and wiping my face with her own nice +handkerchief wet in cold water. My right fore-paw was badly bruised, and +that troubles me very much about washing my face, and about writing. But +the worst of all is the condition of my nose. Everybody laughs who sees +me, and I do not blame them; it is twice as large as it used to be, and +I begin to be seriously afraid it will never return to its old shape. +This will be a dreadful affliction: for who does not know that the nose +is the chief beauty of a cat's face? I have got very tired of hearing +the story of my fall told to all the people who come in. They laugh as +if they would kill themselves at it, especially when I do not manage to +get under the table before they look to see how my nose is. + +Except for this I should have written to you before, and would write +more now, but my paw aches badly, and one of my eyes is nearly closed +from the swelling of my nose: so I must say good-by. + + Your affectionate Pussy. + +P. S. I told you about Cæsar, did I not, in my last letter? Of course I +do not venture out of the house in my present plight, so I have not seen +him except from the window. + + [Illustration: "Can you imagine how ashamed I felt? I ran under the + table and did not come out again until after Mrs. Hitchcock had + gone."--Page 54.] + + [Illustration: "I knew that there was no time to be lost if I meant + to catch that robin, so I ran with all my might and tried to jump + through."--Page 55.] + + + + +V. + + +My Dear Helen: + +I am sure you must have wondered why I have not written to you for the +last two weeks, but when you hear what I have been through, you will +only wonder that I am alive to write to you at all. I was very glad to +hear your mother say, yesterday, that she had not written to you about +what had happened to me, because it would make you so unhappy. But now +that it is all over, and I am in a fair way to be soon as well as ever, +I think you will like to hear the whole story. + +In my last letter I told you about the new black cat, Cæsar, who had +come to live in the Nelson house, and how anxious I was to know him. As +soon as my nose was fit to be seen, Judge Dickinson's cat, who is a +good, hospitable old soul, in spite of her stupidity, invited me to tea, +and asked him too. All the other cats were asked to come later in the +evening, and we had a grand frolic, hunting rats in the Judge's great +barn. Cæsar is certainly the handsomest and most gentlemanly cat I +ever saw. He paid me great attention: in fact, so much, that one of +those miserable half-starved cats from Mill Valley grew so jealous that +she flew at me and bit my ear till it bled, which broke up the party. +But Cæsar went home with me, so I did not care; then we sat and talked a +long time under the nursery window. I was so much occupied in what he +was saying, that I did not hear Mary open the window overhead, and was +therefore terribly frightened when there suddenly came down on us a +whole pailful of water. I was so startled that I lost all presence of +mind; and without bidding him good-night, I jumped directly into the +cellar window by which we were sitting. Oh, my dear Helen, I can never +give you any idea of what followed. Instead of coming down as I expected +to on the cabbages, which were just under that window the last time I +was in the cellar, I found myself sinking, sinking, into some horrible +soft, slimy, sticky substance, which in an instant more would have +closed over my head, and suffocated me; but, fortunately, as I sank, I +felt something hard at one side, and making a great effort, I caught on +it with my claws. It proved to be the side of a barrel, and I succeeded +in getting one paw over the edge of it. There I hung, growing weaker and +weaker every minute, with this frightful stuff running into my eyes and +ears, and choking me with its bad smell. I mewed as loud as I could, +which was not very loud, for whenever I opened my mouth the stuff +trickled into it off my whiskers; but I called to Cæsar, who stood in +great distress at the window, and explained to him, as well as I could, +what had happened to me, and begged him to call as loudly as possible; +for if somebody did not come very soon, and take me out, I should +certainly die. He insisted, at first, on jumping down to help me +himself; but I told him that would be the most foolish thing he could +do; if he did, we should certainly both be drowned. So he began to mew +at the top of his voice, and between his mewing and mine, there was +noise enough for a few minutes; then windows began to open, and I heard +your grandfather swearing and throwing out a stick of wood at Cæsar; +fortunately he was so near the house that it did not hit him. At last +your grandfather came downstairs, and opened the back door; and Cæsar +was so frightened that he ran