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to l m o41b
 i3 ? QB na ma rt!
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T H E P R IN C E ! RO M N O ! HE R E .

S TO R I E S O ! A M E R I CA ! O R ! E R Y YO U N G
R E AD E S R .

T H E LI TT L E LADY I N G R EE N ,
AN D OTHE R
T A L ES .

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E LL A A L I TT L E S CH OO L G I R L O ! THE
:

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HO U GHT O N MI FF LI N C O MP AN Y
B os r ou A N D N aw You r:
D I X I E K I T TEN
DI X I E KITTE N
B Y

K
E! A MAR CH T AP P AN

I L L U S T R AT E D

B O S TON AND NE ! YORK

H O U GH T O N MI! ! LI N CO M P A NY
 P
C O YR I G H T , 1 9 0
1

B Y E ! A M AR C H T A PP AN
ALL R I G H TS RESE R ! ED I N C LU D I N G T H E R I G H T TO R E P RO D U CE

TH I S B OO K O R PART S T H E R EO F I N AN Y F OR M

P U B LI S H ED S E P TE M BE R I
9I O
DIX IE K I T TEN
 I . T H E H OME N E ST

II . LE A! IN G H OME

III . D IXI E ! IND S A ! R I E ND 1 3

Iv . D I X I E AND T H E CO T T A GE 2 2

v . DI X I E S T R O U B LE S 33

! I . T H E LI T T L E M O T H E R CAT

! II . D I XI E Is DE SER TED

! III A . H A P P Y LI T T LE CAT

IX . TH E NE ! H OU S E 62

X . DI X I E IN H E R H O ME 68

XI . D I X I E IN H E R H O ME , C O N T IN U E D
a D IXIE KI TT EN
b ut th o s e t w o were sn o wy white When .

she lifted her pretty chin y ou co uld s ee

,

u n de r it a so ft yell o w vest front an d at
,

the top o f t h e ve st front a bit o f the whit

e s t gloss ie st fur th at wa s ev er se e n I t was
, .

so very p u r e a n d da inty tha t when th e su n

l ight fell u p o n it y o u wo uld alm o s t fan c y
,

that i t wa s a bit o f lmy white la c e .

Th e r s t thing tha t Dix i e could r e m e m

b er was O f being cu d dled up t o s o me o n e
wh o was soft a nd co mfo rtab le an d g a ve
her s weet w a r m m ilk to dri nk S om eh o w
.
,

she knew tha t this was her mother an d ,

tha t her m o ther w o u ld feed her w he n s he

wa s hu n gry a nd keep h er w arm a n d take
c are o f her a nd n o t let anything hur t h er .

T h e ir h o me w as a nest of s o ft h a y so ,

deep in t he pile tha t when D i x i e w a s a t

the far the r e nd she co uld n o t see o u t at
,

a ll Afte r a while h o weve r she crept o u t

.
, ,

to the ligh t now an d then an d here we r e

,

s o ma ny i n teresting things that he r eye s

t; D IXIE KI TT EN
a n d th e M a ster drove in Sh e co uld he ar
.

him pat the horses and the dog and spea k

kindly to them ; then his step s passed ou t
o f the b a rn a nd up the walk a nd i n to the

house .

Dixie s m o th er ha d made her un der
stand that sh e must s tay near the h o me
nest ; but there w as a ight O f s t eps close
by and Dixi e did so long t o g o d o w n
,

them ! She fel t sure that they led to where

those wonderful th ings that she hear d
must be Her mo ther wen t down the
.

steps sometimes and on e day when s h e

,

was gone away from h o me Dixie kitten ,

thought that s h e would g o too She wen t , .

to the head O f the sta i r s and stretched ou t

her little r i gh t forepaw very carefully ; but
i t would n ot reach the rst step Sh e .

stretched out the left paw but th a t would

,

n ot reach any farther She drew b a ck and

.

sat l oo king down the staircase fo r a while .

Then s h e tr i e d a g ain an d t h is ti me sh e
,
 T HE HOME NE S T 5

r e a ched so far that not only the two little

black forepaws and the black hind paw
,

and the y ellow hin d paw but al so her ,

whole little bl ack a nd yellow body tum

bled down on e step two steps and no
,

on e kn o ws h o w much farther s h e would

have gone b ad s h e not come plump

, , ,

right against her mother wh o had seen

,

wha t was going on and was hurrying up

the stairs as fast as sh e could run Dixie .

was a much surprised little kit ten for ,

her mother lifted her by the back o f the

neck and carried her straight t o the little
ne s t in the hay Then Dixie was still more
.

surprised She had always thought her

.

mot h er s smooth soft paws w ere only

be au tI fu l playthings but n ow one of them

,

gave her a pretty hard cuff right on her

ears E ven if Master had been listening
.
,

he could not have heard Moth e r cat s ay

anything but Dixi e ki tten understood
,

perfe ctly well th at sh e would ge t i nto

6 D IXIE KI TT EN
tro u b le i f sh e went ne a r that s taircase
a gain.

And yet the very next day Moth e r cat

,

lifted Dixi e by the ne ck a nd c arried her

down s ta i rs an d neither of the m eve r sa w
,

the s o ft warm nes t i n the hay again.

T HI S is the way it c am e a b out that Dix ie
kitten and her mother left the home nest .

At night when Master came home he

, ,

stepped down from the carriage much

more slowly than usual for he was b old
,

i ng a big basket carefully in h is hand He .

did not go into the house at once but ,

climb ed up the stairs and stood at the top

a moment looking around H e had s e t .

the basket on the oor and now he called

, ,

Ki tty Kitty 1 Moth e r cat listened a m o

,

m ent then peer ed out of the nest her eyes

, ,

as big as saucers Dixie kitten crept out

.

b etween her mother s forepaws for sh e

, ,

to o had he ard a gentle Mew ! coming

,

from the basket and even a kitten could

,

g uess what was wi thi n it She was s o eager

.
8 D IXIE KI TT EN
that she c ould hardly wai t t o se e i t O pene d ;
bu t Mo th e r cat crouched low and lashe d
her tail angrily back and forth Then Mas .

ter took off the c over of the basket an d ,

what should be in it but fo u r little kittens !

Dixie kitten was delighted She climbed
.

ove r Moth e r cat and started t o r u n ou t t o

see them ; but o nce more Moth e r cat b o xe d
he r ears with her big so ft paw a nd D i xie ,

had to g o to the back of the ne st in the h a y .

Kitty Kitty 1 called Master

, come and
,

s e e the ne w ki ttens ; but Moth e r c at did

not stir from her place and she swi shed

,

he r tai l m o re angrily than ever Master .

gave the new kittens a dish of milk an d ,

then he went away .

The ki ttens drank th e m i lk then they,

began to run about the room They .

climbed the heaps o f hay and s traw and

they smelled of the bags o f grain They .

ran over the carriage and the sleigh and

the wheelb arr o w They to u ched the teeth
.
 L E A! IN G HOME 9

of the rake cu riously with the ir sm all pink

noses On c e they went near the little
.

nest where Moth e r cat crouched watch ,

ing everything that they did G r

.r r r l

growled Moth e r cat ; and they r a n away

from her co rn er as fast as ever they c o uld .

I t began to b e twilight They were l o nely

.

and somewhat frighte n e d a nd pretty so o n

,

they c urled up to gether i n a s o ft littl e he ap

and went to sleep .

Dixie kitten went t o sleep too b ut , ,

Moth e r cat sat a l on g ti m e thi nk i ng Ma s .

ter meant tho s e new kittens t o st ay there ,

that was pla in I t wa s her house the

.
,

pla c e that she h a d picke d o u t so c arefully

as a h om e for h er kitten a nd he h ad put
,

those s trangers int o i t ! She had neve r

th ought of Mas t er s do i ng su ch a thing
as that ; but there they w ere and w h a t ,

should she do ? There was o ne th ing s ure ,

she woul d n ot live in th e s a me house with

the m a nd her ki tten sh o uld h ave n o thing
,
Io D IXIE KI T T EN
to do with them She waited u n ti l i t wa s
.

dark and every thing was quiet d o wn

stairs except the o c c asional m o ving of the
horses and o nce or twice a sleepy bark
from the dog Pri nce who was dreamn
, ,

that he had caugh t a r abb i t She l i stened .

awhile but t here was nothing more t o be

,

heard Then sh e picked up Dixie kit ten

.

b y the back o f the neck and sto le quietly

down the stairs Master had cut a hole i n
.

the barn door s o that no ca t need ever be

,

shu t ou t and she sli d s oftly thro u g h thi s

, ,

and we nt under the b a rn I t was ope n on .

o n e side but t he air was w ar m a nd s he

, ,

knew where there was a heap of straw .

