86 
CREATURES OF MYSTERY 
scuppernong arbor he was immediately observed, but on this 
occasion very sorely troubled, seemingly unmindful of the fact 
that lunch was being served. He was walking back and forth 
on the top rail of the fence—walking the same rail all the 
while—occasionally stopping and looking down upon the 
ground as though he had the impulse to jump down into the 
weeds and grass with which the fence jams were covered. He 
was meowing loudly and incessantly, conveying the thought to 
those observing him that all was not well. His bushy tail was 
pointing straight upward at the noonday sun, his back form¬ 
ing a rainbow. His evident nervousness, and the very intona¬ 
tion of his voice proved conclusively that his soul was sorely 
troubled—if in fact a tom cat is endowed with a soul. 
One of the boys, sensing his need of aid, laid hold upon the 
old scatter gun, which was always kept convenient upon a rack 
over the mantel, and rushed to his aid. Just as he suspected, a 
rattler was found coiled in the jam of the fence, eyes riveted 
upon the cat. He had been employing his magic wand upon 
poor Tabby, and it was beginning to prove effective, but at the 
crack of the gun the spell was broken, and in the vernacular of 
the street, old Tabby -treated himself to an airing—literally 
clawing up the earth through the cornfield all the way to the 
turn row. So, instead of eating his regular lunch that day he 
came dangerously near providing lunch for an uninvited guest. 
The father had gone on a long journey. The mother and 
her five-year-old daughter were attending things about the 
house. The boys had been sent to a nearby field to pick cotton. 
The mother, observing that they were playing too much and 
working too little, left the child playing upon the porch and 
went out into the field to administer to the young chaps a “dust¬ 
ing-off.” She remained in the field longer than she had in¬ 
tended, endeavoring to inculcate in the boys, both by precept 
and example, a more decent respect for a life of diligence. 
The child at the house commenced crying. She was not crying 
as though she were merely anxious for the return of her 
mother, but rather as if some great dread or fear had sud¬ 
denly possessed her—there was real distress in her cry. The 
larger of the boys was promptly dispatched to see to the safety 
