Part 27 (1/2)
There is another story I like very much. It is about a cat and a dog, and they lived in Beverly, in a very beautiful place quite near the sh.o.r.e.
The dog's name was Watch, and the cat was named Chloe. Watch was not a handsome dog, but he was a faithful, good little fellow. He had very short legs (my mistress said, just like a cricket). He was a dark yellow, or what now is called a dull old gold. He had a very broad back, where Chloe could sit comfortably whenever she pleased.
Watch was very humble, and believed in ”woman's rights” evidently, for he never offered any resistance when Chloe saw fit to use him for an easy-chair. He would crouch down on his short legs, and solace himself with a good sleep--that was his panacea for every ill. But he never allowed his master, whom he wors.h.i.+pped, to take one step without rising and standing in respectful silence or following him at a distance. This was very exasperating to Chloe, for he would shake her off with scant ceremony to do honor to his master.
But Chloe had no reverence or respect for anything but a good dinner.
Many were the cuffs she gave poor Watch, which he bore meekly, because he would rise when his master appeared and disturb her sleep.
He was really a refrigerator color. His fur was short and stiff, his ears were large and prominent, drooping, unless something unusual aroused him. Then his interest only lasted for a moment. He would relapse into the stolid, silent dog they all believed him to be. He identified himself with the family, though he did not join in their sports; but he always knew just what was going on, and would follow them at a distance wherever they would go.
His master was his idol. He seemed to live for him alone. His bright, beadlike black eyes were always fixed on his master's face, and he knew every change of expression. His master would say, ”Watch is the only one of my children with black eyes; he takes after me.” Years after Watch died there were two little black-eyed girls born, but Watch could not enjoy the sight of them.
Chloe was a calico cat, yellow, with patches of dark and white spots.
She was not much prettier than Watch, but the children thought her beautiful and loved her dearly.
Their father had made them a wooden doll, and they were as pleased with it as children of to-day are with the elegant creatures who can open and shut their eyes and squeak out ”mamma” and ”papa.” The children had been brought up to enjoy and believe Bible stories, and they thought the highest honor they could give that doll was to call it by a Bible name.
So, after a discussion, they named it Amminadab, for the very reason that it was very hard to p.r.o.nounce and impossible to understand.
Chloe and Watch were very good friends. To be sure, Watch never dared say his soul was his own in Chloe's presence. Possibly that was the reason they had peace.
Chloe had a very roving disposition. Day after day she would go off into the woods near by, and then Watch would suffer great anxiety. He would go out into the road, and look up and down, and then indulge in a mild bark. He never would go to sleep till she returned, and would meet her with the greatest satisfaction, wagging his short tail and walking around her as if to say, ”You _have_ come back, haven't you?” He delighted to see her run up trees, and would look up at her, and bark with pride, never at all jealous of her superiority.
When the children went down to bathe, Watch would attend them as body-guard. They always carried their doll and gave her to Watch to take care of. They would place her on a high rock, while Watch would sit down beside her, with his paws on her dress, to keep her from falling off.
They would say, ”Watch, take good care of her,” and then they were sure he would never leave her. Chloe did not often go with them, for cats do not like the water as dogs do; but she knew where they were and was very impatient for them to return.
One day when their mother said, ”Chloe, where are the children?” she ran down toward the water and back again several times.
Their mother laughed, saying, ”Go and bring them home.” And sure enough, the children were amused to see Chloe on the rock by Watch's side. She took hold of Amminadab by her dress, and tried to pull her away from Watch. But here she was mistaken in thinking he would give her up. He held his ground. He had been told to guard that doll, and guard her he would. Chloe tugged at her dress, tearing it with her teeth, but he held on. Then she fell upon him, and cuffed and clawed him, while he tried to dodge her all he could; but at one hard blow, in defending himself, he loosened his hold a bit on Amminadab, and Chloe, with one good pull, gained the victory and ran home, dragging the poor doll over the ground, b.u.mping her poor wooden head without mercy. This was too much for Watch.
He ran in pursuit, but his short legs were no match for her long ones, and she reached home, dropping Amminadab on the threshold long before he arrived.
Then ensued a fight to carry her back, and the master, who always took the part of Watch, had to separate them. He took the bone of contention into the house, and that settled it.
They were sincere friends, however, and later on, when poor Watch was unfortunate, the good heart under Chloe's rough exterior was shown.
Watch lost his hearing and then his eyesight, and it was then Chloe came to his aid. She helped him and seemed always to have the care of him on her mind. She hovered around him when carriages drove by, and he, not seeing or hearing them, would sit in their track. She would drag him away by the ear or push him away and share his danger. And he soon followed her slightest touch.
She would often put his food under his nose, for he at last lost even his sense of smell. The sense of feeling he never lost, and would put out his paw, and his poor old heart would beat while he would give forth a cracked and feeble bark when his master touched him--loyal and faithful unto death!
His master could not bear the thought of parting with him, though he knew it must be, for he was in danger of being killed all the time, and, having lost all his senses, he at last refused food, and they were obliged to ”put him to rest.” Chloe was inconsolable. She wandered about everywhere, searching for him.
One day they saw her lying down on some s.h.i.+ning object. They found it was an old collar belonging to Watch that she had found in the attic.
She fought when they took it away from her; and when they returned it, she carried it out to the barn and put it in the corner where Watch used to lie.
There were warm sunny places he had selected to rest himself in when he grew tired and sick, and Chloe went to every one of his old haunts and made her bed. She attached herself to the master just as Watch had done, and seemed overjoyed if he noticed her. Very soon the sympathy between them in their mutual loss made them real friends. He would talk to her about Watch, and she seemed to understand all he said. It was a real comfort to him.
It is often said that a dog is more companionable than a cat, and has higher intelligence. That is not true. Cats fully understand everything that a dog does; but a dog is trained, and no one but a real cat lover would ever think of training a cat.