Nothing so completely subdued these incorrigibles and hurt their pride, as a horrible catastrophe they once inadvertently brought upon themselves, which came near being a tragedy. It was the first time in their play paradise that they ever met with absolute rebuff and it completely subdued them for the time being. One hot summer day, on coming in from one of their tramps abroad, very warm and very thirsty, they caught sight, both at the same instant, of a basin of gleaming, tempting, creamy white paint, which a careless workman had left standing there for a moment. Mistaking it for milk which doubtless our thoughtful kindness had prepared for their thirsty coming, they uttered a little flute-like duet of thanks and made a rush to their fate, side by side, as the animals went into the ark, not stopping for even a smell, so unsuspecting and great was their confidence. Down deep went their little aristocratic noses into the sticky mass, so deep they could hardly extract them!
We were very sorry for these foolish, self-confident little victims and they were very sorry for themselves. A strange, unwonted calm fell on our bungalow, and it was really one of the saddest times for all, humans as well as kittens. Until the paint wore off their faces and whiskers, it was an interval of quiet, in which there was no make-believe humility, but in which the culprits were really bowed to the earth in shame and with indigestion.
Truly, it is a hard world for even innocent little sinners!
MAROONED
MAROONED
It was midsummer and the city sweltering in an overpowering heat wave, but in the country there were cool retreats and a fulness of verdure that were calling with enticing insistence to all the suffering city-bound folk to come to their bounty and rest. To one weary country-bred woman, the alluring summons sounded clear with a healing message to her tired nerves and jaded brain. It was the seductive call of the big blue sky and the pure air of her own old-fashioned country home, and her whole soul responded with an intense longing. But she was one of the city's plodders, chained by the inevitable to the treadmill, and she could only picture in her hopelessness what such happiness might be, by straining her misty eyes in memory to years gone by.
She stood by the one window of her own room in that big lonesome boarding house, apparently gazing idly out on the bit of sun-baked street her limited view commanded, but she had closed her eyes and was totally unmindful of the last hot slanting rays. Her whole being was enthralled by that "back home" call that was stirring her heart. She was so utterly tired of the heat of walls and pavements and the city's seething rush and endless clang, that her eyes and brain seemed bursting and her very soul cried out for that restful spot in the country she still called home. She knew how sweet and still the misty woods were "back there" in the soft twilight of this hour, and how the air was damp and fragrant with the scent of the tangled undergrowth. In homesick longing she recalled the blessedness of the evening glow of the setting sun trembling upon the hills of this girlhood's home in its parting benediction, leaving a sabbath-day stillness on all the land. She could still hear the musical tinkling of the bells on the lowing cattle, as they ambled home from the pasture, in the lengthening shadows, filling the air with the rich warm breath of the hot clover they had been feeding on. These homey, country memories were like a fresh delightful breeze blowing on her burning heart and opened up entrancing visions which stretched far back to happy days when there had been plenty, and no need of battling with the struggling crowd of the city.
Under the thrilling delight of these crowding memories, she was for a few blessed moments transported to this home of her desire, and the sweetness of it nearly broke her heart. With a sigh, however, she remembered the present and the throbbing glare of her surroundings, realizing how worse than foolish and how hopeless was her discontent with things "that are." Impatiently she lifted the heavy hair from her hot forehead and winked back the stinging tears, and was just about to turn resolutely from the window to take up the practical things of life, with a brave make-believe, when she caught sight of two big, round, gleaming eyes looking up at her from the dejected little garden beneath her window. There was nothing very striking or attractive about these eyes except their resolute intensity, and that they belonged to a very small cunning kitten, sitting with all four paws tucked under his body and his tail wrapped neatly about him, patiently gazing up at the window with concentrated wistfulness, hoping for recognition. As he caught the lady's tardy glance, he gave a cordial and friendly mew without moving a muscle of his body and, as there was no response, another mew. This time the lady, longing for the companionship of anything alive, could not resist a grateful and hearty return of his friendliness, and throwing the window wide open, she invited him to enter. Instantly, with a clever spring and a curious twist of his legs, he landed on the window ledge, clear of the garden below, and was caught, with a soft little cry and cuddled tight with the warm downy fur against her cheek, in a frenzy of overwhelming delight.