The Adventures of a Cat Part 3

At least it was so with me. When I had recovered from the fever into which the disagreeable events related in the last Chapter had thrown me, I ran over in my recollection everything that had occurred to me up to the present time. I was again a thoughtless Kitten, gamboling on the green, playing with my own tail, or resisting with all my might the efforts of my poor mother to lick me clean! Again I wandered in the fields with my young companions, clambered trees for birds, or hid myself away in solitary places for stray rats! I once more hearkened to my dead cousin's voice, as she warbled one of her pretty songs; and as I still went on reflecting, I was again sitting in the arbour, listening to the deep tones of Senhor d.i.c.kie, until the malicious face of my neighbour's daughter, peering at us from the broken paling, broke in upon my thoughts, and I heard the vile malicious screams and hisses of the ill-bred Cats which had caused his abrupt departure and my present confinement. It was a bitter recollection; and, as I recalled the scene, I hid my face in my paws and mewed aloud.

As I got calmer I meditated upon what was best to be done. I would have despised the reports of cruelty which I was sure were spread abroad against me, and have continued my school, if my scholars had felt inclined to resume their lessons; but as they had not come back after the first day, that resource was denied me. Without some occupation, I felt certain I could not bear the being at war with my neighbours; for although I had done nothing unkind, they evidently believed I had; and as there was no opportunity of convincing them of the truth, I suffered just as much as if I had been guilty.

One road was yet open to me; and as I thought of it my eyes brightened up, and a low purr of satisfaction unconsciously broke from my bosom--I could travel! This idea had no sooner entered my head than it took entire possession of me, and drove everything else out of my thoughts.

I wished to be at once well and strong, in order to carry out my new-formed resolution. The prospect of a speedy change, and the thought of seeing new countries and other animals, produced at once a favourable effect, and not many days elapsed before I was able to sit up and resume some of my usual habits.

I did not venture into the garden, for fear of again exciting the remarks of my rude neighbours; but I sat by the door, and looked out upon the green trees, and the blue sky, and the lively birds, with a delight I cannot describe.

How beautiful does all nature seem after we have been deprived for some time, by illness, of the pleasure of looking upon it! How delicious is the air! how sweet the perfume of the flowers! and how agreeable to the sense the hum of each fly as it basks in the sunshine, cleaning its glittering wings, or darts in and out and round and round in chase of some companion! It is worth being ill, to enjoy such pure happiness, and to feel the grat.i.tude which gushes up from our hearts at being permitted to see again the loveliness of creation.

It has been said by more than one animal, that Cats are such selfish creatures that they are envious of the enjoyments of others, and can feel no pleasure beyond their own particular gratifications. I deny that this is the truth. I, a Cat, boldly affirm, in defence of my tribe, that they are capable of as strong and unselfish affections as those of any other beasts; and although, as my cousin told me, when in the service of man they display a different character, such character must not be considered as their true one, but rather forced upon them by their state of servitude and the want of confidence reposed in them. Even under such disadvantageous circ.u.mstances, I have heard that they often discover traits of kindness and fidelity, and receive many slights and insults with a patience which would do honour to their masters themselves.

As I had no one to consult about my departure, or the day I should set forth, I was not interrupted in my preparations, for I was too anxious myself to obtain a change of scene, to have any delay when I once began my arrangements.

My house was put in order; my box was packed; my servants received their instructions, and were put on board-wages till my return. I promised to write to them when an opportunity offered, to inform them of my adventures, and let them know my opinions concerning the manners of foreign countries.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BON VOYAGE!]

The morning at length arrived when I was to take my departure. Dressed in my second-best clothes, with a parasol in one paw,--for the sun was hot,--and with my travelling-bag, containing a few necessaries, in the other, I ventured into the streets for the first time since that memorable evening. A stout cur, whom I had hired as a valet to accompany and protect me, walked behind me with my trunk upon his head; and as I turned from the door I perceived my servants, and some other Cats whom I had at times a.s.sisted, watching me as I went, and bidding me a mournful adieu. I was affected by their gestures, and should have been more so, but that I was still in sight of my neighbours' dwellings, and was apprehensive of some disagreeable remarks. Fortunately none of them were visible. I pa.s.sed their houses; I got out of the very street, but not till I had stopped at the corner and given a quiet mew to the villa where I had spent so many pleasant days, and which I was now leaving perhaps for ever. We moved on through the Cats' quarter, across one or two streets inhabited by the Dogs, and out into the open country. We soon left behind us the few straggling houses which were at the entrance of the town, and, mounting a hill, paused when we had gained the summit, partly to give a last look at the city, but more to rest my companion, who declared that his legs would never get straight again from the heavy burden which had bent them down, and that the rope with which the box was tied was positively cutting his head in two.