away, for which I have never thought so +well of him since, though we are still very good friends. When I heard +him running off, and calling back to me, from a distance, that he was so +sorry he could not help me, my courage began to fail, and in a moment +more, I should have let go of the edge of the barrel, and sunk to the +bottom; but luckily your grandfather noticed that there was something +very strange about my mewing, and opened the door at the head of the +cellar stairs, saying, "I do believe the cat is in some trouble down +here." Then I made a great effort and mewed still more piteously. How I +wished I could call out and say, "Yes, indeed, I am; drowning to death, +in I'm sure I don't know what, but something a great deal worse than +water!" However, he understood me as it was, and came down with a lamp. +As soon as he saw me, he set the lamp down on the cellar bottom, and +laughed so that he could hardly move. I thought this was the most cruel +thing I ever heard of. If I had not been, as it were, at death's door, I +should have laughed at him, too, for even with my eyes full of that +dreadful stuff, I could see that he looked very funny in his red +night-cap, and without his teeth. He called out to Mary, and your +mother, who stood at the head of the stairs, "Come down, come down; +here's the cat in the soft-soap barrel!" and then he laughed again, and +they both came down the stairs laughing, even your dear kind mother, who +I never could have believed would laugh at any one in such trouble. They +did not seem to know what to do at first; nobody wanted to touch me; and +I began to be afraid I should drown while they stood looking at me, for +I knew much better than they could how weak I was from holding on to the +edge of the barrel so long. At last your grandfather swore that oath of +his,--you know the one I mean, the one he always swears when he is very +sorry for anybody,--and lifted me out by the nape of my neck, holding me +as far off from him as he could, for the soft soap ran off my legs and +tail in streams. He carried me up into the kitchen, and put me down in +the middle of the floor, and then they all stood round me, and laughed +again, so loud that they waked up the cook, who came running out of +her bedroom with her tin candlestick and a chair in her hand, thinking +that robbers were breaking in. At last your dear mother said, "Poor +pussy, it is too bad to laugh at you, when you are in such pain" (I had +been thinking so for some time). "Mary, bring the small washtub. The +only thing we can do is to wash her." + +When I heard this, I almost wished they had left me to drown in the soft +soap; for if there is any thing of which I have a mortal dread, it is +water. However, I was too weak to resist; and they plunged me in all +over, into the tub full of ice-cold water, and Mary began to rub me +with her great rough hands, which, I assure you, are very different from +yours and your mother's. Then they all laughed again to see the white +lather it made; in two minutes the whole tub was as white as the water +under the mill-wheel that you and I have so often been together to see. +You can imagine how my eyes smarted. I burnt my paws once in getting a +piece of beefsteak out of the coals where it had fallen off the +gridiron, but the pain of that was nothing to this. You will hardly +believe me when I tell you that they had to empty the tub and fill it +again ten times before the soap was all washed out of my fur. By that +time I was so cold and exhausted, that I could not move, and they began +to think I should die. But your mother rolled me up in one of your old +flannel petticoats, and made a nice bed for me behind the stove. By this +time even Mary began to seem sorry for me, though she was very cross at +first, and hurt me much more than she need to in washing me; now she +said, "You're nothing but a poor beast of a cat, to be sure; but it's +mesilf that would be sorry to have the little mistress come back, and +find ye kilt." So you see your love for me did me service, even when +you were so far away. I doubt very much whether they would have ever +taken the trouble to nurse me through this sickness, except for your +sake. But I must leave the rest for my next letter. I am not strong +enough yet to write more than two hours at a time. + + Your affectionate Pussy. + + [Illustration: "Judge Dickinson's cat, who is a good hospitable old + soul, in spite of her stupidity, invited me to tea, and asked Cæsar + too."--Page 60.] + + [Illustration: "When there suddenly came down on us a whole pailful + of water." Page 61.] + + [Illustration: "He lifted me out by the nape of my neck, holding me + as far off from him as he could."