The Tale of Miss Kitty Cat Read online

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  THE TALE OF MISS KITTY CAT

  _SLUMBER-TOWN TALES_ (Trademark Registered)

  BY ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

  AUTHOR OF _SLEEPY-TIME TALES_ (Trademark Registered) _TUCK-ME-IN TALES_ (Trademark Registered)

  BY ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

  THE TALE OF THE MULEY COW THE TALE OF OLD DOG SPOT THE TALE OF GRUNTY PIG THE TALE OF HENRIETTA HEN THE TALE OF TURKEY PROUDFOOT THE TALE OF PONY TWINKLEHEELS THE TALE OF MISS KITTY CAT

  Miss Kitty Cat Chased Old Dog Spot. _Frontispiece_]

  _SLUMBER-TOWN TALES_ (Trademark Registered)

  THE TALE OF MISS KITTY CAT

  BY ARTHUR SCOTT BAILEY

  Author of "SLEEPY-TIME TALES" (Trademark Registered) AND "TUCK-ME-IN TALES" (Trademark Registered)

  ILLUSTRATED BY HARRY L. SMITH

  NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS

  Made in the United States of America

  COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I A TERRIBLE PERSON II DOG SPOT'S PLANS III CHASING MISS KITTY IV A TENDER NOSE V SPOTS AND SPECKLES VI BEECHNUT SHUCKS VII TWO IN A TREE VIII NINE LIVES IX THE STOLEN CREAM X A CREAMY FACE XI THE WRENS' HOME XII JOLLY ROBIN'S NEWS XIII AN UNWELCOME GUEST XIV CATCALLS XV MOUSETRAPS XVI A MIDNIGHT MEAL XVII THE EAVESDROPPERXVIII KIDNAPPED XX STRANGE QUARTERS XXI A LONG JOURNEY XXII IN THE PANTRY XXIV THE FLOUR BARREL XXV A SECRET XXIV FIVE IN A BASKET

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  MISS KITTY CAT CHASED OLD DOG SPOT _Frontispiece_

  MISS KITTY CAT LOOKED CALMLY AT RUSTY WREN

  MISS KITTY CAT SEES MOSES MOUSE BALANCE A BIT OF CHEESE ON HIS NOSE

  MISS KITTY CAT GUARDS HER KITTENS

  THE TALE OF MISS KITTY CAT

  I

  A TERRIBLE PERSON

  THE rats and the mice thought that Miss Kitty Cat was a terrible person.She was altogether too fond of hunting them. They agreed, however, thatin one way it was pleasant to have her about the farmhouse. When shewashed her face, while sitting on the doorsteps, they knew--so theysaid!--that it was going to rain. And then Mrs. Rat never would let herhusband leave home without taking his umbrella.

  As a rule Miss Kitty Cat didn't look at all frightful. Almost always sheappeared quite unruffled, going about her business in a quiet way andmaking no fuss over anything. Of course when old dog Spot chased--andcornered--her, she was quite a different sort of creature. Then shearched her back, puffed her tail out to twice its usual size, and spatfiercely at Spot. He learned not to get within reach of her sharp claws,when she behaved in that fashion. For old Spot had a tender nose. And noone knew it better than Miss Kitty Cat.

  Around the farmhouse she was politeness itself--when there was anybodyto observe her. If her meals were late she never clamored, as JohnnieGreen sometimes did. To be sure, she might remind Mrs. Green gently, byplaintive mewing, that she had not had her saucer of milk. But she wasalways careful not to be rude about it. And though Miss Kitty liked awarm place in winter, she never crowded anybody else away from the fire.She crept under the kitchen range, where no one else cared to sit. Andthere she would doze by the hour--especially after she had enjoyed ahearty meal.

  On summer nights, however, when she loved to hunt out of doors, MissKitty Cat was far from appearing sleepy. She roamed about the fields, orcrept through the tree-tops with a stealthy tread and a tigerish workingof her tail. Folk smaller than Miss Kitty never cared to meet her atsuch times. They knew that she would spring upon them if she had achance. So they took good care to keep out of her way. And if theycaught sight of her when she had her hunting manner they always gavethe alarm in their own fashion, warning their friends to beware of themonster Miss Kitty Cat, because she was abroad and in a dangerous mood.