I reclined upon a gra.s.sy bank, and nibbled a few blades while deep in thought; but my valet, "Snub," made a more substantial use of his time; for, squatting himself down on his own hat, with his legs under him, to my horror he pulled out a half-devoured bone, which he began to gnaw with much appet.i.te. I did not think this very becoming conduct in the valet of a genteel p.u.s.s.y; but as it was not the time to find fault, I allowed him to pick his bone, and gazed long and tenderly upon that city where I had been born and brought up, and which I was now leaving for strange climes, and for the society of animals of whose very language I was perhaps ignorant.

We now descended the hill, Snub carrying the box with a little more comfort to himself, having placed his hat between the sharp cord and his own broad, flat head; and on reaching the bottom we found that an extensive wood lay before us, without any trace which seemed to show there was a high-road through it. While stopping to consult what was the best course to take, an animal came from behind a large tree, and with many bows advanced towards us. His appearance startled me not a little, for I could not at first make out who or what he was. I at length discovered that he was a Fox, a tribe distantly related to the Dogs, but so little liked by them that very few ever came into Caneville, and those who did so, clipped their ears and trimmed their tails so as to alter their look as much as possible to the animals among whom they presented themselves. This Fox, on the contrary, wore all his native luxuriance of fur, and, by the way he carried his great brush of a tail, seemed not a little proud of it.

When he got within a few steps of us, he addressed me in broken Caneville dialect, and offered his services to show me the way through the wood. "It was a short cut," he said, "and would save me a good deal of ground, which I should be obliged to go over if I went round the forest."

Without paying attention to the nods or winks of Snub, which were however so violent as almost to upset his load, I accepted his polite offer with thanks, and bidding my valet, who walked very glumpily behind, to keep close by, I followed my polite guide, who at once entered a little path through two tall trees.

The shade grew thicker as we advanced, and I observed that the path got not only narrower, but was in some places almost invisible. It was evidently very little used, and unaccustomed as I had been of late to the country, I did not feel quite comfortable in thus penetrating deeper and deeper into the solitude; still I did not like to show any fear, more particularly as I was rather annoyed at the conduct of Snub, who, close behind me with the box upon his head, kept grumbling at its weight one minute, and actually growling in an under-tone at our guide the next.

The conduct of that guide did not exactly please me; for in his evident wish to prevent my being alarmed, he kept chatter, chatter, chatter, with all his might, and still went on, his sharp eyes here, there, and everywhere at once, in a most disagreeable manner.

We at last reached an open s.p.a.ce, covered over with gra.s.s, and here and there strewn with immense ma.s.ses of rock. The overhanging branches of the trees were, however, so closely intertwined, that no ray of sun, and very little light, could penetrate into it. Here I stopped short and declared I would go no further; an exclamation which seemed to arouse Mr. Fox's anger, for he came towards me with a threatening look that alarmed me not a little. I stepped back to avoid him, when Snub--as if by accident, although I felt sure the good dog knew perfectly well what he was about--by a dexterous stumble pitched the box off his head right against the Fox. It was only by the greatest agility that he avoided the heavy weight falling on and crushing him; as it was, he could not get his long tail out of the way in time, for the box came plump down upon it and nailed him to the ground in the most effectual manner. In vain he screamed and pulled; the weight was heavier than he could get rid of; and the more he pulled and screamed, the greater was Snub's delight, who capered round him, wagging his own tail with wonderful swiftness in the intensity of his satisfaction.