She pushed i t about a little with her paws ,

then she turned round and r o und to make

a smooth n est and at last s h e lay d o wn and
, ,

Dixie ki tten lay down beside her Dixie .

thought all this was very str ange but o f ,

course whatever Moth e r cat did was righ t ,

s o s he sn u g gle d d o w n an d in thr e e m in
,
I n D IXIE KI TT EN

the dish She 11 soon get u s ed to the m
.
,

said Master ; but Mistress slipped int o the

house and brought o ut an o ther dishful o f
m ilk Maste r laughed but Mistress s a id
.
, ,

N ever mind I don t kn o w that I want
.

t o eat ou t o f the same dish with every

body either
,

Then Moth e r cat a te he r
.

breakfast but all the while she kept on e

,

eye on the new kittens to make s ure they

did n o t go near her child .

SO it went on day after day and week

a fter week Dixie kitten was soon old
.

enough t o drink fr o m a dish Moth e r cat .

allowed her to use the same dish as the

others bu t never once w o uld she let her
,

stay and have a g oo d play with them ; Dixie

could no t see why The new kittens still .

lived in the barn and D i xi e and M o ther,

c at s till liv e d u n der it .

D IXIE grew until she w a s much larger than
when s h e rst lived in the nest in the hay ,

and s h e learned a n u mber o f things from

Moth e r cat She learned that to keep her
.

fur clean and dainty s h e must wash it

several times a day and that nothing else
,

m ade it s o soft and smooth and silky as t o

wash it after sh e had j ust been drinking
s o me go od creamy milk She learned that
.

mice were to be c aught ; that beetles and

o ther queer crea tures o f the sort that ran
abou tin the grass w ere to be played with ,

but not eaten ; that horses never ate kit

tens though without meaning to do any
,

harm they sometimes stepped upon them

, .

Dogs s h e learned were quite di ff erent

, ,

from horses in their treatment O f cats .

One sh o ul d al w a ys r u n aw ay fr om dogs
,
 D IXIE KI TT EN
not the ground but up s o me tree trunk
on ,
-
,

for dogs canno t climb trees ; and Dixie

thought it was great fun to scamper up
a tree curl up o n a branch and s it there
, ,

comfortably w hi le a dog b arked a t the

foot and tried i n vain to reach her Prince .

chased other c ats but if any d og troubled

,

the kit tens i n h is barn then in ab o ut three

,

seconds the s trange dog was running

down the s tree t with Prince at his heels .

Prince was a little puzzled ab o u t Mother

c at and Dixie They came in to the barn t o
.

e a t a nd Mistress fed them but they lived ,

under the barn instead of i n it This was .

strange Prince thought and he har dly

, ,

knew whether he ought t o take c are of

them o r drive them away He decided that
.

h e ought not to do them any harm but ,

that he might give them j ust a little chase

now and then They understood this a s
well as he and after he had driven the m
,

u p a tr e e th ey wo uld com e d o w n g o into

, ,
 D IXIE FIN D S A F R IEN D 1 5

th e barn and eat their dinner besi d e him

,

a s peaceably as possible .

Of c our se Dixie kitten h ad learned to

climb any tree in the neighborhood She .

had learned also what so m e kittens never

do learn a nd that is h o w to come down
, ,

again .The s tranger kittens w ere always

scrambling up smooth slender saplings , ,

and then tumbling back to the ground

or cry in g fo r so m e on e to come and help

them One of them cli mbed a telephone

.

po le a nd there she s at on a crosspiece

, ,

n ot daring to c om e down She cri ed s o .

pite o usly that a t length Master sent to the

re en gine c o mp a ny on the next street and
paid a man a dollar to bring a ladder and

take her down And the n ext day he had

.

to send for the man once more for that ,

fo olish kitten had climbed the pole again I

Dixie kitten had learned then how , ,

to behave toward mice and beetles and

hors es a nd d og s ; bu t Pe o ple were qu ite
1 6 D IXIE KI TT EN
anothe r matter I n the rst place th ey d id
.
,

not l i ve either in b arns or under them ,

like kittens but in h o uses She ha d o fte n

, .

watched Master and Mistress g o up the

steps a nd into their h o use and o nce ,

when s h e was qu it e sm all sh e t oo had

, , ,

s lipped in when the door chanced to be

open She had walked on a thi ck c a rpet
.

that was much more agreeable than the

bare gr ound o r eve n the barn oo r She .

h ad seen s ofas a nd e a sy c h airs a nd she ,

h ad j umped up o n a cushi o n that w as fa r

s o fter than even the h o me ne s t i n the h a y .

There was plenty o f r oom and n o othe r

kittens were to be s een The Pe o ple h o w
.
,

ever had n o t a llowed her t o stay there

, ,

but h ad driven her ou t at on c e she ,

w ondered why I n other ways too th an

.
, ,

their manner of liv i ng People were quite

,

di ff erent from dogs and horses and cats .

Their fur was of diff erent col o rs o n diff er

ent da y s and one nev e r kn e w how they
,
 D IXIE FIN D S A F R IEN D I 7

were goi ng to behave Sometimes they

.

gave kittens good things to eat and some ,

times they did not Sometimes they spoke

.

to them or patted them and sometimes ,

they hurried by without seeming to s e e

them They had long arms and some
.
,

times they reached out and lifted a kitten

far up into the air The n if s h e was fright
.

ened and tried to keep herself from fall

m g by sticking her claws into them they ,

were not pleased and O ften they dr opped

,

her upon the ground To be sure none of

.
,

these things had ever happened to Dixie ,

for Moth e r cat had taught her t o keep

away from People but she had seen them
all occur more than once and s h e had ,

made up her mind never to have anything

to do with Pe o ple .

Two - footed folk often change their

minds and s o metimes four footed folk
,
-

d o the same ; and it was not lo n g before

the l i ttle b la ck ki t te n bega n t o l o ok at this
1 8 D IXIE KI TT EN
matte r som ewhat diff e r en t ly Ju st b ey on d
.

the b ar n were s om e a pple tr ee s a nd s y r in

g as and r o sebushe s a nd gr apevi nes an d
a gree n la w n wi th b right b lu e fo rge t-m e
n o t s i n the g ra ss the v ery pl a c e fo r kittens
,

t o r u n abo u t a n d play A fen c e s hu t

.

off th e s tr an g e r k i ttens bu t D ixi e and h e r

,

mothe r co u l d s lip o ut fr o m u n der the ba rn

a nd h av e many a ne run o ver th e gr as s
o r u p t he tree s when no on e w a s loo k i ng .

At the end o f the la wn was a co ttage .

There w ere Pe o pl e i n it bu t th at d i d n o t
,

trouble D i xi e a nd Moth e r cat e spe cially ,

fo r they n e ver in te rfere d S o metimes L a dy

.

s a t o n the p ia zza with a p i le o f bo oks ,

someti m e s s he pi c ked a han dfu l o f o wer s

o r b roke off th e de a d twig s fr om so m e
bush Wh en she saw D ixi e a n d Mothe r
.

c at she al ways spoke t o them and t h ey

, ,

s topped and l o oked at h er bu t i f sh e c am e

toward them they ran away
, .

D ixi e h ad now grow n s o large that Mo

no D IXIE KI TT EN
After a while on e m i ght O ften ha v e se e n
a half gr o wn kitten with O ld g o ld eyes
- -

creeping quietly around the lawn keep ,

ing close t o the fe n ce but holding he r

,

eyes xed up o n Lady One m o rning whe n

.

L a dy was tyin g up the mo rning glory -

vines the sm a ll ki tten s crewed up a ll he r

,

c ourage and s tarted to ward her D i xie r an .

as fast as ever sh e co uld fo r sh e w anted t o

,

come and yet sh e was afra i d She was all

, .

a tremble and her heart was b eating fa s t ;

,

b ut she kep t on b ravely Lady was n ot

.

l o oking down at the path b ut up at the,

v i nes a nd the rst th at sh e knew a black

, ,

k i tten was rubbing aga i nst her ankles

and purri ng with a ll her little mi gh t Lady .

stooped a nd patted the kit t e n s head and
t alked t o he r awhile v ery gently ; then
she s t ar t ed t o go into the h o use Thi s was .

n ot suc h a n e a sy thing t o do for the k it

,

ten was SO happy that Sh e kept runn i ng

b a ck a nd forth b efo re he r feet a n d purr i ng
 D IXIE FI ND S A F R IEN D 2 !

l ike a tin y spinning wheel This was the

-
.

way that a w ild little kitten found a friend

who was to do more for her than she eve r
dream ed .
LADY w a s alway s k ind to D i xi e w h en th ey
w ere under the tree s t og ether b ut she ha d
,

a way of g oi ng i n to the h ouse an d cl o sin g

the d o or wh ich th e k i tt en thought was
rather unfriendly S o me weeks passed ;
.

then as La dy turned t o c l o se the door on e

,

m orning s h e saw a r o und black fa c e w ith

,

t w o shin i ng yellow eyes push i ng in shyly .