--Page 68.] + + + + +VI. + + +My Dear Helen: + +I will begin where I left off in my last letter. + +As you may imagine, I did not get any sleep that night, not even so much +as a cat's nap, as people say, though how cat's naps differ from men's +and women's naps, I don't know. I shivered all night, and it hurt me +terribly whenever I moved. Early in the morning your grandfather came +downstairs, and when he saw how I looked, he swore again, that same +oath: we all know very well what it means when he swears in that way: it +means that he is going to do all he can for you, and is so sorry, that +he is afraid of seeming too sorry. Don't you remember when you had that +big double tooth pulled out, and he gave you five dollars, how he swore +then? Well, he took me up in his arms, and carried me into the +dining-room; it was quite cool; there was a nice wood fire on the +hearth, and Mary was setting the table for breakfast. He said to her in +a very gruff voice, "Here you, Mary, you go up into the garret and +bring down the cradle." + +Sick as I was, I could not help laughing at the sight of her face. It +was enough to make any cat laugh. + +"You don't ever mean to say, sir, as you're going to put that cat into +the cradle." + +"You do as I tell you," said he, in that most awful tone of his, which +always makes you so afraid. I felt afraid myself, though all the time he +was stroking my head, and saying, "Poor pussy, there, poor pussy, lie +still." In a few minutes Mary came down with the cradle, and set it +down by the fire with such a bang that I wondered it did not break. You +know she always bangs things when she is cross, but I never could see +what good it does. Then your grandfather made up a nice bed in the +cradle, out of Charlie's winter blanket and an old pillow, and laid me +down in it, all rolled up as I was in your petticoat. When your mother +came into the room she laughed almost as hard as she did when she saw me +in the soft-soap barrel, and said, "Why, father, you are rather old to +play cat's cradle!" The old gentleman laughed at this, till the tears +ran down his red cheeks. "Well," he said, "I tell you one thing; the +game will last me till that poor cat gets well again." Then he went +upstairs, and brought down a bottle of something very soft and slippery, +like lard, and put it on my eyes, and it made them feel much better. +After that he gave me some milk into which he had put some of his very +best brandy: that was pretty hard to get down, but I understood enough +of what they had said, to be sure that if I did not take something of +the kind I should never get well. After breakfast I tried to walk, but +my right paw was entirely useless. At first they thought it was broken, +but finally decided that it was only sprained, and must be bandaged. The +bandages were wet with something which smelled so badly it made me feel +very sick, for the first day or two. Cats' noses are much more sensitive +to smells than people's are; but I grew used to it, and it did my poor +lame paw so much good that I would have borne it if it had smelled twice +as badly. For three days I had to lie all the time in the cradle: if +your grandfather caught me out of it, he would swear at me, and put me +back again. Every morning he put the soft white stuff on my eyes, and +changed the bandages on my leg. And, oh, my dear Helen, such good things +as I had to eat! I had almost the same things for my dinner that the +rest of them did: it must be a splendid thing to be a man or a woman! I +do not think I shall ever again be contented to eat in the shed, and +have only the old pieces which nobody wants. + +Two things troubled me very much while I was confined to the cradle: one +was that everybody who came in to see your mother laughed as if they +never could stop, at the first sight of me; and the other was that I +heard poor Cæsar mewing all around the house, and calling me with all +his might; and I knew he thought I was dead. I tried hard to make your +kind mother notice his crying, for I knew she would be willing to let +him come in and see me, but I could not make her understand. I suppose +she thought it was only some common strolling cat who was hungry. I have +always noticed that people do not observe any difference between one +cat's voice and another's; now they really are just as different as +human voices. Cæsar has one of the finest, deepest-toned voices I +ever heard. One day, after I got well enough to be in the kitchen, he +slipped in, between the legs of the butcher's boy who was bringing in +some meat; but before I had time to say one word to him, Mary flew at +him with the broom, and drove him out. However, he saw that I was alive, +and that was something. I am afraid it will be some days yet before I +can see him again, for they do not let me go out at all, and the +bandages are not taken off my leg. The cradle is carried upstairs, and I +sleep on Charlie's blanket behind the stove. I heard your mother