After having kept him a prisoner for a good hour, and forced him to confess that he had led us into the wood with the intention of robbing us, and even worse, Snub cut a piece of cord from off the box and tying it round Mr. Fox's neck, and then fast to the trunk again, lifted the latter on to his head, and ordered the treacherous guide, under penalty of instant death, to lead us back at once to the place we had started from. The wounded beast was forced to obey; so taking his mutilated tail in his paw, with a thousand apologies,--to which Snub made no other reply than to bid him to "look sharp" (a very unnecessary piece of advice, as his face could scarce have been sharper than it was), and to which I made no answer at all,--he walked on in front of us, keeping at as great a distance from his tormentor as the length of the cord would allow him.

We reached, after some time, the place where we had entered the wood, when Snub, advising our polite conductor to be more honest for the future, undid the knot which bound him to the trunk and set him again at liberty. The Fox no sooner found himself free, than, with a cry of satisfaction, anger, and defeated wickedness, he darted back among the trees, and was instantly out of sight.

LIFE ABROAD.

The first adventure that one meets with on entering the world is certain to make a deeper impression on the memory than any of those which may succeed it. Thus it was that I have a distinct recollection of our meeting with Mr. Fox, described in the last Chapter, and all the minute circ.u.mstances that attended the discovery of his treachery and his punishment by Snub. But from that time, a confusion of objects and events rushes into my brain when I attempt to think over the particulars of my journey.

The beautiful pictures of Nature, which almost every turn on the road presented to me, are however indelibly fixed in my memory, and I shall never forget the loveliness of the sun rising from behind the grey hills, and enriching the sober colours of the landscape with a tinge of gold; or the splendid spectacle displayed from the summit of one of those same hills at noonday, with a very world of beauties at my feet, laid out in trees, and stream, and field, with a light breeze driving the patches of cloud over the face of the hot sun, and shifting at every moment the light and shade beneath; or, lovelier still, the calm repose of evening, when that same sun had run his course and was sinking to his rest amid the harmonious sounds of Nature, and surrounded by the glories of piles and piles of golden and crimson clouds, which, as he sank lower and lower down, gradually lost their splendour and faded almost imperceptibly in colour, until all was grey, and the night-wind swept over the landscape as if mourning at the day's departure! These things cannot be forgotten while our memory exists at all, and the joy they awoke in my breast at seeing them, was like that which I had felt when my dead cousin used to sing some of her delightful songs,--it was all music to me.

But the first sight of the sea was what filled me with wonder, delight, and fear! The immense breadth of water,--at one time so calm as though it were asleep; at another, moaning as if it grieved for the many brave and good hearts it had engulfed; and on other occasions, fretting against the rocks, or, when moved by some strong impulse, working itself white with fury, and carrying all before it in its impetuous course. All these various moods were matter to me of astonishment and awe, which no familiarity could ever diminish; and I watched the waves roll in, and throw sh.e.l.ls or corks or pieces of smooth wood to my very feet, with the same surprise after weeks of acquaintance, as I had done on the first day of my beholding the ocean.

Our road had led through districts but little frequented by other animals, and, with the exception of a stray fox or hare, we met scarcely a single creature. We carefully avoided all intercourse with the former, and the latter as carefully kept away from communication with ourselves; for the sight of us appeared so to alarm the poor beasts, that they would not even answer our questions, whether we were proceeding towards the habitations of more civilized animals.

To tell the truth, I so thoroughly enjoyed this part of my journey, that I felt little inclination to change it for the confinement and stiffness of city life; and as I had no difficulty in procuring food or lodging,--for mice and wild birds abounded, and any old tree gave me shelter,--I could have been content to spend some months in this errant mode of existence, and meditate in the half-solitude on the vanities of animal life. But I reproved myself for my selfishness when I looked at Snub. He, poor fellow, who had not been blessed with the same advantages of education as myself, had little inclination to continue a course which presented much to be endured and little to be enjoyed. The bold bending of a bough of a tree, which I found so admirable, he considered very inferior to the joint of some savoury bone; the wide expanse of the waters was to him less charming than the confined limits of some dish containing one of our favourite Caneville compounds. Nor could it be expected that he should feel much enthusiasm at sight of a fine prospect, when his head was aching with the weight of my luggage, and his feet were sore with the burden they had had so long to support over flinty, uneven ground. I confessed to myself the justice of this reflection, and became at last as anxious as he for our arrival at some city.

