118 A CONVENTION BROKEN UP IN A BOW. 



" ' Insolent ! Hear the cowardly thief I Insolent ! Very 

 well, Mr. Tom Cat ! very good, indeed ! Now, just take 

 your black skin off of this roof, or you'll get what will make 

 you look cross-eyed for a month.' 



" ' Get off this roof, I think you said. Look at this set 

 of ivory, and these claws, old greyback 1 If you want I 

 should leave this roof, just come and put me off. Try 

 it on, old Beeswax. Yes, yes ! try it on once, and we'll 

 see whose eyes will look straightest in the morning I Come 

 on, old Humpback ! Try it on, old Sausage Tail 1' 



" And then they pitched in, and such scratching and growl- 

 ing, scolding and swearing, and biting, and rolling over and 

 over, I never happened to see or hear before. About that 

 time I dropped a boulder of coal, taken from the scuttle, 

 weighing about half a pound, right among them (accidently 

 of course). Whether it hit anyone I can't positively affirm, 

 but I heard a dull heavy sound, a kind of chug, as if it had 

 struck against something soft, and the scream of one of the 

 belligerents was brought to a sudden stop, by a sort of hys- 

 terical jerk, as though there had been a sudden lack of wind 

 to carry it on. It put an end to the disturbance, and all the 

 rioters, save one, scampered away. That one remained, all 

 doubled up in a heap like, as if it had the sick headache, or 

 been attacked with a sudden inflammation of the bowels. 

 If any body's cat was found the next morning with a swelled 

 head, or a great bunch on its side, and seemed dumpish, it's 

 my private opinion that that's the one that lump of coal fell 

 upon. 