  Johnnie Green liked Miss Kitty. Often she would come to him and rubagainst him and purr, fairly begging him to stroke her back. Unless hepulled her tail at such times she kept her claws carefully out of sightand basked under Johnnie's petting.

  If he had been her size and she had been his, Miss Kitty Cat might nothave been so harmless. She might have played with Johnnie, as shesometimes played with a mouse. But Johnnie Green never stopped to thinkof anything like that. And if he had, he would have thought it a greatjoke. He would have laughed at the idea of Miss Kitty Cat holding himbeneath her paw.

  II

  DOG SPOT'S PLANS

  SOMEHOW old dog Spot and Miss Kitty Cat never became good friends. Bythe time Miss Kitty Cat arrived on the farm in Pleasant Valley Spot hadlived there several years.

  From the first day he met Miss Kitty in the kitchen Spot hadn't likedher. Yet he claimed at the time that he was glad to see her. He saidthat he could tell at once that he was going to have great sport withher. He knew it would be fun to chase her!

  Inside the farmhouse old Spot was careful how he behaved. The momentMiss Kitty first set eyes on him she scurried under the table, whereshe crouched and glared at him. That was scarcely what you might call afriendly greeting. And Spot would have barked at her had he dared.

  Since he didn't, he only whined a bit through his nose. You couldn'thave told what he meant by the sound.

  Miss Kitty Cat didn't like his whining. She even opened her mouth wideand said as much. She made an odd hissing noise, which amused old Spotgreatly. And he told Miss Kitty, in what was almost a growl (except thatit wasn't loud enough for one), "Wait till I catch you out of doors, mylady! I'll have some fun with you."

  Then Farmer Green's wife opened the door and told Spot to be gone.

  "You ought to be ashamed of yourself--" she scolded--"teasing a poorlittle cat!"

  Old dog Spot tucked his tail between his legs and crept through thedoorway, keeping one eye on the broom that Mrs. Green held in her hand.And as soon as he was safely outside he gave two or three sharp yelps,telling Miss Kitty Cat that he would watch for her the very first timeshe set foot in the yard.

  Somehow Miss Kitty Cat wasn't specially worried. She knew a thing or twoabout dogs; and she didn't intend to let old Spot bully her. It took hera few minutes to get over her anger. And then she came out from beneaththe table and lapped up the milk that Mrs. Green had set temptingly onthe floor, in a saucer.

  When Miss Kitty had finished her meal she washed her face--a duty thatshe performed with great care, for she prided herself on always lookingneat.

  Watching her, no one would ever have guessed what was in her mind. "I'dlike to wash that dog's face for him!" Miss Kitty was saying to herself."He'd have some reason then for yelping and whining."

  Having completed her toilet Miss Kitty jumped into a chair that stood inthe sunshine, near a window. And there she composed herself for a nap.When she was well fed and well warmed she liked nothing better than tocurl herself up and doze and dream.

  Meanwhile old dog Spot was telling everybody in the farmyard about thenew cat and the fun he intended to have with her.

  "There'll
be lively times around here when she comes outside the house,"he chuckled.

  III

  CHASING MISS KITTY

  WHEN Miss Kitty Cat awoke from her nap she got up and stretched herself.In her opinion, a nap was no nap at all if one didn't stretch aftertaking it. "There's nothing like a good stretch to make a personlimber," she often remarked.

  Of course, in order to climb trees, or spring successfully at a rat or amouse, Miss Kitty had to keep her muscles supple. And since it happened,now and then, that others jumped unexpectedly at her, she believed inalways being ready either to chase or to be chased.

  After she had smoothed her fur to suit her, Miss Kitty went to the doorand mewed patiently until Farmer Green's wife opened it. Then Miss KittyCat slipped out of the kitchen and found herself in the woodshed. Ahighly interesting place, it seemed to her, with any number of cranniesto offer lurking-places for mice. She decided at once that the woodshedwould be a fine spot in which to hunt in stormy weather.