A few days after, various things convinced us that we were not far removed from one. Heaps of rubbish lay strewn confusedly here and there, which were uncomfortable to look at, and much more uncomfortable to smell! The road was broader and harder, as if beaten down by many feet. By-and-by a house or two appeared,--then two together,--then three,--until at last we saw a whole street, with quant.i.ties of little objects running in and out them. I would willingly have examined what the animals were who occupied these dwellings, which were indeed miserable enough. I learnt afterwards that they were inhabited by pigs; and their huts, that were never too clean or neat, were called in the language of the country _styes_, but so unpleasant an odour came from them that I could not be prevailed on to go very near. The town itself now came in sight, and, as I had never seen any other than Caneville, my curiosity was aroused as I drew closer to make acquaintance with the inhabitants, and see if they were at all like either of the tribes of beasts between which my native place was divided. Snub was no less delighted at the prospect of getting rid of his load and refreshing his body upon some more savoury food than he had lately indulged in.

It was not at that time that I knew all the particulars which I afterwards obtained concerning this foreign city; but I may as well relate here all that I subsequently gleaned.

The place was called Norsarque, and was inhabited by animals of every sort and size, who lived in houses large, small, middling, high, low, miserable, and beautiful, just as their means or taste allowed them.

They were not, I found, the richest beasts who occupied the most costly dwellings; on the contrary, I often discovered some very poor animals who made a most splendid figure; for, curiously enough, although the Norsarquians had a very great notion of their own wisdom, they often believed the greatest nonsense which any creature chose to tell them, provided the speaker wore a fine coat, and seemed to think a good deal of himself.

I could write a history of the many funny and contradictory things I met with in Norsarque; but perhaps n.o.body would read it if I did, so I will go on with my own adventures, and only speak of such matters as particularly concerned myself. I must however mention, as a circ.u.mstance that had afterwards a great deal to do with causing my departure from the town, that the place was governed by some superior, or thought to be superior, animal, chosen from among the princ.i.p.al beasts; but that the inhabitants generally were so discontented and fond of quarrelling, that they had scarcely elected him King, than they began to find fault with him and with everything he did, and were not satisfied until they killed him or drove him away, and set up another in his place. Sometimes this royal beast was a Pig; sometimes a Lion; once he was a Fox, and, although very much hated by all his subjects, he managed to make them quarrel among themselves, and so employ their time as to have no leisure left to think of him, until one unlucky day, when, having nothing else to do, they rose up against him and drove him out, and put some other animal in his place. When I arrived at Norsarque, a Bear was on the throne; so the Bears were in high favour, and several fresh ones had lately come to the city to seek their fortunes,--and very rough-looking beings they were too!

With the aid of Snub, I managed to procure some handsome apartments in a genteel quarter; and, as I intended to make a long stay in the place, I procured everything which could make them comfortable.

When once established, I directed some attention to my humble companion.

As I was convinced of his fidelity and his attachment to myself, I resolved to keep him for my own private servant, and I therefore hired others to do the necessary work of the house. But as Snub could not attend me in my walks in the costume he wore when he left his native place, I procured a complete livery-suit, in the fashion at Norsarque; and Snub soon looked splendid in a dress of bottle-green, with white b.u.t.tons springing out all over his body, just like daisies on a lawn, and, I a.s.sure you, with his hat surrounded with a broad gold band, and his hair powdered, he looked a very different figure. Having thus cared for his outer dog, I did what I could to improve his name; and scorning to remember that he ever bore such a vulgar one as _Snub_, I made him _Snubbini_ forthwith, and took care always to p.r.o.nounce every letter of the word. It was astonishing to observe the effect which these little matters produced on my neighbours. They took me for a grand Cat at once; and I overheard a p.u.s.s.y, who was talking to another on the roof of the house situated on the opposite side of the street where I lived, that I was a foreign Princess in disguise, and was rich enough to buy half Norsarque, if I felt inclined! But how they had learnt _that_ piece of news, I could not imagine.

I had been residing some months among the restless inhabitants of Norsarque, when an incident took place, which, although I thought but little of it at the time, turned out of great importance to me.

I happened to be walking in one of the princ.i.p.al Squares, or _Places_ as they were called, when my ear was attracted by the sound of music.

Although the performers were not of the best, and their time was about as good as their tune,--that is to say, both indifferent enough,--I could not help stopping as I went by to see the show.

