Anne of the Island by L.
M.
Montgomery Read by Stephanie Poppins Chapter 16 Continued Anne,
Said Stella severely,
Do you own that animal?
No,
I do not,
Protested disgusted Anne.
This creature followed me home from somewhere.
I couldn't get rid of him.
Get down.
I like decent cats reasonably well,
But I don't like beasties of your complexion.
Pussy,
However,
Refused to get down.
He coolly curled up in Anne's lap and began to purr.
He has evidently adopted you,
Laughed Priscilla.
I won't be adopted,
Said Anne stubbornly.
The poor creature is starving,
Said Phil pittingly.
Why,
His bones are almost coming through his skin.
The cat was fed and put out.
In the morning he was still on the doorstep.
On the doorstep he continued to sit,
Bolting in whenever the door was opened.
No coolness of welcome had the least effect on him.
Of nobody save Anne did he take the least notice.
Out of compassion the girls fed him,
But when a week had passed,
They decided something must be done.
The cat's appearance had improved.
His eye and cheek had resumed their normal appearance.
He was not quite so thin and he had been seen washing his face.
But for all that we can't keep him,
Said Stella.
Aunt Jimsy's coming next week and she'll bring the Sarah cat with her.
We can't keep two cats,
And if we did,
This rusty coat would fight all the time with the Sarah cat.
He's a fighter by nature.
He had a pitch battle last evening with a Tobacco King's cat and routed him horsefoot and artillery.
We must get rid of him,
Agreed Anne,
Looking darkly at the subject of their discussion,
Who was purring on the hearth rug with an air of lamb-like meekness.
But the question is how?
How can four unprotected females get rid of a cat who won't be got rid of?
We must chloroform him,
Said Phil briskly.
That is the most humane way.
Who of us knows anything about chloroforming a cat?
Demanded Anne gloomily.
I do,
Honey.
It's one of my few,
Sadly few,
Useful accomplishments.
I've disposed of several at home.
You take the cat in the morning and give him a good breakfast.
Then you take an old burlap bag and this one in the back porch.
You put the cat on it and turn over him a wooden box.
And you take a two ounce bottle of chloroform,
Uncork it,
Slip it under the edge of the box and put a heavy weight on top.
It sounds easy,
Said Andrew busily.
It is easy.
Just leave it to me.
But when the box was lifted in the morning,
Rusty bounded in one gay leap to Anne's shoulder where he began to lick her face affectionately.
Never was there a cat more decidedly alive.
There's a hole in the box,
Groaned Phil.
I never saw it.
Now we'll have to do it all over again.
No,
We won't,
Said Anne.
He's my cat and you've just got to make the best of it.
Oh,
Well,
If you'll settle with Aunt Jimsy and the Sarah cat,
Said Stella with the air of one washing her hands of the whole affair.
From that time,
Rusty was one of a family.
He slept at nights on the scrubbing cushion in the back porch and lived off the fat of the land.
By the time Aunt Jimsy came,
He was plump and glossy and tolerably respectable.
But like Kipling's cat,
He walked by himself.
His paw was against every cat and every cat's paw was against him.
One by one,
He vanquished the aristocratic felines of Spofford Avenue.
As for human beings,
He loved Anne and Anne alone.
Nobody else even dared stroke him.
An angry spit and something that sounded much like very improper language greeted anyone who did.
The airs that cat puts on are perfectly intolerable,
Declared Stella.
Him was a nice old possum's him was,
Vowed Anne,
Cuddling her pet defiantly.
Well,
I don't know how he and the Sarah cat will ever make out to live together,
Said Stella pessimistically.
Cat fights in the orchard of nights are bad enough,
But cat fights here in the living room are unthinkable.
In due time,
Aunt Jamesina arrived.
Anne and Priscilla and Phil had awaited her advent rather dubiously.
But when she was enthroned in the rocking chair before the open fire,
They figuratively bowed down and worshipped her.
She was a tiny old woman with a little soft triangular face and large soft blue eyes that were alight with unquenchable youth and as full of hopes as a girl's.
She had pink cheeks and snow white hair,
Which she wore in a quaint little puff over her ears.
It's a very old fashioned way,
She said,
Knitting industriously at something as dainty and pink as a sunset cloud.