  Feeling much pleased with her new home, Miss Kitty hopped down upon thegreat flat stone that served as a step from the woodshed to the ground.She couldn't help thinking, as she sat there, what a pleasant yardFarmer Green had. She noticed that there were trees enough about thefarmhouse to furnish homes for plenty of birds.

  And if there was one thing that Miss Kitty Cat liked it was to visitbirds right where they lived.

  Seeing a faint stir in the grass not far away, she began to creeptowards it. Miss Kitty had found that it paid to look into such things.Often she had surprised a meadow mouse in just that way.

  This time, however, it was Miss Kitty Cat herself that was surprised.She was so intent on her own important business that she never took hereyes off that spot where the grass had moved. And that was why shedidn't see old dog Spot when he stuck his nose around a corner of thefarmhouse.

  Now, Spot's ways were quite different from Miss Kitty's. Whenever he setout on a hunt he never could keep still. So the moment he caught sightof Miss Kitty Cat he gave a joyful bark. At the same time he boundedtowards her.

  Of course Spot's yelps warned her to run. The moment she heard his firstbark she forgot all about her own hunt, being herself the hunted. Shescurried off across the farmyard, with Spot tearing after her.

  If she had had time enough Miss Kitty would have climbed a tree. ButSpot was altogether too near her for that. And being a stranger aboutthe farmyard, she hadn't learned all the fine hiding places. Since Spotwas between her and the house, she made for the barn and sprang throughthe open door. Inside Spot quickly cornered her.

  With her back arched and her tail almost as big as Tommy Fox's brush,Miss Kitty Cat turned and faced her pursuer.

  IV

  A TENDER NOSE

  "HURRAH!" old dog Spot barked. At least, what he said sounded a gooddeal like that.

  He had cornered Miss Kitty Cat in the barn. And there was nothing heliked more than teasing anybody that was short-tempered as she was.

  "_Tchah!_" Miss Kitty hissed.

  Now, that ought to have been warning enough to Spot to keep a good, safedistance from her. But he was one of the sort that never knows enough totake a warning for what it is worth.

  "_Wow!_" he chuckled. "You needn't think I'm afraid of you. If you ranfrom me once, you'll run again."

  He didn't intend to hurt Miss Kitty. All he wanted was to get her to runacross the yard again, so that he might have the sport of chasing her.So he edged nearer and nearer her, thinking that she would dodge pasthim and run out of the barn.

  But Miss Kitty Cat had no relish for that sport.

  "Keep your distance, sir!" she cried. And though she spoke plainlyenough, old Spot paid no heed to her words. Instead, he gave a quickspring at her, just to worry her a bit more.

  To his great surprise, almost at that same instant Miss Kitty Cat sprangat him. And as she jumped, she flashed one of her paws out and struckSpot on one side of his long nose.

  It was not just a gentle tap with a soft, well-padded paw. She thrusther claws well out from between her toes. And jabbing them deep intoSpot's tender nose, she gave a sharp downward pull.

  All at once old dog Spot thought of the time when, as a puppy, he stuckhis nose into a hornet's nest. His joyful bark changed suddenly to ashrill _ki-yi_ of pain. And at the same time he became angry.

  "You don't know how to have fun," he growled at Miss Kitty Cat. "Just toteach you better manners I'm going to take you by the back of your neckand shake you."

  It appeared that Miss Kitty herself had quite a different notion. Atleast, she went through an entirely different motion, which was not atall like offering the back of her neck for old Spot to seize. When Spotreached for her she clawed him furiously, with one paw after another,while she told him what she thought of him.

  He did not wait to hear everything that Miss Kitty had to say to him.Spot thought too much of his nose to linger in the barn any longer, butturned tail and hurried into the yard.

  Miss Kitty Cat chased him as far as the door. Taking one quick backwardglance at her as he went, Spot noticed how fiercely her eyes glared. Itwas a terrible sight. And it made him hasten all the faster.

  "My goodness! What a temper!" he said under his breath.

  Loping across the farmyard, he looked about him uneasily. He hopednobody had seen Miss Kitty Cat driving him out of the barn. He knew itwould be a hard matter to explain to any one. All his farmyard friendswould be sure to think it a great joke.

  Luckily there was no one in sight except Henrietta Hen.

