The Nomad of the Nine Lives

The Nomad of the Nine Lives

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Nomad of the Nine Lives, by A.
Frances Friebe Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure
to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading or
redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: The Nomad of the Nine Lives
Author: A. Frances Friebe
Release Date: February, 2005 [EBook #7519] [This file was first
posted on May 13, 2003]
Edition: 10
Language: English

Character set encoding: US-ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE
NOMAD OF THE NINE LIVES ***

Charles Franks, Juliet Sutherland, Clare Elliott, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team

THE NOMAD OF THE NINE LIVES
BY
A. FRANCES FRIEBE
Illustrated by
Clara R. Atwood

To
Rev. Francis H. Howley
President S.P.C.A

Preface
"Uncle, why don't you write the story of your life?" So says my nephew
Tom to me when he comes in and finds me sitting in a brown study
before a comfortable fire. I have finally granted his request, for I have
spent many an hour in relating my thrilling adventures to him and am
sure that he has enjoyed them and even profited by them. Thus have I
been persuaded to write this little book in the hope that it will be
interesting to people as well as to cats.
Of course I am only a cat, but I have tried to be a good one, and I think
that a good cat is of more use in the world than a bad human being.
There is no doubt but that cats are important members of almost every
household. What is home without a cat? Great is the comfort and
companionship that have been brought by them into the lives of solitary
spinsters; earnestly and faithfully have they slaved to free homes of
destructive rats and mice, and have also protected the corn in the
farmers' barns. When one reads of the terrible loss caused by these
rodents, it is astonishing to think that their destroyers could ever be

ill-used or abandoned. I shall quote as nearly as possible from a
newspaper which I once heard my master reading, so you can see how
a good many faithful cats are treated:
"There are probably few people in the city of Boston who realize that
over 25,000 abandoned cats and 3,000 dogs are electrocuted each year
by the Animal Rescue League, by means of a cage which is charged
with a strong current of electricity. After entering and the door is closed,
they die without pain or struggle. June is the time of year that people
abandon dogs, cats and other pets, for at this time they move to the
seashore and disregard their four-footed friends, leaving them to
wander in the streets. It is the aim of the Animal Rescue League to
procure and dispose of all animals thus abandoned and, whenever
possible, they are provided with good homes. There were 27,607 cats
rescued by the League in 1912 and each year the number increases."
Oh, the pity of it! This little story will, I hope, appeal to many, as it
shows how keen are the sufferings of a pampered pet, thrown on its
own resources and forced to wander day by day without food or water.
Surely it may save some poor beast from misery, and I sincerely hope
that it will not have been written in vain.

CHAPTER I
The first thing I remember is that all was dark, but that I could feel a
mother's loving caress and knew that there were other helpless things in
the same box with me. After several days, something large and strong
lifted us, box and all, and carried us up into a much more pleasant place;
I can still remember how good it smelled. Upon opening my eyes the
next day, I beheld the face of my mother and found that we were seven,
and were comfortably settled at the rear of a provision store. Mother
did not feel at all safe; that I could see by the