Mistress told her I was not used to being pulled around by my tail. Then the girl stroked my back and smoothed my fur, and I was no longer afraid. I think she did not mean to frighten me, only she didn’t know the proper way to call a cat.
Mistress told her how I stayed at home alone every day when she was gone, and never ran away, and how I behaved so nicely on the cars. I am sure the girl will be a better friend to cats hereafter.
I had never before been in such a large crowd as there was on that boat, and I could not help noticing what a difference there is in people. Some in passing by would look at me sneeringly, and even point their fingers; some would take no notice of me at all; others would smile, and still others would bend over and give me a gentle stroke. But the children—bless their dear hearts—they all had good words for me, and some gave me something even better.
As the sun was going down we arrived at a place where the boat stopped and everybody got off. Guy put me into my nice bag, and the next thing I knew we were in a large room in a great big strange house that they called a hotel. Guy got me a saucer of milk for my supper, and I slept all night on mistress’ bed.
The next morning we started out right after breakfast and took a long ride in a carriage. I noticed after we had ridden a while that it was a very long distance between houses. Finally we stopped at a nice white cottage with green blinds, standing in a yard that was so long I could not see the next house. They called it a farm.
The weather being terribly hot, the long ride in the carriage had made me very ill; I could hardly get my breath, and I was dizzy. I lay in the orchard under an apple tree, and mistress sat beside me, wondering what to do. Finally she poured some castor oil down my throat, which tasted very unpleasant; but in a few hours I was all right again, and after that I had a delightful time.
There were two big cats on the farm; one white and the other yellow; and as they had no name, only “Kitty,” mistress named the white one “Blanche” and the yellow one “Goldie.”
They did not like me at first; in fact they acted just like Budge and Toddy did when I came to live with my mistress. But the next morning mistress took us all in her lap and petted us for a long time; then she gave us some nice warm milk in a big saucer, and we ate breakfast together; and after that Blanche and Goldie were more friendly towards me. But we did not see much of each other, for they spent most of their time out in the field. Their “corner” was a big market-basket on the kitchen porch; but I did not have to share it with them, because I always slept on my mistress’ bed.
This reminds me of a wicked slander on cats that I have heard, namely, that it is not safe for people to sleep in the same room with them for fear they will suck their breath and cause them to suffocate. The only foundation for this is that cats love warmth. When sleeping in a cold room they will seek out the warmest place they can find, and if that happens to be near a person’s face, they are apt to go there; not because they want to suck the breath, but simply because they love the warmth that emanates with the breath.
An old gentleman lived on the farm whom Guy called grandpa, and an old lady whom he called grandma, whose portraits I had often seen in mistress’ room. Grandpa was abed most of the time, and was visited every day by a man they called “Doctor.” It was he who told mistress to give me castor oil.