298 Life and Immortality. 
But something in his looks told of a soul within that fore- 
shadowed a great deal of good, and so the Cat, which at 
first seemed an unwelcome guest, began to be looked upon 
in an appreciative manner. And now Tom, as the Cat is 
called, is a fixture in the household. 
Almost from his advent into the family Tom began to give 
an exhibition of his common-sense, This first remarkable 
show of intelligence was on the Sunday succeeding his adop- 
tion. The family had repaired to church, leaving Tom con- 
tentedly snoozing in a corner of the kitchen. But their 
surprise can hardly be pictured when in the midst of the ser- 
mon Tom came flying down the aisle to the place where his 
master was seated, and clawing the legs of the trousers of 
the latter, began yelling at the top of his voice. The minis- 
ter stopped in the midst of his talking, and everybody got up 
to see what the trouble was, but Tom, utterly oblivious of 
them all, continued his strange behavior. 
Convinced that the actions of the Cat were not the result of 
an epileptic fit, but foreboded something wrong at the house, 
the male portion of the congregation started thither, and 
when the house was reached a dense column of smoke was 
seen pouring from the kitchen window. The door was 
thrown open, and the carpet on the floor was found burned to 
a cinder. A coal of fire had evidently fallen from the stove- 
grate and started the fire. That Tom had understood the 
danger, was shown by his actions. 
One day, a horse, belonging to a neighboring farmer, ran 
away, and tore downthe road past Tom’s home at a thun- 
dering gait. Tom was sauntering around the yard, and his 
attention being drawn to the rattling of the wagon, he was 
soon in the road to see what the trouble was, and observing 
that the team was unaccompanied by a driver, he leaped upon 
the head of the runaway horse and hung on with teeth and 
claws until the animal was secured. On another occasiona 
tramp, happening along the road, descried a bicycle that be- 
longed to one of the inmates of the house. He was soon 