I don t kn o w abou t this k i tty sa id
, ,

L ady ; bu t S o mebody E lse sa i d Oh le t

, ,

h er co me i n j ust a mi nute ; and Lady h e ld
the doo r aj ar The ki tten crept i n but very
.
,

timidly for Sh e had n ot forgotten tha t

,

when s he had r u n i nto a house befo re s he ,

ha d b ee n sent ou t at o nce She di d n ot

.

v en ture very far but she d i d put her little

,

fee t on a so ft r u g a nd in a room bey o n d

,
 D IXIE AND T HE CO TTA GE 2 3

sh e s a w cushions and a sofa th a t s h e

th ought wo uld be a most delightful place
for a kitten to lie down and have a nap .

She to o k only one look then s h e ran back

,

to the door and slipped out for s h e did ,

not know what might happen if sh e stayed

longer .

E very day the ki tten bec ame a l i ttle less

ti mid though S he was still easily startled
,

by anything that w a s new to her All cats .

like to be r ubbed gently under th e chin ;

b ut when Lady rst rubbed her there ,

right over her d ainty bit o f white fur that

l ooked s o like lace the kitten drew he r
,

head away and looked back over her shoul

der at Lady s hand as if it was something

Sh e had never seen before and she did not

know what strange things it might do I t .

was not long however before S he learned

, ,

that nothing Lady did would ever hurt

h er She had now grown brave enough
.

to follow L a dy a bo u t u n der th e tr e e s and

B II D IXIE KI T T EN
a m o ng the grapev i nes a nd ro se s a n d s y-
o

ringas ; and when Lady stooped to p ick

a spray of forget me nots s h e was very
-
,

likely to feel a smooth black furry he a d

pushed under her hand for the wild ,

little kitten who had made up her mind

never t o go near People was fas t learning
that to have a go o d friend among the m

w a s the best thing in all a c at s li ttle
world .

Before long Lady said t o the k i tt en ,

Little cat you really must have a name

, .

Some dear friends of mine once h ad a

pretty cat whose n ame was Dixi e and I am ,

going to call y ou Dixie Do y ou like it ?

.

The kitten made no answer for a y was ,

creeping slowly up the gatep ost and she ,

was getting ready to jump for it ; but it

was only a short time before S he knew
her name as well as anybody The other .

k i ttens would come if any on e called

Ki tty Kit ty
, ,b ut this on e pa i d n o at
 D IXIE AND T H E CO TTA GE 2 5

te n ti o n t o any calling un l ess sh e h eard

some on e s ay Dixie .

So it was that Dixie f ound a friend and

a name Moth e r cat had watched this new
.

friend s hip and she did not seem to d is ap

,

prove O f it ; but s h e never allowed Lady to

come near h erself People had never been
.

unkind to her but still sh e was afraid of

,

them Lady always believed that if S he

.

had lived longer s h e would have become

,

friendly ; but about thi s time Moth e r cat

got a bone in her th r o at and c ould not get
it ou t Master and Mistress b o th tried their
.

best to help her but Sh e was s o wild and

frightened that she would not let them do
much for he r and befo re l o ng Moth e r cat
,

was dead .

All this ti me Moth e r cat and Dixie had

been going to th e barn for their food and ,

as the weather grew colder they were ,

n ally obliged to go there to sleep The .

s tr ang e r cat s had ta ke n th e b e s t place s o f ,

2 6 D IXIE K I TT EN
co urse but they made w arm ne sts for th e m
,

selves and were not uncomfortable Afte r .

Moth e r cat died D i x i e hated t o go t o the

,

barn The stranger cats looke d upon it

.

a s their home and treated Dixi e as if s h e

,

were the stranger and had no right to

come there Sometimes they gr o wled at
.

her and although she was a stout hearted

,
-

l ittle ghter and was not on e b i t afraid o f

them it wa s n ot at all pleas a nt to h a ve to
,

e at an d sleep with c ats wh o did not want

h er S h e began t o d o s om e mo re thi nk
.

i ng i n her w i se little head S h e did not lik e .

the barn and sh e did like Lady s c o tt age
, .

There were n o other kittens in the co t tage ,

and there was plenty of ro om ; but would

Lad y let her come ? She had followed
Lady ab o ut the lawn they had s at on the ,

piazza together and o nce or twice she

,

h ad j umped into Lady s lap Lady had .

always seemed glad to see her but had ,

neve r inv ited h e r i nto th e h o u s e N e ver .

2 8 D IXIE KI TT EN
La dy sa i d rmly S omeb ody El se y ou
, ,

must not feed that cat After a while sh e
.

said I am afraid it will m a ke trou ble if
,

you keep feeding the k i tten Then she .

s aid S o meb ody E lse we really ough t

, ,

n o t t o feed Dixie and before long she

came to the kitchen afte r every meal t o
m ake s u re that there was a sau c er O f s o me
thing g o od s e t down on the o or At .

l ength matters actually c ame t o the p oi nt

where S he said one day Somebody Else , ,

we ll have those oys t ers fried instea d of
scalloped ; D i xi e l i ke s the m m uch b ette r

fried .

Dixie was now a happy littl e c at She .

perched herself o n the p iazza r a iling and

r an up the apple tree s and played wit h the
b eetles and grasshoppers as m uch as eve r
s he chose When she wan t e d t o come int o
.

th e house Sh e j umped up on the sill of

,

th e p i azza wind o w and there was always

,
'

som e o ne r e a dy t o le t h er i n When S he .
 D IXIE AN D T HE CO TTA G E 2 9

ate her dinner n o other cat was there to

,

growl at her for w as she not the on e and

,

only kitten o f the house ?

O f course the stranger cats had noticed
what was going on and sometimes they
,

tried to come in and get a taste of the good

things that smelled so tempting ; but this
Dixie would never permit She did not .

growl or spit but if any other kitten dared

,

to take bite or sup from her dish then a ,

r esolute black paw shot ou t quick as an

arrow and struck the intruder with a hard
little cuff t h at sent her scampering out of
the door Once or twice some one of the
.

stranger cats slipped in rs t and emptied

the saucer Then Dixie was so angry that
.

s h e dashed out o f doors like a little black

whirlwind ran up the path toward the gate

, ,

and s at down with her back to the house .

She swished her tail angrily and occa

s ion ally looked back over her shoulder

reproac hfully at Lady and Someb o dy Else ,

3o D IXIE KI TT EN
wh o ha d p ermit ted suc h cru el thin g s to
happen .

Room after room Dix i e w ent over the ,

house She examined every foot o f the

.

cellar for s h e hoped to nd a mouse or

,

two there E arly o n e morning s h e ven

.

tu r e d up stairs for the rst time I t was .

all new and strange and quiet and La d y ,

was nowhere to be seen Dixie gave a fain t .

timid mew which meant I am lonesome

, ,

and frightened Lady wher e are y ou ?.
,

Lady ca lled Come Dixie and Dixie
, , ,

s prang upon the grea t bed the happies t ,

little c at in the city When Mistress came.

i n S he often saw her ki tten lying on the

,

sofa or in Lady s lap or running abou tfrom
,

one room to ano ther and s h e said You , ,

know S he is only a barn cat and sh e has ,

never been taught h o w to behave She .

may break things or get into the food .

But Dixie had pre tty clear notions in he r

Smal l h ea d o f how kit te ns Sh o u l d ac t a n d ,
 D IXIE AN D T H E CO T T A GE 31

S he was a c harming little visitor Of course .

she made a few mist akes One day Some .

body Else found her on a shelf in the

pantry having a ne time with a dish o f
corn Dixie glanced at her with a look
.

that seemed to say Of course this is

,

all right is n t it ?
, and went on eating .

Somebody Else s e t her down on the oor ,

sayi n g N o Dixie you must not touch

, , ,

that and Dixie understood that no m at ,

ter b ow tempting food m ight look S he ,

must not touch it unless it was given to

her She learned her lesson s o well that
.

never again did she meddle with anything

eatable not even when s h e was S hut int o
,

the storeroom by mistake on e day and left

there for half an hour Here were com and .

sh and mi lk all on low shelves in plain

,

view a nd it was dinner-time but not on e

,

m o uthful did she take When People s at .

do wn to the table Dixie curled herself up

,

on a c ushio n a s if th i s business o f eatin g

32 D IXIE KI TT EN
wa s a m a tter with wh i ch she had nothi n g
to do Just o nce s h e broke through her
.

r ule of go od behavior There were guests.

at the table They were busy talking and

.
,

it must have seemed a long long time for ,

a hungry ki tten t o wait for her supper .

One of the guests h a d j us t s ai d How ,

we ll yo u r ca t behaves a t meal times and -
,

Lady was replying Yes she never pays

, ,

the leas t attention t o us when we are eat

i ng when beh o ld an impati ent li ttle c a t
, , ,

ma de one b o und t o the sideboard and pre

pared for another to the table This how .
,

ever was the o nly time that sh e ever did

,

such a thing ; and there are not many

People wh o h ave not mad e at l e ast o n e
mi st a ke .
D IXI E was ve ry happy but even the hap
,

p i est little c at h as her tr o ubles and Dixie

,

h ad on e great grief and disappointment .

