The Great Small Cat, and Others: Seven Tales

Transcriber's Note:
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation in the original document have been preserved.

JIMINY CHRISTMAS: HIS FIRST APPEARANCE He Was Probably a Graceless Vagabond, Born in the Gutter, With no Pretensions to Breeding or Even Good Looks
THE GREAT SMALL CAT · AND OTHERS Seven Tales
BY MAY E. SOUTHWORTH
ILLUSTRATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS AND DECORATED BY PEDRO J. LEMOS
PAUL ELDER AND COMPANY PUBLISHERS · SAN FRANCISCO
Copyright, 1914 Paul Elder and Company San Francisco
IN LOVING MEMORY OF THURSDAY MY OWN

Everyone knows that there are all kinds of people; also there are all kinds of cats, worthy and unworthy. No two are exactly alike, and by those who do not class them in a bunch, but study them as individuals, they are found to have decided characteristics all their own, ever presenting strange surprises in a mixture of the unexpected higher qualities of civilization and the evils of lowest barbarism. The appeal of the kitten is almost universal, as there are few men, women or children, even those who shudder at a real cat, who can resist the subtle charm of these fuzzy lumps of playfulness. But cats, the alley cat, your cat, my cat, anybody's cat, all cats are in need of some brave champion, someone who will endeavor to portray their better side and be able to so increase for them the appreciation of mankind that they will come to what is only rightfully their own. Whatever your faith or practice may be touching cats, you are bound to admit that they must surely have some kind of mission here on earth. The trend of modern beneficence shows the day of even the cat is on the way, the day when they shall be better understood, making the world kinder to them in recognizing that these often sadly abused little creatures, have the feelings common to flesh and blood and are times without number, actuated by human thoughts and impulses. Recent years have done much in the way of atonement for persistent error in regard to their nature, by thrusting upon them a balance long their due in the form of many happy literary tributes, proving, in spite of much withering scorn, that environment has much more to do with their lack of worth than has original sin.