There were three mongrels, rather fantastically dressed, blowing all the breath they could spare into two flageolets and a flute, but as one or the other was forced to stop every now and then to recover his wind, and always managed to do so in the most pathetic part, the effect was more curious than agreeable. Several animals were standing round, and a little wee Pup went about among them collecting, with a hat big enough to hold a great deal more than was ever put into it. But the creature who most attracted my attention was a huge lump of a Bear, with so ugly a face that it made me quite shudder to look at him, who seemed the master of the band, and held a tray up to the various windows where any heads had been put out to listen to the music. He was in the act of doing so, when I came up, to the window of a large house, where a fat, white Puss, evidently the servant of some rich family, was nursing a darling little Kitten that was mewing with delight at the scene below.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WANDERING MINSTRELS.]

The servant had thrown down a few coppers in reply to the Bear's demand for money, when the ill-tempered brute, not satisfied with the donation, swore in so terrible a way, that the frightened nurse let go her hold of the Kitten, which fell direct from her paws.

I rushed forward to save it, upsetting as I went the unfortunate little Pup, who was at that moment presenting the hat for my contribution, and was just in time to seize it by the tail before it reached the pavement.

At the same instant the door burst open, a troop of servants rushed out, headed by a Cat, superbly dressed. The band of musicians disappeared, as if by magic, the great Bear being the first to take to flight; the new-comers surrounded me, and I had the satisfaction of putting the Kitten, unharmed, into its mother's paws. A tender scene then ensued; and as ingrat.i.tude was not among this Lady Puss's failings, I was begged to enter, nay, was almost carried into the house, to receive the repeated thanks of the n.o.ble family.

THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE.

Senor Don Tomas Ricardo, the husband of the Lady Puss whose Kitten I had been the means of saving, was one of the richest, and perhaps the n.o.blest, Cats of all our tribe, residing in Norsarque.

He was very indignant when he heard from his Lady how nearly the darling of his family had been killed through the rudeness of a Bear, and he curled his whiskers and waved his tail in the excess of his anger.

He did more than this; he went out among his friends, and, calling together a meeting of Cats, who were very numerous in the city, he made, as I heard, a speech which produced an immense effect upon them.

He commenced by saying that the Cat tribe was known (among themselves) to be the most ancient, the most n.o.ble, the most virtuous, the most courageous, and the most clever of all the animals who lived upon the face of the earth. (This was received with loud mews of satisfaction; and one enthusiastic Tom called out, "Cats for ever!") He then began to compare our race with other beasts generally, and, saying a good deal in favour of the Dogs, for a reason which will presently appear, yet still placing Cats in the first rank of created things, he went on to speak of Bears. Encouraged by the groans, which the mention of such disagreeable beasts occasioned, he boldly inveighed against the conduct of _the_ Bear, then upon the throne; spoke of his favouritism in encouraging into the city so many of his tribe, and asked the meeting, in an injured tone, how they would feel when an entire army of these monstrous animals should march in and live upon the best of the land, while they, the Cats, would starve for want of the necessaries of life. (Of course the audience declared they should not like it at all, and uttered the most discordant cries to prove their a.s.sertion, amid which the same enthusiastic Tom exclaimed, "Down with the Bears!") His hearers being thus prepared to receive the most favourable accounts of the doings of Cats, and the most atrocious histories of the actions of Bears, Senor Don Tomas Ricardo proceeded at once to the adventure of the morning, in which his Kitten had nearly been brought to an untimely end, and, although the mishap was quite as much due to the carelessness of the nurse as to the rudeness of the master of the band, he worked up such a wonderful picture, that the audience, thrilled with horror, soon after separated, with a determination to bear the tyranny of the Ursine Dynasty no longer.

I cannot tell what machinery was put in operation to produce the effects which shortly after ensued; but I suppose, in a place where beasts are fond of change and have very little to do, it is not difficult to get them to do mischief. It is certain that an alliance was formed between the Cats and Dogs of the city, who outnumbered together the rest of the inhabitants, and one fine day, about a week after the meeting just described, there was a revolution in Norsarque; the Bears who could not escape were torn to pieces by the enraged rebels, and after some hours'

fighting, peace was restored, and Senor Don Tomas Ricardo was elected King! Cats were appointed with Dogs to fill different offices of State, and all animals of these races were, as it is easy to imagine, in very high favour.