E very evening j ust a s s h e was having

,

the most delightful nap that could be im

agin e d Lady began to straighten out the
,

books a nd papers push the chairs back

, ,

a nd fasten the windows Dixie watche d .

all this with her bright round eyes fo r

, ,

she knew that the next thing would be ,

Come Dixie time to go to bed

, , a nd
t hen S he would be put out of the door and
have to go back t o the barn to sleep I t .

seemed very hard that while the soft cush

ion was to be there alone all nigh t long ,

Sh e could not b e permitted to u s e it ; b u t

L ady always said , N o Dixi e you mus t

, ,

r un hom e no w and on e night when it

3d D IXIE KI TT EN
w a s snow i ng fast Lady put on som e r u b
,

ber boots and carried her over to the hole

in th e barn door rather than let her li e on
that warm cushion all n i ght .

This then was Dixie s on e tro ub le fo r

, ,

,

a cat s home is where her bed is and ,

Dixie did SO want t o make her ho m e with

Lady and not in that barn The trou ble .

became w o rse and worse fo r Dixi e w a s ,

going to have some kittens of her o wn ,

and where should she make a cosy nest

for them ? She could n ot bear to have the m
i n the barn for s h e did not feel that Sh e
,

was a barn cat any longer she was a h o u s e ,

cat even if She did have t o g o t o the barn

,

t o sleep I n every pretty coaxing w a y that

.

she k n ew s h e begged Lady to let her stay in

the house She picked o ut o ne corner afte r
.

another that sh e though t w o uld b e j us t

the place for baby ki t tens One w a s on the .

p added co ver of a shi r t-wa i st box i n L a dy s
room Another w as i n the de ep dra wer o f
.
36 D IXIE KI TT EN

But r eplied Lady
, y o u mu s t r e ,

m ember that she is not our cat She is a .

dear little visitor but Sh e belongs to Mas

,

ter and Mistress and we mus t n o t let her

,

m ake this her h o me .

Dixie seemed to understand that they

were talking about her and she pleaded ,

more earnestly than ever When Lady sat .

d own upon the sofa Dixie would snug ,

gle up beside her as close as possible she ,

wo uld touch Lady s ngers wi th the tip of
her tiny red tongue sh e w o uld purr a nd ,

lo o k up into Lady s face more and more
c o axingly every day Still Lady said N o .
, ,

Dixie the barn is your home and you must

, ,

make a nest there for your kittens She .

even carried Dixie over to the barn two or

three times but the poor little cat always
,

hurried back again .

At length there came a day when D i xie

was plainly suf fering She must go t o the .

barn de cl ar e d L a dy
,
Perh a ps i f I p ull .
 D IXIE
S TR O U B L E S 3

d own the s h a de o f the piazz a wm d ow she ,

will think we are away and will go back .

She pulled the shade down but Dix ie did ,

n ot go ; sh e o nly crouched down in the

co rner of the piazza nearest the window ,

and sat there looking sick and unhappy .

Lady was almost as unhappy She wan .

dered from one room to another restless ,

and m iserable E very few m inutes S he

.

cam e back to the sitting room pulled the

,

curtain aside softly and peeped ou t ; and

,

every time she saw the p oor little suff er

ing cat curled up in the c o rner At last sh e .

said, I 11 carry her o ver once more and ,

perhaps when s h e is o nce there s h e will

be willing to stay .

Lady started to carry her over ; but

close to the door lay a big yellow cat He .

crouched low almo st as if he was about

,

to spring and little Dixie trembled and

,

cl u n g fast to Lady Then Lady carried her

.

s trai gh t h ome a nd in t o th e ho use I .

38 D IXIE KI TT E N

s i mply w o n t let a ny animal b e s o mi sera

ble and frightene d she declared , Mas .

ter is at his Of ce and Mistress has a hous e

full o f company s o there 8 no on e to as k ;
,

b ut that poor little kitten S h a n t suff er s o

,

no matter whether she is m i ne or the i rs .

I m going to made y o u a bed Dixie

, ,

S he contin u ed and a c om fortable p lace
,

fo r the kitten s .

Dixie certainly underst oo d some of this

a t least for when Lady hurried down cella r
,

to look for a bo x and br o ught exce lsio r

a nd a piece of blanket fr om the attic to l i ne
i t with Dix i e followed n o l o nger mo a n
, ,

in g but watching closely every m oti on

, .

We 11 put it in to this quiet room off the

kitchen Lady explained to Dixie and
,

she lifted the little cat and laid her into the
soft warm nes t Cats are not often will
, .

i ng to let People choose nests for them ,

but Dixie was happy and grateful a nd S he ,

la y d o wn at o n c e Lady made it all still

.
 D IXIE
S TR O U B L E S 39

a nd dark ar o und her and went away for

a while When s h e came back there lay
.
,

Dixie in the nest and beside her were four

,

o f the deares t li ttle ki ttens One was yel .

low and one was black and the other two

, ,

w ere black and white They were named .

then and there The yellow one was But

.

te r cu p the black on e Topsy and the other

, ,

two were the Heavenly Twins Lady .

brought Dixie some warm milk and then ,

left her t o rest with h e r fo ur li ttle furry

k it ty babie s .
Tb e L -
J EN

T I L O T H ER CA r

D IXI E mad e the deares t little m oth e r cat

tha t was ever seen and s h e was as happy
,

as the days were long At rst she thought

.

too much w as going on in th e small roo m

O ff th e kitchen and twice Sh e carried her
,

b a b ies off to Lady s study and picked out
a snug shady corner for them b eh i nd the
,

door Lady carried them back to the lit tle

.

room and Dixie understood that they

,

must stay there and she did not take the m

,

to the study again She to ok the best pos

.

sible care of her ki ttens and taught the m

,

all that Moth e r cat had taught her She

.

washed them ever S O m any times a day ;

though as they grew older they were ,

s o full of fun that if s h e did n o t keep fast

hold of them with her forepaws they ,

w ould i nsist upon playing wi th h e r tail

 T HE LI TT L E MOT HE RCAT 61

or jump ing u p to try to catch hold of h e r

whiskers .

As soon as it b ecame warm enough a ,

big box full of straw was put ou t o f doors

f or the kittens Dixie kept close watch o f
.

them and never let them go ou t o f her

,

sight unless Lady or Somebody E lse wa s

near Then she seemed to think that she
.

h ad a good nurse maid and at such times

-
,

s he often ven tured to slip away for a bit

o f freedom and a short run by herself .

These many kittens needed more milk

than the milkman co uld spare so it had ,

to be br o ught from the grocer s Some .

times it was rather late and then th e y

,

would all line up on the doorstep stretch ,

their little red mouths wide open and call ,

fo r their breakfast in a language that no

o n e could fail to understand All day lo n g
.

they pl ayed in th e sunshine ; or if it rained ,

they paddled their furry paws in the tiny

stre ams of wa te r lik e so many small chil- a
2 D IXIE KI TT EN
dre n for they were no mo re a frai d o f w ater
,

than i f they had been ducks They had .

breakfast and dinner ou t of d oo rs but ,

when it was supp e time they were all in

r
,

vite d int o the house to drink their mi lk and

have a g ood romp They clim bed o ver the

c ha irs and the s o fa and frisked ar o und the
,

l egs of the tables They ran a fter balls and

.

j u m ped after strings They tore up news

.

papers and knocked down the sh o vel and

,

tongs and sometimes almost b ur ned their

,

tiny noses trying to nd out whethe r

th e re in the repla c e was g oo d t o pl a y
with or n o t Topsy was m o re slen d er and
.

l ithe than the o thers and it was great f un

,

for her t o squeeze he r self under a certa in

willow fo o tstool Then her s m o oth l i ttle
.

b lack paws w o u ld dar t ou t a nd the yellow

p aw s a nd b lack a nd white p a ws w o uld
dart i n a nd the fo ur kittens w o ul d ca rry
,

on a merry l i ttle m oc k battle t og et h er .

S o me ti me s on e was tir e d o f p la y be fore

6A D IXIE KI TT EN
or ro lle d a ball t empti ngly b efore he r sh e ,

h a d o nly blinked at it gra v ely a n d l o oke d

r ather s u rpris ed that s h e should be e x
te d to d o s u c h u n dign i e d ac t s a
p e c s

j ump i ng a t strings or running after b alls .

There were o ther ki ttens j ust a cr o ss th e

fen c e b ut they belonge d t o the s trange r
,

c at s and Di x ie w o uld n o t allo w them on

,

t he lawn On e d ay a tiny gray kitten ven

.

tu r e d to s lip thr o u gh the palings to play

w ith Buttercup and T o psy and the He av
e n ly Twins and they had a ne time t o
,

g ether fo r a few minutes while D ixi e wa s

lying in the sunsh i ne around the c o rne r
o f the h o use Pretty soon she aw o ke how
.
,

ever and in two minute s the merry play

,

h ad c o me t o an end Dix i e went straight

.

u p to the stranger kitten and apparently

told i t to go home a s fast a s i t could go .