say +to-day that she really believed the cat had the rheumatism. I do not +know what that is, but I think I have got it: it hurts me all over when +I walk, and I feel as if I looked like Bill Jacobs's old cat, who, they +say, is older than the oldest man in town; but of course that must be a +slander. + +The thing I am most concerned about is my fur; it is coming off in +spots: there is a bare spot on the back of my neck, on the place by +which they lifted me up out of the soap barrel, half as large as your +hand; and whenever I wash myself, I get my mouth full of hairs, which +is very disagreeable. I heard your grandfather say to-day, that he +believed he would try Mrs. Somebody's Hair Restorer on the cat, at which +everybody laughed so that ran out of the room as fast as I could go, and +then they laughed still harder. I will write you again in a day or two, +and tell you how I am getting on. I hope you will come home soon. + + Your affectionate Pussy. + + [Illustration: "Then your grandfather made up a nice bed in the + cradle, and laid me down in it."--Page 76.] + + [Illustration: "One day he slipped in between the legs of the + butcher boy, but before I had time to say a word to him, Mary flew + at him with the broom."--Page 81.] + + + + +VII. + + +My Dear Helen: + +I am so glad to know that you are coming home next week, that I cannot +think of any thing else. There is only one drawback to my pleasure, and +that is, I am so ashamed to have you see me in such a plight. I told +you, in my last letter, that my fur was beginning to come off. Your +grandfather has tried several things of his, which are said to be good +for hair; but they have not had the least effect. For my part I don't +see why they should; fur and hair are two very different things, and I +thought at the outset there was no use in putting on my skin what was +intended for the skin of human heads, and even on them don't seem to +work any great wonders, if I can judge from your grandfather's head, +which you know is as bald and pink and shiny as a baby's. However, he +has been so good to me, that I let him do any thing he likes, and every +day he rubs in some new kind of stuff, which smells a little worse than +the last one. It is utterly impossible for me to get within half a mile +of a rat or a mouse. I might as well fire off a gun to let them know I +am coming, as to go about scented up so that they can smell me a great +deal farther off than they can see me. If it were not for this dreadful +state of my fur, I should be perfectly happy, for I feel much better +than I ever did before in my whole life, and am twice as fat as when you +went away. I try to be resigned to whatever may be in store for me, but +it is very hard to look forward to being a fright all the rest of one's +days. I don't suppose such a thing was ever seen in the world as a cat +without any fur. This morning your grandfather sat looking at me for a +long time and stroking his chin: at last he said, "Do you suppose it +would do any good to shave the cat all over?" At this I could not resist +the impulse to scream, and your mother said, "I do believe the creature +knows whenever we speak about her." Of course I do! Why in the world +shouldn't I! People never seem to observe that cats have ears. I often +think how much more careful they would be if they did. I have many a +time to see them send children out of the room, and leave me behind, +when I knew perfectly well that the children would neither notice nor +understand half so much as I would. There are some houses in which I +lived, before I came to live with you, about which I could tell strange +stories if I chose. + +Cæsar pretends that he likes the looks of little spots of pink skin, +here and there, in fur; but I know he only does it to save my feelings, +for it isn't in human nature--I mean in cat's nature--that any one +should. You see I spend so much more time in the society of men and +women than of cats, that I find myself constantly using expressions +which sound queerly in a cat's mouth. But you know me well enough to be +sure that every thing I say is perfectly natural. And now, my dear +Helen, I hope I have prepared you to see me looking perfectly hideous. I +only trust that your love for me will not be entirely killed by my +unfortunate appearance. If you do seem to love me less, I shall be +wretched, but I shall still be, always, + +Your affectionate Pussy. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters from a Cat, by Helen Jackson + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LETTERS FROM A CAT *** + +***** This file should be named 32069-8.txt or 32069-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/0/6/32069/ + +Produced by V. L. Simpson and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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