Stories of Animal Sagacity

Stories of Animal Sagacity, by
W.H.G. Kingston

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Title: Stories of Animal Sagacity
Author: W.H.G. Kingston
Illustrator: Harrison Weir
Release Date: October 17, 2007 [EBook #23067]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STORIES
OF ANIMAL SAGACITY ***

Produced by Nick Hodson of London, England

Stories of Animal Sagacity, by W.H.G. Kingston.
CHAPTER ONE.

CATS.
I have undertaken, my young friends, to give you a number of
anecdotes, which will, I think, prove that animals possess not only
instinct, which guides them in obtaining food, and enables them to
enjoy their existence according to their several natures, but also that
many of them are capable of exercising a kind of reason, which comes
into play under circumstances to which they are not naturally exposed.
Those animals more peculiarly fitted to be the companions of man, and
to assist him in his occupations, appear to possess generally a larger
amount of this power; at all events, we have better opportunities of
noticing it, although, probably, it exists also in a certain degree among
wild animals.
I will commence with some anecdotes of the sagacity shown by
animals with which you are all well acquainted--Cats and Dogs; and if
you have been accustomed to watch the proceedings of your dumb
companions you will be able to say, "Why, that is just like what Tabby
once did;" or, "Our Ponto acted nearly as cleverly as that the other
day."
THE CAT AND THE KNOCKER.
When you see Pussy seated by the fireside, blinking her eyes, and
looking very wise, you may often ask, "I wonder what she can be
thinking about." Just then, probably, she is thinking about nothing at all;
but if you were to turn her out of doors into the cold, and shut the door
in her face, she would instantly begin to think, "How can I best get in
again?" And she would run round and round the house, trying to find a
door or window open by which she might re-enter it.
I once heard of a cat which exerted a considerable amount of reason
under these very circumstances. I am not quite certain of this Pussy's
name, but it may possibly have been Deborah. The house where
Deborah was born and bred is situated in the country, and there is a
door with a small porch opening on a flower-garden. Very often when
this door was shut, Deborah, or little Deb, as she may have been called,

was left outside; and on such occasions she used to mew as loudly as
she could to beg for admittance. Occasionally she was not heard; but
instead of running away, and trying to find some other home, she
used--wise little creature that she was!--patiently to ensconce herself in
a corner of the window-sill, and wait till some person came to the
house, who, on knocking at the door, found immediate attention. Many
a day, no doubt, little Deb sat there on the window-sill and watched this
proceeding, gazing at the knocker, and wondering what it had to do
with getting the door open.
A month passed away, and little Deb grew from a kitten into a
full-sized cat. Many a weary hour was passed in her corner. At length
Deb arrived at the conclusion that if she could manage to make the
knocker sound a rap-a-tap-tap on the door, the noise would summon the
servant, and she would gain admittance as well as the guests who came
to the house.
One day Deb had been shut out, when Mary, the maidservant, who was
sitting industriously stitching away, heard a rap-a-tap at the front door,
announcing the arrival, as she supposed, of a visitor. Putting down her
work, she hurried to the door and lifted the latch; but no one was there
except Deb, who at that moment leaped off the window-sill and entered
the house. Mary looked along the road, up and down on either side,
thinking that some person must have knocked and gone away; but no
one was in sight.
The following day the same thing happened, but it occurred several
times before any one suspected that Deb could possibly have lifted the
knocker. At length Mary told her mistress what she suspected, and one
of the family hid in the shrubbery to watch Deb's proceedings. Deb was
allowed to ran out in the garden, and the door was closed. After a time
the little creature