The stranger k i tten sto o d its ground

bravely I t s at up as tall as it could and
.

loo ked D ixie s qu ar ely i n the eye s D i xie

.
 T HE L I TT L E MOT H E RCAT [I 5

lifted u p her paw and gave it such a

hearty cuff th a t the little gray kitten really
screamed with fright and pain Then .

something happened that puzzled Dixie s
brain severely for Lady came hurrying
,

across the lawn and caught up the terri

e d little gray kitten She soothed it till
.

it fell asleep and sh e s at quietly with it

,

i n her lap till it woke up and was ready to

drink some warm milk Then sh e put it .

down gently on the other s ide of the fence .

This was s o mething that Dixie could n ot

u nder s tand Why Lady her Lady S hould
.
, ,

b e s o g oo d to a stranger ki tten was c er

tainly a myste ry She h a d watched it all
.

i n amazement and anger and now sh e ,

s at down on the grass to think it ou t Of .

co urse s h e swished her tail for s h e was ,

m ore than a little j ealous and angry Here .

was a ne plaything the kittens thought

, ,

and in spite of her little warning growls ,

they had a gre a t g am e with it till nally ,

[I 6 D IXIE KI TT EN
the ir m o th e r t urned up on them an d cu ff e d
the one tha t chanced to be nearest SO .

they were all rather unhappy together ,

and j ust b e cause of a friendly visit fr om

on e li ttle gray kitten .

I f Dixie had only kn o wn what real s o r

ro w w as c o ming to her s h e would hav e
,

l o oked up o n this triing annoyance of th e

v i sit fro m the stranger kitten as a very
s mall matter She had th o ught it was ex
.

ce e d in gly hard when s h e had b een se nt

t o the barn e v ery night inste a d o f bein g

a llowed to sleep on the s o ft cush io n in the
warm cosy sitting room ; and she ha d
,
-

th o ught that no little cat was ever in wors e

s traits than s h e when she w as afraid tha t
Lady would n o t let her make a nest fo r
her kittens in the house ; but a far worse
trouble was on its way now and p oor ,

Dixie s little heart would have alm o s t
bro ken if s he h a d kno wn what i t wa s .
O! cou r s e D i x i e had n ot b een with Pe o
ple so long without learning the meanin g
o f m any of the words that they used She .

kn ew come and go and dinner ,

and down and a number of others ;
,

but she did not know buy and h o use

an d move . She fel t va guely uneasy ,

h owever for thin gs began to h a ppe n

,

that made her restless and nervous Lady .

n ever s at on the piazza now ; sh e was

always going about the house and hurry
i ng up and down stairs Dixie had always
.

ed to the study f or quiet whenever too

m uch was going on elsewhere ; but n ow
e ven the study was no refuge for books ,

were be ing taken down from the S helves

an d laid i nto w oo den b o xes Q uanti ties o f
.
[48 D IX IE KI TT EN
pape r s we r e carefully pa cked a w ay an d
great basketfuls were carried down cella r
a nd burned in the fu rna c e The parl or .

ca rpet was taken up a nd the room w as

,

lled with boxes o f books and furnitur e

c l o sely wrapped up i n white cl o th P io .

tu res were taken down a nd set upon the

o or against the wall Much sweepin g
.

a nd cleaning were g o ing on The w o r s t of

.

i t all h o wever was when a strange m a n

, ,

ca me and began t o pack the china into bar

r els and then left the barr el s standin g
,

i n the sitti ng room

-
, he r sitting r oo m
-
,

where the sofa with the c u shio ns was and ,

where the ki tt en s always h ad t he ir e v e n

i ng frolic .

I n all this c o nfusion the kittens we r e n ot

a t all troubled They thought it was great
.

fun t o have the sitting r o om full ofbarr els

-
,

and they had the best time of all their l i ve s

i n j umping fr o m one barrel t o anothe r
a n d p u lling o u t bits o f th e exc els io r pac k
 D IXIE IS D E S E RT E D 49

i ng The li ttle mother however was an x

.
, ,

i o us and worried All cats dislike ch ange

.

a nd c o mmotion and this grew worse an d

,

w or se She hoped i t would soon be over

.
,

b ut it was worse than house cleaning and

-
,

s h e had thought th a t was a s much as any

c at could endure .

At last there came a dreadful day whe n

ho rses st o pped at the gate and strange men
went thr o ugh the house and carried out
boxes and barrels and furniture to load int o
great moving w agons Lady was nowhere
-
.

t o be seen and Dixie ed When it was

, .

dinner-time she came to the piazza win

,

dow but Lady was n ot there Somebody

, .

Else was not there and Dixie was an nu ,

happy little cat After a while Somebody

.
,

E lse s e t out a big saucer o f sh for her and

a big dish of milk for the kitten s ; but still
La d y could not be found The men had .

driven off with a load of goods and Dixie ,

ven t ured to c reep up to Lady s r oom .
5o D IXIE KI TT EN
S om e thing o f hers m i ght b e on the bed ,

sh e thought she wo u ld li e d own u p o n it ,

a nd ma y b e L a dy would come s oon S he .

w en t so ftly u p the s tair s ; bu t wh e n sh e

ca me to L ady s room i t w as all bar e Th e
, .

carpe t w as g o ne the fu r n i tu r e wa s gon e ;

,

th e r e wa s n o th in g lyi ng on the be d for th e

,

b ed i ts elf w as g o ne Then D ixi e g av e o n e

.

s ad li ttle mo a n She was frigh tened and be

.

wildered Wh a t c ould h av e h a pp e n e d and

.
,

wh at was g o ing to happen ? She w alk e d

s l o wly downsta irs a nd we nt ou t o f d oors .

T h e ki tt ens were pl ay i ng i n th e gras s On e .

of them j u m ped u p a nd tri ed t o c atch her

a s she wen t by t o persu a de he r to pl ay w ith
them ; but she did not s to p ti ll she wa s
i n the darkest c orner under the b arn ,

a wr etched despairing l i ttle c a t Jus t a t

, .

t wilight S om eb o dy E lse set ou t a b ig dis h

,

o f m ilk and an o ther o f me a t a nd p o t ato e s .

Then S he l o oked the d oo r an d wen t awa y ,

and all w as dark and still and lon e ly Th e

. .
52 D IXIE KI TT EN
a ske d b efo re what Dixie liked b es t a n d ,

no w she had brough t ou t a nice breakfast

o f it fo r her She w o uld h ave been glad to
.

sm o oth the l i ttle cat s he a d and try to com
for t her but Dixie would h av e n o th i ng to
,

do w ith a ny on e L a dy had gon e a way and

.

l eft her an d she was br o ke n heart e d Sh e

,
- .

w a s an gry t oo to think th at her bel ov e d

, ,

Lady sh o uld h a ve treated her s o cruelly .

N evertheless all th at d a y sh e watched a n d

, ,

a ll the n ext and the next after th a t an gry

, ,

t o think tha t Lady had l eft her an d st ill ,

h op i n g a nd hoping that Sh e w o uld come

bac k .

At twili ght o f th e third d a y som e thing ,

h appened fo r Lady c a me b ack She cam e

, .

es pec ially to see D i x i e k i tten At the rst.

so u nd o f her voi c e D i xie j umpedj o yfully

,

th en s h e remembered h ow unkind Lady

h a d been and when Lady began to s mooth
,

the little black he a d D i xi e slippe d ou t fr om

,

u n der her h and a n d rai sed u p h er p aw an d

 D IXIE IS D E S E RT E D 53

struck her dear L ady with all h er migh t ;

then s h e ran away and hid .

Lady was not angry for sh e was on e of

,

the Pe o ple who know how little cats and

do gs and birds and horses feel She u nder .

stoo d h o w gri e v ed a nd hurt the little kitte n

was ; but there was n othing th a t she could
d o t o h elp her j u st then I t would all hav e
.

b een right a nd c o mfo rtable if s h e c ould

h ave explained matters to D i xie bu t the r e ,

was no way o f making h er u n derstand .

IT wa s a grea t pity tha t Dix i e co uld no t
h ave heard and understo od the little talk
b e t ween Lady and Mistress before L a dy
w ent to the new house .Master s ays y ou

s hall have he r if y ou like said Mistress
, .

B u t I know that he values her r eplied
,

Lady and if S he will only go b ack t o the

,

b arn and b e happy I w o n t t ake he r Sup
, .

p o se I leave h er a few days and s ee i f sh e

wo n t be frien dly with the o the r c at s a n d

l ive with th e m co mfo rtably If she really

.

wo n t then I will come for her If Dixie
, .

had known of this t alk sh e w o uld not

,

have been s o hurt and angry ; bu t she sup

posed Lady h ad abandoned her a nd she ,

was miserable She did not fo rge t but

.
,

grew more and more a n gry as the day s

pas s ed L ady ca me to s ee he r agai n D ixi e
. .
 A H AP P Y L I TTL E CAT 55

was s o glad that she could not help purr

ing for a minute ; then Sh e remembered
Lady s unkindness and s h e walked away

,

up the path She s at down w ith her back

.

to Lady and looked over her S houlder at

her reproachfully .

