The Great Small Cat, and Others: Seven Tales

by May E. Southworth

A MINE, A MINER, AND A CAT

The mining camps of California in the days of '49 are full of romance and history and any man who has once tasted their free independent adventure can never more escape the influence. The gambling chance which every miner took in those fascinating days, is continually tempting him again to the old life. This charm, which that most merciless Enchantress of the California Hills casts on all alike, is unfathomable, and grips the mighty as well as the weak. The quest of gold, which rewarded some and eluded others in those days, still has a grappling temptation to every man who has once been under its spell. To the pioneer Californian, it is a summons forever luring him to that old battle ground round the big shaft where the sky is big and it feels good just to be alive. You will find that the old-time miners forever chafe in the dullness and conventionalities of any humdrum existence along commercial lines, and for any slight excuse will exultantly take the wide tramp road that leads to what they call "God's own country." They are found ever eager to give body, and soul if necessary, joyously, in the intoxicating excitement this fickle sorceress holds out to them in the game of chance which they think must win in the end.

One of these sturdy relics of the early days in the golden west, after years of struggle and vain trials to settle down into the drudgery of precarious success in trade, grew tired of waiting for the miracle of prosperity to even begin to happen, and was in despair. In his blue discouragement those dream ghosts of the happy mining days were ungovernable in their insistent presence and pulling at his heart strings with an almost visible and steady line.

Long ago when he first came to the west, in the mad rush after gold in '49 he had been one of the "pardners" to locate and work a certain claim. In the fever and scramble of making a fortune in a minute, and expecting to pick up handfuls of gold with little trouble, this company had become discouraged at the slow profits yielded by this claim, and had abandoned it upon the report of much richer discoveries farther on, he following with the others. During all these years that he had tried to settle down into steady, legitimate business a haunting certainty had grown in his mind that they had been too hasty in abandoning this mine. The remembrance of a promising lead, which had been discovered in one of those hustling days and which, in their breathless hurry for big lumps, had not been followed faithfully enough, and consequently had been overlooked and forgotten, obsessed his present gloomy outlook until it could no longer be ignored.

One especially desperate day, when affairs had been unusually irksome, he sat down in dejection and thought deep and hard on this inward and tantalizing urge to the old mountains. Immediately following this quiet hour with himself he gave up the effort of trying to succeed in his present uncongenial work, and throwing discretion to the winds, yielded in glorious abandon to the call in his blood, ringing too loud to longer oppose. Fortunately there were no ties of family or responsibilities other than business to shake off, so shouldering his pick and shovel, treasured through all these years, he joyously started with his chin up and his back straight, for the splendid freedom of the old familiar hills. His destination the long abandoned claim hidden away in the far-off wilds, where there was a chance, sure, and no one had yet, as far as he could learn, discovered the "lead."

He determined to go there again, to work it alone this time, and to be deliberate and to stay with it until the hills did deliver up to him their royal secret. To this miner-man it meant life, real life, health and above all, freedom, with a big chance of a fortune. If it were a fool's folly, he would gamely take a "flyer" and abide by the result at any cost.

So this strong-handed, broad-shouldered man, big in heart and big in soul and a lover of the silent places, in answering the call of his old miner days, set his hopeful face toward the great mountains and the days to come, in reckless venture, with only faith, a pair of strong arms and a pick and spade to help him solve the problem. It is a well-known fact that these men going into the wildness and loneliness of these rugged heights, cherish a cat as indispensable to their camp life; as important an addition to their "grub stakes" as beans and coffee. And so intimate do these two become under their isolated, and often desperate conditions, that an almost human friendship and affection springs up between them.

At the last trading post nearest the mine the man planned to "outfit" and to secure a four-footed partner. The cat he thought would be so easy that he never gave it a second thought, but on his arrival at the little town busied himself packing and getting everything in light transportation order for the "return horse" on the morrow. These arrangements off his mind, he got very busy in looking about for the last requisite, a cat. His intentions in regard to acquiring one were perfectly honorable. He would beg one if possible, buy one if necessary, but he must have a cat at any price, not only for its company and usefulness, but in accordance with all past traditions of mines and miners. There were cats and cats a plenty in this little mining town, clinging to the rough side of the granite hill, but, as it seemed, none to spare. Not one to give away and not one to sell, and he might as well have tried to barter with the air, as no price or accommodation could induce any one of them to part with one of their precious little beasts, and he was in despair. After strenuous hours of vain persuasion, which had eliminated the question of choice or price in regard to the cat, he had gone to the public house for supper, exhausted and out of patience, but none the less determined on having the desired "partner." The early starlight found him sitting on the dark veranda, solitary and alone, pondering the cat question, not as to spots or breeding or even a cat, but as to which, and how. He must have a cat and these people being the last resort would have to furnish it at whatever cost. With his chair tilted back, his hands deep in his pockets and his face turned heavenward he seemed to be looking at the stars for inspiration, and from the short, quick puffs and lively glow of his pipe, it was evident he was thinking hard. After he had finished his smoke in silent cogitation with the sky, he seemed to have settled the difficult problem to his satisfaction, for when he rose to "turn in" there was the gleam of a slow smile on his rugged face. Knocking out his pipe and brushing the ashes from his breast, with a huge yawn, he stretched his arms up over his six feet of length, hardening his muscles for the morrow, and sauntered indoors for the few short hours of rest in a bed, which luxury he allowed himself as a grand finale to civilization.

