He was, however, much surprised when the owner of the sheep cameagain and declared that he had seen his dog kill a sheep that verynight; that he knew the dog, and was sure of the fact. He, ofcourse, thought he must be mistaken; but said he would watch thedog. He did so.
At a certain hour of the night, when the dog supposed no one sawhim, the cunning fellow put up his two fore paws, pushed off thecollar to which a chain was attached, darted through the open windowclose by, and made for the sheep pasture. He returned in goodseason, put his nose into his collar, pushed it down into its placewith his paws, and lay down to sleep.
The master returned to his bed with the painful conviction that hemust kill his intelligent but unprincipled four-footed friend. It issaid nothing will cure a dog of the habit of sheep killing.
In the morning the sorrowful master went to the stable. As heapproached, he said, “O, Hero, how could you do so wrong? I musthave you killed.” Quick as thought, the dog pushed his collar overhis ears, darted through the window, and flew like lightning away.No one in that town ever saw him again.
Mr. Miles told me also that he knew a dog that would carry lettersto persons when told their names; and that no one dared touch theletter but the person to whom it was directed. No bribe, no coaxingwould induce him to stop when going on these errands. If other dogsannoyed him, he would not notice them, but run the faster, and takecare to chastise them at another time.
Creatures that show such intelligence, who can understand ourlanguage, and are capable of what is best in our nature, that is, ofself-forgetting love, should be treated with the greatesttenderness. We know not what they may be capable of till we havetried the influence of constant justice and kindness. It isquestionable whether poor Hero could have been cured of his fault.But I would give all a chance.”
“I should like to have Hero for my dog,” said Frank, “and live withhim in a place where there were no sheep; and then, after manyyears, he might forget his bad tricks.”
“I must say something in favor of the much-abused cat. Doubtless shewould be a much better member of society, if she were bettertreated, if she had a better example set before her.
Sportsmen are very angry because she catches birds, and because sheis sly. They will themselves lie down in the grass so that the birdsmay not see them, and be as sly as the very slyest old puss, and yetthey cannot forgive her for watching noiselessly for birds. Has notshe as good a right as any sportsman to a little game? She takesonly what she wants to eat. She does not kill them in order to boastto another cat of how many she has bagged.
They say she must be bad, for she kills singing birds. Do notsportsmen kill larks and thrushes? Were you once to see a larkrising up into the blue sky higher and higher, and hear him singingas he rises louder and louder, as if he saw heaven opening, andwanted to tell you how beautiful it was, and call you up there; andthen to think of killing and eating him, you would say, What cat canbe so unfeeling as a man? Who, with any music in his soul, could doso? Yet men do eat larks for dinner, and then scold at the poor catwho treats herself with only one perhaps. Why should she not be alittle dainty? Men, women, and hoys and girls are often cruel andunreasonable, not merely cats. The cat is as good as she knows howto be.”
“So you are, pussy,” said Harry, taking up his pet cat in his lap,and stroking her. “You never do any harm, but catch the mice in ourmother’s barn. But you are a little sly, and, if you should catchbirds, right or wrong, I’m afraid I should box your ears. You mustlearn to do without birds for your dinner.”
“When I was in England,” said Mrs. Chilton, “I saw, exhibited in acage about five feet square, rats, mice, cats and dogs, a hawk, aguinea pig, a rabbit, some pigeons, an owl and some little birds,all together, as amiable and merry as possible. Miss Puss sat in themidst, purring. The others ran over her, or flew upon her head. Shehad no thought of hurting them, and they were not afraid of her.
I found, on inquiring, that the way the keeper establishes suchpeace and harmony is by systematic and constant gentleness, and bykeeping the animals all well fed. They are called the happy family.
The cage was always surrounded by a crowd of people curious to seesuch natural enemies so happy together. Nothing but the law ofkindness could make all those creatures so civil and well behaved toeach other. But I must not forget my anecdotes of that respectableanimal, the cat.
You need not smile; I mean to make you respect, as well as lovecats. There are some men, and many boys who say they are domestictigers, that they are sly, that they steal, that you cannot trustthem; that the cat heart is bad, and that there is no harm in boys’teasing them, since it is no more than cats deserve; that they weremade for us to plague; and that the only good thing they do is tocatch rats and mice.
Now, if this were true, and they were really ever so bad, they oughtnever to be treated cruelly, never teased and tormented. None butthe meanest boy will ever torment any animal.
He who created us created also the little fly that crawls upon thewindow pane. I am not now thinking of those boys who do notremember, or have never learned this truth, but of those who have acruel prejudice against cats, of those who are kind to dogs andhorses, but unkind to cats. I shall speak to you of the poor catwith almost as much respect and seriousness as if I were talkingabout any of my fellow- creatures who were injured and ill treated.
We take it for granted that cats have no love in them, and so wenever act towards them as if they had any; now I believe they have,on the whole, pretty good hearts, and, if they were treated withjustice and kindness, would be far more respectable members ofsociety than they are. To show this I will mention some facts ofwhich I have heard, and, some which I have witnessed.
In the first place, the cat is accused of never caring for theinhabitants of a house, but only for the house itself. Now I knew anaffectionate cat who manifested much disturbance when the familywere making preparations for moving; at last, all was gone from thehouse except herself and the cook. The cook, in order to make surethat the cat should not escape from the carriage on the way, put herinto a cage and fastened her in.