Lady meant to come f or Dixie on the

following day but S he was called ou t of
,

town and it was three weeks before S he

,

could s e t O ff with a rattan extension-case

to get the kitten Whe n S he came t o the
.

gate of the lawn it was almost dark and

, ,

Dixie was roaming about close to the

house a lonely little shadow The People
, .

who now lived in the h ouse had been very

go od t o the kittens The Heavenly Twins .

had gone to live with a kind hearted -

watchman who wanted them to keep him

,

from being l o nely at night ; but the o ther

two w ere livi ng wi th the People in their

old home . We w anted to be good to
Dixie sa i d on e o f the People i n the h o u s e
, ,
56 D IXIE KI TT EN
a nd we trie d t o pe t her So m etim es a fter
.

d ark when the children had gone t o bed

, ,

S he would come in and wander ab ou t fro m

o n e room to another If we paid m uch
.

attention to her or tried to take her up ,

she would run out again ; but if we let he r

alone s h e would s o metimes s tay h alf th e
,

e vening .

Buttercup a nd Topsy wer e runn i ng

ab out and play i ng as if n o thing had hap
pened for kitten s h a ve sh o rt memorie s
, ,

and they had quite fo rg o tten Lady I ndee d

.
,

they had alm o s t forgotten Dixie for whe n

,

kittens grow large they forge t their m o

,

th e r s and their mothers forget them to o

, , .

People who are mothers always love thei r

children n o matter how tall they have
,

grown ; but cats cease t o car e anything

ab o ut their ki ttens as soon as the ki ttens
a re old enough and b i g en o ugh t o take
care o f themselves .

P oor l ittle D ixi e was roaming abo u t in

 A H AP P Y L I T TL E CAT 57

the gl oo m alone and miserable and too

, ,

wretched even to run aw ay Lady put her .

hand upon her and sh e was grieved to feel

,

how thi n the little cat had grown Her silky .

fur was rough and harsh and s h e did not ,

seem half s o large as sh e had been before .

You p o or little Dixie kitten said Lady , ,

tenderly I shall have to frighten you fo r

,

a little while but I think you will be happy

,

afterwards She held the kitten rmly and
.

put h e r into the rattan case Mistress shut .

down the cover i n a twinkli ng and i n half ,

a minute the straps were fastened and Dixie

was a prisoner Of course s h e cried for s h e
.
,

was terribly alarmed ; but Lady talked to

her and s o othed her and b efore they were
,

i n the car sh e was quiet .

I t was not long before the car stopped

at the Road where the new house was Lady .

got out and carried the extension case to-

the door and into the house A Caller w a s .

th ere fo r S om eb o dy Els e had t old her that

,
58 D IXIE KI TT EN
L a dy h ad g o ne t o ge t Dix i e and s h e h a d ,

waited to see ho w the kitten would behave .

Though I don t believe Lady will be a b le

to c atch her she had said
, C a ts care .

nothing for pe o ple They ar e selsh little

.

creatures and all they w ant is t o be c om

,

f or table Probably this on e has fo r go tte n

.

all about her by this time .

When Lady came in t h e Caller s ai d , ,

You d better o pen the case in the kitchen .

The cat will prob ab ly be a s crazy as a loon ,

and she m ay dash about and tear things a nd

d o a gre a t deal of dam a ge S o the Calle r .

and Lady and Somebody E l s e and the case

with the k i tten all went to the kitchen ;
and Lady began very slowly and gently to
loosen the straps I t was all so quiet i n the
.

case that s h e wondered whether i t c o uld

have been so close that the po o r little cat
was half smothered and she pulled the last
,

strap off in a gre a t hurry You d better .

be car eful said th e Ca ll er a n d n o t h av e

, ,
60 D IXIE KI TT EN
s t ove h e a r th the chairs the ru g s the t able
, , ,

c over on e familiar thin g after another and

,

every minute or two Sh e ran back to Lady

t o tell her h o w glad sh e was to be with he r .

Dixie dear h o w miserable y ou mu s t
,

have been sai d L a dy w i th tear s i n her
, ,

e yes .

I n eve r knew th at j u st a c at co uld b e

ei the r s o happy or so u nh a ppy sa i d the ,

Caller w i th tears in her eyes to o As f or

, , .

S o mebody E lse s he had l o ng been wiping

,

h er own eyes when she thought n o on e was

looking ; so it was really qu i te a tearful ti me .

By an d by Dixie d i sc ov ered i n a c o rner a

l ittle d i sh heape d full of the canned salm o n
th a t she espe c i a lly liked fo r on the way,

h o me Lady had s topped am in u te t o go i nt o

a sto re t o buy it to celebrate the h om e com
i ng Cl o se b es i de the s alm o n w as a h alf
.

o pe n package that smelled wonderfully

g ood E ven D i xie s small black nose w o ul d
.

n o t g o in to it but it w a s t o o temp t ing to

,
 A
A H P P Y L I TTL E CAT 61

l e av e for it was catnip At length s h e

,
.

pushed in her little paw curled it up and , ,

brought out a mouthful which sh e held up ,

and ate j ust as a b o y wo uld e a t a pie c e o f

ca ndy .

I t was pretty late in the even i ng by thi s

t ime The Caller went home and Lady
.
,

called Dixie to go to bed There was a good.

soft bed all made rea d y for her in the cellar .

I t was in a barrel of Shavings for cats like to ,

sleep high up from the oor N ear the bar .

rel was a saucer of milk for fear She might

,

be thirsty in the nigh t I t was all very com

.

f or table but I do not believe tha t Dixie

,

went to sleep at once Cats like to know all

.

about a place that is new to them and I ,

have no doubt that s h e examined every

corner of the cellar before s h e curled h e r
self u p to rest I am almost sure too that
.
, ,

S h e purred herself to sleep and that s h e ,

had happy dre a ms all night long .


! HE N th e C all e r wen t awa y s he s a i d I
, ,

ne v e r knew that a c at c o uld b ehave li ke

that She acts a s if she re ally loved y o u as
.

much as a person co uld d o Still they s ay

.
,

c ats care for places rathe r than people ;

a nd if I were y o u I w o uld S hu t her u p for
,

tw o o r three day s till she gets used t o the

h o u s e an d then S he wi ll not try t o r u n
,

a w ay .

But i f S he wants to r u n away r e ,

plied Lady I do not want to keep her
,

here .

And Someb o dy Else sai d s o ftly to her

self Ru n away ? You co uld n t drag he r
,

away .

When morning c ame a very h appy an d

,

c u rio us lit tle cat s te pp e d u p fr o m the cel

 T HE NE ! HO U S E 63

l ar an d began to look about the house .

There were only a few things in it that S he

had n o t seen before but they were all in
,

new places and SO She found a great deal

to examine I nstead of carpets however
.
, ,

she found many rugs She was not sure that

.

she liked this for sometimes She slipped a

,

little on the hardwood oors The stair s .

did not go s traight up but made a turn , .

This was a delightful change for sh e could ,

run up part way then turn and look back

,

thr o ugh the balusters After a while sh e

.

came to the study Here She found a new

.

bookcase I t was far be tter than the tall

.

o nes sh e thought for it was much lower

, , ,

and she felt sure that the top of it would be

an excellent place for a kitten to take a nap .

Two or three mirrors were now either hun g

low or were over tables s o s h e could j ump
,

up and look into them an d Somebody Else

,

declared that the kitten would surely be

come v ain if th e se were not c hange d for ,
 D IXIE KI TT E N
sh e liked s o much t o Sit in fro nt of them
and gaze at her own little self The win .

dows s h e liked especially for they were,

so low that e ven a li ttle cat c o uld stretch

up and rest her forep a ws o n the Si lls a nd
see all that was go i ng on out o f doors .

Better still a t o ne o f the w i ndows Lady

,

ha d put a plu s h co vered fo ot re s t a nd here

- -
,

D ixie co uld sit c omfortably in th e sun

s hine and watch the People going by .

After a while Dixie b egan t o won d e r

what was out o f doors and she let Some
,

b ody Else know that S he wished the do o r

opened Somebody Else had not forgotten
.

that the Caller had said the ca t wo uld run

a way ; but evidently s u ch an i dea neve r

entered D i xi e s pretty little h ead She .

walke d slowly a r o und the hou se There .

was a p i azza a t the back ; and that su i te d

h er ; but Sh e was still more pleased with the
front p i azza I t was reached by ve or si x
.

s t eps and there was a hi gh rail i ng whe r e

,
 T HE N E ! H O U SE 65

a c at could S it ; and no dog would dare

to come near her There were shrubs on
.

either side of the walk with ne cool places

,

to sleep o r to lie awake and watch every

,

th ing that was going on There was plenty

.

o f grass there were two gnarled apple trees -

behind the house and beyond them there

,

was a n e old stone wall that had stood eve r

since the days when no one had dreamed
o f turning the great Baldwi n orchard into

house lots Some of the rough stones were

- .

covered with green moss and they cast ,

soft gray shadows Here and there a bit

.

o f white qu ar tz ashed in the sunshine .

