The Tale of Miss Kitty Cat | Page 2

her back. Unless he
pulled her tail at such times she kept her claws carefully out of sight

and basked under Johnnie's petting.
If he had been her size and she had been his, Miss Kitty Cat might not
have been so harmless. She might have played with Johnnie, as she
sometimes played with a mouse. But Johnnie Green never stopped to
think of anything like that. And if he had, he would have thought it a
great joke. He would have laughed at the idea of Miss Kitty Cat
holding him beneath her paw.

II
DOG SPOT'S PLANS
SOMEHOW old dog Spot and Miss Kitty Cat never became good
friends. By the time Miss Kitty Cat arrived on the farm in Pleasant
Valley Spot had lived there several years.
From the first day he met Miss Kitty in the kitchen Spot hadn't liked
her. Yet he claimed at the time that he was glad to see her. He said that
he could tell at once that he was going to have great sport with her. He
knew it would be fun to chase her!
Inside the farmhouse old Spot was careful how he behaved. The
moment Miss Kitty first set eyes on him she scurried under the table,
where she crouched and glared at him. That was scarcely what you
might call a friendly greeting. And Spot would have barked at her had
he dared.
Since he didn't, he only whined a bit through his nose. You couldn't
have told what he meant by the sound.
Miss Kitty Cat didn't like his whining. She even opened her mouth
wide and said as much. She made an odd hissing noise, which amused
old Spot greatly. And he told Miss Kitty, in what was almost a growl
(except that it wasn't loud enough for one), "Wait till I catch you out of
doors, my lady! I'll have some fun with you."

Then Farmer Green's wife opened the door and told Spot to be gone.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself--" she scolded--"teasing a poor
little cat!"
Old dog Spot tucked his tail between his legs and crept through the
doorway, keeping one eye on the broom that Mrs. Green held in her
hand. And as soon as he was safely outside he gave two or three sharp
yelps, telling Miss Kitty Cat that he would watch for her the very first
time she set foot in the yard.
Somehow Miss Kitty Cat wasn't specially worried. She knew a thing or
two about dogs; and she didn't intend to let old Spot bully her. It took
her a few minutes to get over her anger. And then she came out from
beneath the table and lapped up the milk that Mrs. Green had set
temptingly on the floor, in a saucer.
When Miss Kitty had finished her meal she washed her face--a duty
that she performed with great care, for she prided herself on always
looking neat.
Watching her, no one would ever have guessed what was in her mind.
"I'd like to wash that dog's face for him!" Miss Kitty was saying to
herself. "He'd have some reason then for yelping and whining."
Having completed her toilet Miss Kitty jumped into a chair that stood
in the sunshine, near a window. And there she composed herself for a
nap. When she was well fed and well warmed she liked nothing better
than to curl herself up and doze and dream.
Meanwhile old dog Spot was telling everybody in the farmyard about
the new cat and the fun he intended to have with her.
"There'll be lively times around here when she comes outside the
house," he chuckled.

III

CHASING MISS KITTY
WHEN Miss Kitty Cat awoke from her nap she got up and stretched
herself. In her opinion, a nap was no nap at all if one didn't stretch after
taking it. "There's nothing like a good stretch to make a person limber,"
she often remarked.
Of course, in order to climb trees, or spring successfully at a rat or a
mouse, Miss Kitty had to keep her muscles supple. And since it
happened, now and then, that others jumped unexpectedly at her, she
believed in always being ready either to chase or to be chased.
After she had smoothed her fur to suit her, Miss Kitty went to the door
and mewed patiently until Farmer Green's wife opened it. Then Miss
Kitty Cat slipped out of the kitchen and found herself in the woodshed.
A highly interesting place, it seemed to her, with any number of
crannies to offer lurking-places for mice. She decided at once that the
woodshed would be a fine spot in which to hunt in stormy weather.
Feeling much pleased with her new home, Miss Kitty