But I am old fashioned.
My clothes are,
And it stands to reason my opinions are too.
I don't say they're any the better of that,
Mind you.
In fact,
I dare say they're a good deal the worse.
But they wore nice and easy.
New shoes are smarter than old ones,
But the old ones are more comfortable.
I'm old enough to indulge myself in the matter of shoes and opinions.
I mean to take real easy here.
I know you expect me to look after you and keep you proper,
But I'm not going to do it.
You're old enough to know how to behave if you're ever going to be.
So as far as I'm concerned,
You can all go to destruction in your own way.
Then she laughed with a twinkle in her young eyes.
Oh,
Somebody separate those cats,
Pleaded Stella suddenly.
Aunt Jamesina had brought with her not only the Sarah cat,
But Joseph.
Joseph,
She explained,
Had belonged to a dear friend of hers who had gone to live in Vancouver.
She couldn't take Joseph with her,
So she begged me to take him.
I really couldn't refuse.
He's a beautiful cat.
That is,
His disposition is beautiful.
She called him Joseph because his coat is of many colours.
It certainly was.
Joseph,
As the disgusted Stella said,
Looked like a walking ragbag.
It was impossible to say what his ground colour was.
His legs were white with black spots on them.
His back was grey with a huge patch of yellow on one side and a black patch on the other.
His tail was yellow with a grey tip.
One ear was black and one yellow.
A black patch over one eye gave him a fearfully rakish look.
In reality,
He was meek and inoffensive of a sociable disposition.
In one respect,
If in no other,
Joseph was like a lily of the field.
He toiled not,
Neither did he spin or catch mice.
Yet Solomon,
In all his glory,
Slept not on softer cushions or feasted more fully on fat things.
Joseph and the Sarah cat arrived by express in separate boxes.
After they had been released and fed,
Joseph selected the cushion and corner which appealed to him.
And the Sarah cat gravely sat herself down before the fire and proceeded to wash her face.
She was a large,
Sleek,
Grey and white cat with an enormous dignity,
Which was not at all impaired by any consciousness of her plebeian origin.
She had been given to Aunt Jamesina by her washerwoman.
Her name was Sarah,
So my husband always called him Puss the Sarah cat,
Explained Aunt Jamesina.
She's eight years old and a remarkable mouser.
Don't worry,
Stella,
The Sarah cat never fights,
And Joseph rarely.
They'll have to fight here in self-defence,
Said Stella.
At this juncture,
Rusty arrived on the scene.
He bounded joyously halfway across the room before he saw the intruders.
Then he stopped short.
His tail expanded until it was as big as three tails.
The fur on his back rose up in a defiant arch.
Rusty lowered his head,
Uttered a fearful shriek of hatred and defiance,
And launched himself at the Sarah cat.
The stately animal had stopped washing her face and was looking at him curiously.
She met his onslaught with one contemptuous sweep of her capable paw.
Rusty went rolling helplessly over on the rug and picked himself up dazedly.
What sort of a cat was this who had boxed his ears?
He looked dubiously at the Sarah cat.
Would he or would he not?
The Sarah cat deliberately turned her back on him and resumed her toilet operations.
Rusty decided that he would not.
He never did.
From that time on,
The Sarah cat ruled the roost.
Rusty never again interfered with her.
But Joseph rashly sat up and yawned.
Rusty,
Burning to avenge his disgrace,
Swooped down upon him.
Joseph,
Pacific by nature,
Could fight upon occasion and fight well.
The result was a series of drawn battles.
Every day,
Rusty and Joseph fought at sight.
Anne took Rusty's part and detested Joseph.
Stella was in despair.
But Aunt Jamesina only laughed.
Let them fight it out,
She said tolerantly.
They'll make friends after a bit.
Joseph needs some exercise.
He was getting too fat anyway.
And Rusty has to learn he isn't the only cat in the world.
Eventually,
Joseph and Rusty accepted the situation.
And from sworn enemies,
They became sworn friends.
They slept on the same cushion with their paws about each other and gravely washed each other's faces.
We've all got to get used to each other,
Said Phil.
And I've learned how to wash dishes and sweep the floor.
But you needn't try to make us believe you can chloroform a cat,
Laughed Anne.