In what seemed to him but a moment later, it was the next morning, and throwing aside the blankets he was up and out in the chill gray dawn without disturbing any of the household. As the eastern sky lightened the purple mists, he trudged cheerily along under the frosty twinkle of the receding stars, his back to the dusty little hamlet and a triumphant smile of contented satisfaction beaming on his happy face, turned toward the gleaming snow peaks of to-morrow. No one would have suspected this big happy tramp of having an infamous secret on his conscience or have surmised that he harbored a wee felony snuggled closely inside of his outer flannel shirt. As he had been in somewhat of a hurry in committing this crime, he had not been over-scrupulous in selecting any particular kind of a cat. Still, as he was at last in possession of a live kitten, a something he felt he could not have faced the solitude and silence of his lonely camp life without, in sweet content he would never be critical. This victory in the small matter of a small cat, attested well for his future, showing that he had resources and skillful ways of his own in circumventing an adverse fate, and that he was made of the stuff that wins in the end.

Just as the white mountain peaks, far above the timber line, caught the first pink glory of the coming sun, the man with the light of hope in his dark eyes, reached the foothills. He crossed the first low divide, and in the sheltered ravine beyond stopped beside a tiny trickle of snow water, flashing gently down among the boulders, and made camp for breaking his fast. Here for the first time he took from his bosom the scraggy little treasure for which he had risked his honest reputation, and which had safely slept, curled in its snug quarters, all the way.

The very first act of the astonished small tenderfoot on this rather rude awakening and introduction, was to make a wild dash for liberty, which came near being a total eclipse of their acquaintance. It was only after a very lively chase, in which the man had to hide his terrible anxiety and to use the utmost patient cunning, that the frightened little animal was captured by his more than frightened mate. In the quiet moments that followed, when they were sizing each other up by the comfort of their little friendship fire, their intimacy began. In admonition his baby highness was given a serious and profound lecture on the futility of having such independent ideas as he seemed to possess. The poor little motherless captive looked meek and helpless enough beside the big man, and in this big unknown world, his great baby eyes glancing and searching about in vague apprehension; but although he was terribly puzzled over the situation, he was finally brought to reason and to the straight and narrow path of obedience.

With a firm and tender touch, electric with love and sympathy, the man stroked his prize, answering the questioning, luminous yellow eyes so steadily fixed on his own dark ones, with a gaze of such mysterious power and assurance that the kitten sat charmed, with curling paws, the wonder-stare melting into one of understanding and implicit trust, that was to be lifelong. So comforting was the man's trick of hand and voice, that this trying moment ended forever all controversy as to doctrine or discipline between them. From that momentous time on, as long as they lived together, they fought out the grim battle in moments of importance, as of one mind. Already the touch of his master hand and the sound of his commanding voice had taken tight hold of the baby heart and held it like magic, and as the kitten grew in wisdom and caution he learned to trust this big man more and more, as one who understood and sympathized.

In resuming their tramp, the rougher country began and the trail was a puzzle. The man could not find even a ghost of a track, as he worked his way through the thick masses of underbrush, for it had been years since anybody had traveled this way. But mile after mile, crossing cañons, over small mountains, up and down, in and out, the hardy pioneer picked his difficult way across the trackless country, going straight, guided by a miner's mysterious sixth sense, which is an instinct enabling him to see things and read things to which others are blind.