  "She won't notice anything," Spot assured himself. "She's the stupidestperson on the farm."

  Having nothing more to worry about except his scratched nose, old Spotcrawled under the woodshed and nursed his wounds during the rest of themorning.

  As for Miss Kitty Cat, she stayed in the barn a long time.

  "What a worthless fellow that old dog is!" she thought. "This barn isfull of mice! I don't believe he has caught one in all the years he haslived on the farm."

  V

  SPOTS AND SPECKLES

  WHEN she first met Miss Kitty Cat face to face Henrietta Hen exclaimed,"What a pity!"

  Miss Kitty Cat hadn't intended to speak to Henrietta Hen at all. Shedidn't care, as a rule, to have anything to do with hens. She oftenremarked that she liked eggs and she liked chickens; but she never couldsee what hens were good for.

  Well, when Henrietta Hen spoke to her like that Miss Kitty Cat pausedand stared at her coolly for a moment or two. Then she asked in rather adistant tone, "What's a pity?"

  Now, Henrietta Hen seldom knew when she was snubbed. And goodness knowspeople snubbed her often enough, too. For she was forever making remarksabout their looks. And now she said to Miss Kitty Cat, "It's a pity yourspeckles are so big."

  Miss Kitty Cat saw at once that Henrietta Hen was a vain creature. Shehad half a mind to walk on and leave her, without saying another word toher. Indeed, Miss Kitty had turned aside to continue her stroll towardsthe meadow when Henrietta Hen spoke to her again.

  "Don't you think," Henrietta demanded, "that speckles should be wornvery small, like mine? Don't you think yours are too big?"

  "I'd rather not talk with you," said Miss Kitty Cat. "I can see plainlythat we'd never agree."

  "Oh, do stop for a while!" Henrietta Hen besought her. "I love a chatwith a cat," she added with a silly giggle.

  Miss Kitty Cat was vexed. She thought that Henrietta Hen was a tiresomeperson.

  "Ill stop and have a chat with you," Miss Kitty relented, "for it's notoften that I meet a spotted hen. If my speckles are too big," she wenton in an icy tone, "it is just as true that your spots are altogethertoo small."

  "Spots!" Henrietta cackled. Like all empty-headed people, she was quickto lose her temper. "Spots indeed! I'd have you know that I haven't anyspots. I'm a speckled beauty--that's what I am. And if you don't believeit you can ask the Rooster."

  "Perhaps I was mistaken," Miss Kitty Cat purred. "Anyhow, I'll take_your_ word about the Specks
. I won't bother to ask the Rooster."

  "Ah!" Henrietta Hen exclaimed. "You're afraid of him! You're afraid hemight want to fight you. And I wish he would," she screamed at MissKitty, "for it's plain that you're no gentleman."

  "Well--I should hope not!" Miss Kitty Cat gasped.

  "I thought you were a gentleman, or I should never have spoken to you,"Henrietta Hen declared. "When I first saw you I said to myself, 'Here'sa quiet, polite gentleman! It will be pleasant to have him living at thefarmhouse.' But I see that I was mistaken."

  "You were!" cried Miss Kitty, who was--to say the least--greatlyastonished by Henrietta's odd remarks. "My name is Miss Kitty Cat. Andwhat made you think I was a gentleman is more than I can guess."

  "_Miss!_" cried Henrietta. "_Miss!_ Then why, pray tell me, do you wearthose whiskers?"

  Try as she would, Miss Kitty could give no reason that satisfiedHenrietta Hen. And Henrietta always declared that Miss Kitty Cat was astrange, strange person.

  VI

  BEECHNUT SHUCKS

  ONCE in a while Frisky Squirrel paid a visit to Farmer Green's place.Although he had learned that the farmyard was not without its dangers,after one adventure Frisky was always sure to return, sometime, as if insearch of another.

  So a certain fine, fall day found him scampering along the top of thestone wall that followed the road as it dropped down the hill from thewoods to Farmer Green's front gate.

  Old Mr. Crow, sailing lazily over the yellowing fields, caught sight ofthe stone wall traveller and glided into a tree beside the road. "You'dbetter not go near the farmyard, young fellow!" old Mr. Crow called.