Bright orange nasturtiums ran o v er the

wall and some tall hollyhocks stood close
,

beside it in neighborly fashion I t was a .

b eautiful old wall Dixie thought s o too ;

.
,

b ut the reason s h e liked it was because sh e

was sure that in some one O f those shad
o wy pl a ces s he w o uld c er tai nly nd a eld

mo use .
66 D IXIE KI TT EN
I t t oo k D i x i e the whole fo r e n oon to loo k
at everythi ng around the h ouse and smell
o f it M o reover in the c o u rse o f the m orn
.
,

i ng s h e had a caller I t was n o t e x a c tly

.

a friendly c all fo r this N ex tD o o r Cat

,

ha d b ee n in the habi t of coming to see

the People wh o used t o live in the house ,

a nd sh e was not pleased to see an othe r c a t

ma ki ng he rs elf a t h o me there She c am e .

through the li ttle b arberry hedge and sai d

Meo w ! in a surprised and a ggrieve d

f ashion I supp o se it me a n t
. Wh o are y ou
,

a nd what are y ou he r e fo r ? b ut Di xie did
no t deign t o answer She j u m ped up o n the
.

piazz a ra i li ng and lo oked straight at the

N ex t Do o r Cat The N e xt-D oo r Ca t ran up
- .

th e near est apple-tree a nd l o oked straight

at her Aft e r a while the N ext-D oo r Ca t
.
,

s a i d Meow ow ow ! and c ame d o w n
-

from the a pple tree She g av e on e mor e

- .

lo ok o ver her sh o ulde r at D ixi e but D i x i e

,

wa s O p en ing and shu tting her mo u th as

S o i t was tha t the wild littl e barn ca t be
came a house c at She had come to live with
.

busy people a nd I fancy sh e th o ught tha t

,

she was a s busy as they I n the morn i n g

.
,

as soon as she heard the steps of Some b ody

Else S he ran to the to p of the sta i rs t o b e
,

ready to come out the moment tha t the d oor

was o pened The nex t th i ng to d o was to g o
.

up to Lady s r o om The door was almost
.

al ways clo s ed but D i xie sat do wn bes i de i t

,

and waited patiently until she heard s o m e

little sounds within Then she rubbed o n
.

the door with the little pads on t he b o ttom

o f her paw , very s oftly to be sure bu t
, ,

L ady always heard her and opened it Once .

in a while Dixie went ou t of doors whe n

she rst came up from the cellar and oc ,

cas io n ally it h appened tha t she co u l d not

 D IXIE I N HE R HOM E 69

ge t i n again at o n ce Tha t did n ot tro uble

.

her for sh e had another way of reaching

,

Lady s r o om that s h e liked fully as well as

going by the hall and the stairs Not far .

from the front piazza th ere grew an apple

tree Dixie could run up thi s tree walk care
.
,

fully o ut on a slender branch and j ump to ,

the piazza r o of A little way beyond the

.

farther end of the roof was one of the win

dows of Lady s room The blind nearest.

this roof was usually closed and there was ,

n ot r o o m enough o n the sill t o hold even

a ki tten ; but Dixie wo uld go t o the very

e dge of the roof and scratch I s that y ou
.
,

Dixie ? Lady would as k Meow Dixie
.
,

would reply and any one would know tha t

,

this meant Ye s Then Lady would go
into the little room that opened on the
r oo f and let her in S o it was that every
.

morning the kitten made sure that L a dy

was safe and s o und and c ame to purr t o
,

h e r wh i l e she wa s dr e ssi ng .
7 o D IXIE KI TT E N
After L a dy and D ixie had b o th e a te n
breakfast Lady took a few minutes for the
,

morning paper Of course it was a great

.

help t o her t o h ave a small black cat lie on

her lap ; and I am sure I do n o t know how
s h e could have s e t her roo m in o rder u nless

the same little cat had s at o n the window

sill watching her When Lady went to the
.

study Dixie always went with her to stay

,

b y her while she wrote This study wa s an

.

excellent place for a nap Sometimes Dixie

lay on top of the low bookcase where L ady
,

had put a c ushi o n for her benet ; s o me

times she stretched herself ou t on the car
pet i n the sunshine ; and sometimes sh e h ad
a comfortable little snooze on a corner of
the big library table If she did not care t o
.

sleep there were various things that a kit

,

ten could do in the study to amuse herself .

She could Sit at the window and watch the

birds in the apple trees or s o metim es a dog
-
,

hu rrying home a cross l o ts She c o uld r un

.
 D IXIE I N HER HOME 7 !

o ver the typewriter keys if s h e chose and ,

even across the big table I ndeed sh e soon

.
,

learned that the surest way to make Lady

pay attention to her was to walk Slowly
over the paper on wh i ch she was writing ,

or even to s it down upon it a nd begin to

take a bath On c e she s a t down upon a l o ose

.

pile of books an d p a pers and a moment ,

later books papers and Dixie slid t o the

, ,

oor together with a great thump She

, .

turned and gazed at them with surprise and

wrath but n ot the least bit of fear She was
, .

afra i d o f sudden n o ises elsewhere how ,

ever While a c arpenter was at work in

.

the kitchen sh e utterly refused to eat her

,

m eals in the ro o m unless Lady stood beside

h er She seemed to feel convinced that
.

Somebody E lse was to blame for all that

hammering and f or several days after it
,

ceased s h e refused to have anything to do

with her while in the ki tchen though sh e ,

w a s fri endly en o ugh i n other p la ce s I n .

7 2 D IXIE KI TT E N

L a dy s study Sh e fel t safe and app ar en tl y ,

s h e had come to the conclusion that in that

room no thing could ever hurt kittens .

Whenever Dixie w as in trouble she always

ran to the study for comfort One day s h e .

dashed into the room and sat down in fro nt

o f Lady and gazed at her s o earnestly and

wi th such an air of wanting to tell s o me

thing that Lady called to S o mebody Else
and asked if anything had happened to

Dixie Sure there has replied S o me
.
, ,

body E lse N ow that the screens are

.

in the window sill i s not wide enough t o

,
-

hold her and when s h e j umped from the

,

railing t o the window she fell down She , .

would n t stop for a bit o f dinner but ran ,

upstairs as fast as ever she could go Once .

when Lady had been away for a month sh e ,

missed the kit ten af ter the rst greeting .

Some time la ter s h e went to the study and ,

there s at Dixie in the dark p atien tly wa i t ,

i ng for h er to appe ar .
 D IXI E I N HE R H OM E 73

In o me ways Dixie was remarkably

s

obedient I f she was in the street an d Lady

.

knocked on the window s h e wo u ld come ,

running home as promptly as the best of

children I f sh e was upstair s and Lady
.

called her to come down you could hear ,

o n the instant the j ump o f a little cat

o ften from a down quilt on a bed or from

some other forbidden place I am s o rry to ,

s ay to the oo r ; and in half a minute

she was hurrying downstairs t o see what
was wanted One morning Lady calle d but
.
,

Dixie did not come Some ten minu t es late r

she burst int o the k i tchen like a little f O O I r
'

ball rush with a long Meow yow y ow -

yow ! which sounded so angry and in d ig

nant that Somebody Else called Lady and
declared that something had s u rely gone
wrong with Dixie When Lady went u p
.

stairs she s aw what had happened The

, .

heavy door had blown to and it was plain ,

tha t the ki tte n ha d b een worki ng at i t with

7A D IXIE KI TT EN
h e r s o ft li ttl e paws un til s h e ha d p u sh ed it
b ack far en o ugh to let her s queeze thr ough .

Part o f Dixie s w o rk was t o drive a way
the s tray cat s and dogs th a t ven tured on
her lawn or under her apple-trees S om e .

times sh e herself played d og an d did her ,

best to guard the house One dark nigh t

.

there was a strange clanking s o und i n the

b a c k yard Lady started for the d oo r ; but
.

before she could rea ch it the l it tle c at had

,

c ro uched all re a dy to ma ke a spri ng as s o on

a s the do o r sh o uld b e o pened The no ise .

proved t o have b ee n m a de by a hungry

dog a t a garbage c a n ; a nd he ran aw a y a s
fast as ever he c o u ld ; bu t I thin k D i xi e
would have enj o yed ch a sing hi m .