Toward the last of the daylight, on the second day, these tired tramps, the man footsore but with unwearied spirits came upon the small clearing of the old mining camp of the halcyon days of '49. Once it had swarmed with eager, buoyant men, but now it lay deserted and wrapped in solitude. In great exhilaration they took possession of the one and only remaining dilapidated shack, standing, dark and doorless, silhouetted against the fading light. Nobody had been in this forsaken place or probably thought of it for years and years. In its prime it had been a rather pretentious cabin of the regulation kind built of logs but was now only a suggestion of its former grandeur. Hordes of small furry tribes were "holding down the claim" and using its shelter to rear generations of their kind. The fireplace, with its great outside chimney, built of mud and rocks, was standing intact, the smut of the old log fires still clinging inside where myriads of bats had hung their nests against its sooty walls.

The new arrivals took possession of this old-timer under a torrent of abusive, squeaky protest that sounded very much like "cussing," this intrusion into their domain being highly resented by the present tenants. But the strangers had come with a purpose, and to stay, so took possession of the hut as with a flourish of trumpets, making preparations for the night, scattering the scolding families to temporary hiding, and anticipating no end of fun in banishing them forever to their own territory. In time the miner settled down into a daily routine of business and pleasure, with only the cat and the solemn and magnificent trees for company. He was wholly happy in getting the cabin into living order, delightfully systematic in regulating the primitive housekeeping arrangements, and shamefully contented with the homely result, but always on the lookout for golden possibilities. He was not conscious of a dull or lonesome moment in the heavenly largeness of the pure mountain air, but every day was one of stirring fascination to him in the thought of what might come with the next turn of the shovel.

The great peace and majesty of the California mountains, glowing in their summer fulness, was marvelous to the city man, who had been aching for these exuberant heights so long. The crisp keen air was like wine in his veins and made his blood tingle. As he bared his arms with cheerful determination his whole being thrilled and he struck and dug into the flinty rock with a strength born of a faith, that however he might blunder, the gods would be kind and he would come to his own in the end.

Each wonderful day was followed by another as wonderful, the weeks speeding as lightly as homing birds. If there were troubles that sometimes seemed dark and dreadful, and difficulties hard to overcome, the two were happy, the cat being the very heart of the camp life and living on the most intimate terms of love and equality with his devoted master in the leveling process of their primitive life. The kitten had grown into the utmost splendid stature of his race, going from strength to strength, being all muscle and nerve, unusually broad of chest, looking as if bred to the mountain fastness and able to endure all sorts of pioneer hardships. His baby coat was now thick and silky fur and was growing more glossy and beautiful every day, so that the man in his pride gazed upon him with an eye of rapture in the possession, and felt sure that in his successful raid into the enemy's camp, he had unwittingly stumbled on something beyond the common kind. Handsome, shining and saucy, he was wonderfully wise and cunning for a cat, having no equal in the chase. The vain little creatures of the forest, grown bold and reckless and almost fearless during the years that they had been unmolested, did not have half a chance, and learned that they must exert their utmost to escape this cruel forager.

THE CAT
The Kitten Had Grown Into the
Most Splendid Bigness of His Race,
Handsome, Shining and Saucy,
All Muscle and Nerve, Unusually Broad
of Chest and Looking as if Bred to
the Mountain Fastness and
Able to Endure
all Sorts of Pioneer Hardships

It was in the evening, when pick and shovel were standing sentinel in the corner and the chimney sending its curly blue beacons of comfort toward the sky, that this wonderful "pardner" of the miner shone in all the glory of his domestic virtues, giving the rough cabin the grace and semblance of home. This evening hour bestowed happiness on both the man and the cat, and marked the very height of their goodfellowship. The man, his day's work over, steeped in the tang of the pine logs roaring in the huge fireplace, was at rest and at peace with all the world, puffing voluminous clouds from his pipe. His drowsy friend, too, was filled to the heart with the warmth from the ruddy logs and, in blinking satisfaction, would occasionally relieve his overflowing gratitude by low throaty murmurs of blissful content. These tranquil hours by the fire certainly atoned for many hardships, and feeling such a glow of nameless satisfaction in the snug, solitary enjoyment of them, the thankful man was more than compensated for all the sacrifices he had made. Being a willing, self-imposed exile, he felt that his blessings were more than he really deserved.

In the narrow canon at the base of these mountains, closing it in on both sides, was where the miner was following the old lead in which he had so much faith. In the rocky bottom grew scraggy fir and pine trees and in the crevice at the very bottom, a little stream hurried along, a trifling affair at this time of the year, but in the winter assuming the proportions of a raging torrent, as it was fed from the great volume of water that fell from the heights above. Here the miner washed his "pay dirt" at the "clean up," and it was also the cat's happy hunting ground, for it was the home of the wood mice, chipmunks, squirrels and other "small deer" nutting among the pines and going their ways boldly and busily, thoroughly intent on the business of living and making a living.

