334 



RECREATION. 



Proceeding to an unused barn, on 

 Grigsby's land, 300 yards from the 

 main street, they climbed in through 

 a window and deposited their victim, 

 bag and all, in an empty feed bin. 

 Leaving the miserable cat to extricate 

 himself from the suffocating tarpaulin 

 net, they went home : some to receive 

 enlivening thrashings ; all, to be 

 soundly berated. 



"Don't forget," said the Kid, as he 

 left them standing under one of a row 

 of great maples which arbored the 

 narrow road, "one of you must file the 

 lock early. We can't get him through 

 the window." 



He trotted down the tree-roofed 

 corridor, and from a distance, his 

 voice came faintly, "Don't for-get." It 

 was 10 o'clock. With a roar of break- 

 ing seas the East bound express 

 passed over the crossing under a pur- 

 suing storm of red hail. 



Chum was lazily extended on the 

 sidewalk, before the barber shop. A 

 little boy came up and addressed him. 

 "Cats !" he cried, which meant kittens 

 to the terrier. The dog jumped up as 

 if kicked. With equal ease the twain 

 ran across the street, surmounted a 

 rickety stone wall, knocking off the 

 top layer in doing so, and tore down 

 the long grade toward Grigsby's old 

 barn. The boy swung his arms as if 

 traversing a life line ; his lean, stick- 

 like legs shoveled dirt at his back. 

 Chum raced alongside, yelping. 

 Reaching the goal, the boy, with 

 breath to spare, yelled a peremptory 

 summons. With a rusty squeak the 

 heavy doors gaped narrowly to admit 

 him. He squeezed through, the dog 

 wedged between his legs in a frantic 

 endeavor to be first. The doors, clos- 

 ing in the automatic manner of a 

 mouse trap, collided sharply. His 

 comrades pressed around him, utter- 

 ing extravagant praises and congrat- 

 ulatory whoops. Chum ran about, 

 with his nose to the floor, and sniffed 

 expectantly. Suddenly stopping before 

 the feed bin, he raised his head and 

 jerked out a string of barks. Then he 

 clawed at the bin frenziedly, howling 



to sustain his enthusiasm. A blood- 

 curdling hiss, from the interior of the 

 box, answered his challenge. Still, he 

 did not suspect, but went on scraping 

 with the energy of a beaver. Fasten- 

 ing a long piece of light rope to the lid, 

 the Kid freighted the other end with 

 a heavy spike and tossed it up into 

 the empty hay loft. He followed, as- 

 cending the. loft ladder. The others 

 went after him, fighting for right of 

 way and laughing hysterically. Seat- 

 ing themselves on the edge of the loft, 

 they mauled each other to vent their 

 joy. Dallying with the lanyard, the 

 master of ceremonies scanned the am- 

 phitheater closely to see if all means 

 of egress were closed to the com- 

 batants. His sharp scrutiny failed 

 to reveal a single leak. Everything 

 was tight as a collision bulkhead. The 

 fragile, many paned window was 

 too high for Chum ; and he was 

 certain the cat would make no effort 

 to escape. 



Meanwhile, the dog was indus- 

 triously digging away, encouraged 

 by the spiteful hissing. Slowly, very 

 slowly, the lid was drawn up. 

 With consummate ease the. streaked 

 demon cleared the rim of the box and 

 alighted beside the astonished terrier. 

 Chum made an erratic, crablike jump ; 

 then, assuming a posture of defense, 

 faced his opponent with an air of weak 

 determination. Up in the loft an ex- 

 pectant audience yelled untiringly, ex- 

 horting the beasts to begin. "Kut-at- 

 a-row ! Kut-at-a-row !" they crooned 

 in exquisite mimicry. The betting 

 was light ; the odds were 4 cents to 1 

 on the cat. And if form counted for 

 anything, he deserved strong backing. 

 He was, indeed, a magnificent fighting 

 machine. Lacking the weight of the 

 blond, frowsy terrier by a few pounds, 

 he more than evened the balance by the 

 quality of his rubber muscles and the 

 efficiency of his offensive armament. 

 Menacingly he stared at Chum, hiss- 

 ing like a bundle of snakes. The. hiss 

 passed into a crooning war chant ; he 

 beat time with his half length tail. 

 Suddenly, with a terrifying scream, 