E vidently Dixie felt that her rs t duty

was to keep wa tch o f Lady ; and this was
no easy ma tter when Lady was busy a bo ut
the ho use She hurried up s ta ir s and
.

downs tairs and in m y l a dy s ch a mber ;
bu t wherever sh e w ent a l it tle b l ac k cat
,
7 6 D IXIE KI TT E N
the fro nt doo r cl os e ; bu t genera lly s h e
thought it be tter to keep pretty cl os e watch
of th em She was I n clined to thi nk that
.

L a dy pa i d them too m uch attenti o n ; there

fo re she wo u ld O ften j ump i n t o La dy s lap

a nd in s ist up o n r emaining the r e u ntil th ey

w ere re a dy t o s tar t f or hom e .

An o ther o ne of D i xie s re s p o n sib i lities
w a s the telephone a n d she alw a ys ran t o
,

i t at the rst ri ng Her ca re o f it was a gr ea t

.

c o nven i en c e t o La dy for the teleph o ne

,

bell a nd the doorb ell sounded so nearly

a like that befo r e D i x i e came s h e h ad O ften
,

made mistakes a nd had h urri ed t o the

,

t elephone when the doorbell ran g Dixi e .

n ever made a mistake however and whe n

, ,

L ady saw her running to the teleph o ne she ,

d i d n o t have to gu ess which b ell had ru ng .

The teleph o ne was as much O f a my s tery

t o D i xie as it i s to some other folk She .

w ould j ump up on the table to listen ,

and w o ul d put her head on on e side w i t h

 D IXIE IN HE R HOME 77

a p u zzled look One day S he stretched ou t

.

h er soft little paw and touched Lady s lips

to s e e if s h e c o uld not nd out wh ere those

strange sounds came from Once Lady .

asked the friend wi th whom s h e was talk

ing to call Dixie ! Then the ki tten was
puzzled indeed She looked at the receiver
.

from all si d es and even tried to get her head

into it At last s h e left it and j umped !I own
.

fro m the table ; for mos t certainly s h e had

c ome u pon something that no ki tten c ould
u nderstand .
 C ont z nu

D I XI E ha d h e r small trou bl e s a n d S he di d
,

n o t a lways b ea r th e m like a good child in a

story book At on e time Lady thought s h e

- .

was hav i ng to o much salmon and s h e s e t

,

down some bread and milk for h e r This .

did n o tsui tDixie at all She sni ffed a t i t and

.

walked away Thro u gh th e morning s h e

.

went t o it o nce in a while plainly h oping

,

tha t it ha d changed i nto salmon ; and each

ti me when she s aw tha t it was still bread
a nd milk sh e gave a lit tle growl and turned
,

a way as a ngrily as a cross child that does

n o t like his breakfast She thought Lad y
.

would y ield and it was not until almos t

,

s upper time that she con cluded to eat tha t

bread and milk Another o ne of her trials

.

was th e s win g door b e tw ee n the p a ntr y an d,

 D I X IE I N HE R H OME 79

the d i n i ng-room She did n ot like doors

.

th a t went both way s and did not stay s h ut

after they had been shut E ven when La d y .

or Somebody El se held the door open for

h er she was afra i d and when Sh e had

, ,

s c rewed up her c o urage and run thr o u gh

i t at full speed s h e would turn an d look

,

a t i t over he r S houlder a s if there was

n o knowing wh at that thing might do yet ,

an d s h e would n o t t ru st it behind her

back for a moment .

Still another of her tro ubles was that

nei ther in the attic nor in the c ellar nor
, ,

among the soft gray shadows o fthat beauti

ful o ld sto ne wall could s h e ever succeed in
nding a mouse I have no idea how many
.

long nights she may have S pent wandering

about the c ellar and watching beside every
pr o mising hole ; bu t I do know tha t wh e r
ever in the h o use sh e might be she never ,

failed to h ear the opening of the atti c

do o r The n s he w o u ld scamper ups ta irs a s
.

"
Q '
1 5 % !a
80 D IXIE KITT E N
fast as her feet could carry her She woul d .

examine every corner and every hole ,

and nally walk S lowly do wnstairs with

as nearly a look o f anger and disgus t a s
her happy face could be made to wear .

Dixie nally concluded that there were

n o mice in her house but s h e s till hoped
,

S h e m i gh t nd one in tha t o f her next door -

neighb o r The rst ti me th ath is cellar door

.

was left open sh e slipped in and there she

, ,

stayed H e trie d to coa x her o u t then to

.
,

frighten her ou t and then he told Lady

, .

Lady went to the door and said Dixie , ,

come right home and Dixie stepped ,

down daintily from a pile of wood an d

went home This was her last se a rch fo r
.

m i c e The kind neigh bor was sorr y for her

.

disappointment and o ne day he bro u gh t

,

her two that had been caught at his store .

Dixie looked at them gravely Then S he .

stretched ou t her paw and touched one of

them I t did n ot m o ve and s h e turned
.
,
 D I XIE I N HER H O ME 81

around and walked away scornfully and

ungratefully She did n ot care for dead
.

mice ; what s h e wan ted was the fun o f

catching live ones .

But of all the troubles that came to the

pett ed cat the very worst of all was her get
,

ting angry with Lady There was a certain

.

cushion that Dixie thought was specially

h e r own and o n e s ad and sorry day Lady
,

needed to open the box on which it lay ,

and put her off Then Dixie was angry

. .

Lady pointed her nger at h e r and said

Shame ! and told her She was a naughty
cat A cat cannot h e ar to be scolded Dixie
. .

stood looking straight into Lady s face

.

She growled and s h e spit and was in as ,

furi o u s a little temper as on e could ima

gine Suddenly s h e seemed to remember
.

tha t it was Lady her own best friend

, ,

toward w h om She was behaving s o badly .

She stopped growling turned aw ay for a

,

m oment and then came running up to

,
82 D IXIE KI TT E N
Lady purring and rubbi ng agains t he r
,

feet and trying in every pretty little way

,

that s h e knew to make he r u n der stand

what a peni tent cat s h e was .

Most cats become mo re sedate a s they

grow older but Dixie became m o re play
,

ful When sh e was a barn cat s h e neve r

.
,

played and she would gaze with the u t

,

mos t gravity and a dignied air of in dif

ference and surprise if any on e tried to
tempt her t o run for a ball N ow how .
,

ever S he was always ready for a game

, .

She played with everything with a table

,

l eg a corner of a rug or the hem of Lad y s
, ,

dress She played with th e dry leaves on the

.

groun d When it snowed s h e played wi th ,

the sno wakes Sometimes s h e caught

.

them in her paw and held them up to ex

amine them more closely Then when she .

found tha t they had disappeared her look ,

o f amazement was comical en o ugh She .

w o uld run out of do o r s i n the rain a nd play

 D IXIE KI T T E N
which m eant as any one might kn o w , ,

Lady is n t this a shame ? Did you ever
,

s e e a li ttle cat s o wet before ?

D i xie s notions of what was proper and
what was not proper were decidedly origi
nal Things to eat s h e never touched unless
.

they were given to h e r b u t things to play ,

with were free plunder One unlucky day .

Lady gave her an empty spool and after ,

this all spools were her province Un f or tu .

nately s h e preferred those that had thread

,

on them She liked thimbles too and she

.
, ,

would j ump up on the table where Lady s
work basket st o od select a thimble or a
-
,

spool to play with and jump down with it in ,

her mou th If she had a spool full O f thread

s h e was happy ; but w
.
,

hen Lady came int o

the room sh e did not always symp athize
,

wi th th e kitten in her pleasure for that ,

thread was almos t sure to be wound about

everything in the room except the spool .

I n deed Dixie kitten of the h o u s e was a

,
 D IX I E I N HE R H OME 85

v ery diff erent little cat from Dixie kitten

of the barn She w as as happy as the days
.

were long I might as well s ay AS happy

.
,

as the nights were long for sh e did not ,

dread bedtime now as in the times when ,

sh e was sent out of the warm S ittingroom

to the barn She never stayed out all night
.
,

and S he was always willing to go to bed .

Lady could have told a secret about this if

she h ad chosen I t was that Dixie kne w a
.

nice little lunch was always waiting for her

at the foot of the stairs I t is n o wonder .

that s h e did not care to spend nights away

from home The Caller stood by on e even
.

ing while Lady was preparing the lunch .

How you do spoil that cat ! s h e said

laughingly Lady replied thoughtfully
.
,

Spoil her ? I only make her happy and ,

I don t believe it spoils either cats or people
to be happy What do you th ink about it
.
,

Dixie kitten ? and Dixie an swered P ur r


r r r co n t en te dly .
86 D IXIE KI TT EN
No w whe n people wis h to writ e th e li fe
o f a person they generally wait until he
,

is dead maybe because they are afraid

he m ay c o ntradi c t what they have said

o f him . Dixie is n ot de a d by any m eans .

She i s sitting on the c orner o f the table

this very minute gazing str aight at m y
,

p aper ; but this life o f h er i s s o true th at it

w o uld not tr o uble m e i n the le ast i f she
s ho uld r ead e v ery wo r d o f it.