The cat roamed these wilds freely, foraging unchallenged, exploring with eyes and nose every tree, hollow and boulder, for he, too, was a practical, busy cat, making a living, as he had to work out his own salvation in this respect. He certainly had the right of way in this world of forage, and the thrifty little bodies that in the days of abundance would prepare for a day of need, had to be very wily as to where they laid their stores, for the cat would nose and ferret out their most secret hiding places.

One morning the miner, taking his dirt to the ravine, found the cat vigorously digging in the loose earth at the opening of a gigantic fissure in the rocky peaks, a fissure that led in gradual ascent, its sides sheer and steep, to the peaks above. So intent was the cat on his quarry that he did not notice his master's greeting, but kept the dry earth briskly flying to the right and left. The man supposed, as a matter of course, that he was on a scent and had cornered some game in its den, and in careless sympathy thought to help him out and struck his shovel deep into the loose earth. As he turned the heavy load he gasped, for he found it freighted with sparkling metal. He rubbed his eyes in wonder, dazed with astonishment, looking first at the cat now sitting demurely by with a satisfied air, as if he had done his part and then at the twinkling scales of gold blinking up at him as he shifted it through his shaking fingers. This sudden realization of the hopes of all the long hard years and the past months of active search, staggered his faculties. In a bewildered way he fingered the gravel in his hand, and wondered if it could be that he had "struck it rich" this time; if so, it was surely this prince of cats, either by chance or luck, that had proven the cleverer prospector of the two.

He followed the deep narrow gulch on and on, up and up, not for an instant suspecting the marvelous wealth it would reveal. He was lured on by frequently finding deep and rich pockets of yellow ore, mixed with water-worn loose rocks and dirt, which evidently had been collecting in this rough trough for a million years, washed down from the steep sides and many peaks above and around.

When night came down, shutting the cañon in absolute darkness, it roused the man from his golden dream with a start, and he straightened his bent, aching body and mopped his hot forehead. His first thought was for the cat, totally forgotten through all these absorbing hours, and an instant of self-reproach for fear he had not followed, but had gone back to the cabin at the usual time. At his startled call the neglected cat came rubbing his comforting presence about his feet, showing that he had been faithful all through the long day in which he had not been noticed. This God-sent lucky chum, that had brought him the great good fortune, had unmistakably an air of triumph gleaming from the depths of his great black pupils, and his beautiful sleek body assumed an attitude scandalously near a swagger, as if waiting for this opportunity to presume on his partnership in this affair, to advise his master that they had better be getting home. The miner instantly recognized the justice of his impertinence and caught him up in his arms, and they camped right there where they were through the short, starry night, hugged close.

At the first faint glimmering of day, the miner and the cat found their way back to the cabin. The man had pulled himself together by this time and had his nerve steadied back into its wonted control and his brain normal, in good working order. After his night's rest, in which the calm had returned to his overwrought imagination, he was able to meditate reasonably on the good fortune which began now to assume definite shape. To convince himself past all doubting, he drew from his pockets the yellow proof. There was no doubt about its being the real thing and he lifted his hat in gratitude to the cat, for this little prospector had certainly opened up for him the best lead in the whole country. The magnitude of what this developed was more than he ever dreamed could be. It seemed to him that all the gold that God ever gave to the world was in that one gulch, and there it lay unappropriated from end to end. It was like an Aladdin's fairy lamp, a gift of the gods. Millions were there and all there was to do was to pick up the yellow lumps. How this golden placer could have lain there, hidden in the sand and gravel of this fissure so long undiscovered, was a mystery that baffled even the miner's most profound attempts to conjecture. He had simply to accept his good fortune with a glad heart, as one of the favored caresses of the Enchantress of the Hills. His luck in being the "hundredth man" was, he claimed, all owing to his wonderful mascot, that in a time of desperation he had just gone out and annexed. His mate shared sympathetically in the sense of well-being in these great days of success, and must have realized, from the almost reverent homage that was accorded him, that he had played some very important part in winning the game.

And the partners linger and linger, rejoicing in the big loneliness of this little paradise all their own, ever happy and without a care, their cheery hearts growing bigger and bigger in unbroken friendship. The miner knows that just "over yonder," beyond the purple twilight, is the busy world and that he can "clean up" and go back to things and the life of people of affairs at any moment. Yet he stays on, loving this life under the sky, of joy and independence, hardship and adventure, with its splendid achievement, too much to make any change in the happy order of things.

AÏDA AND SAADI