OUR STORY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 74, 21 May 1943, Page 6

OUR STORY

TABBY REMEMBERS

"There it is again. Now, where

can i.t be?"

Mrs Smith is very old and is rather deaf as avcll. She lives in a small house all by herself. A cat was crying somewhere. Mrs Smith, who had heard the pitiful meowing since the day before, made up her mind she would find out where the cat was before she sat down to her own din-

lin the garden? No. In the narrow path which divided her house from the one next door? No.

"It sounds," she said to herself, "as though the meowing comes from inside the house next door, but that can't be—the Jones's went off a week ago and the place, has been locked

up ever since."

Then Mrs Smith got a bad shock. N T ext door, after all, a cat was pawing feebly at the pantry window and meowing sadlj'.

How Mrs Smith managed to hoist he.r rheumaticky old limbs up to that window by means of a small step-ladder, and how she forced the catch with a carving knife and brought the cat safely to earth, she coukl never have explained to any one. The kindh r old soul was so horrified at. the thought of what the poor creature had suffered that she never gave a thought to herself.

When she tried to set the cat on its feet the-poor thing collapsed on the kitchen Uoor, too weak even to lap up the milk she placed before

it. She fed the animal with a teaspoon and soothed it to sleep as

though it were a baby

Three months later Mrs Brown slipped around to see Mrs. Smith, knocked at the front door, received no answer, raised the 1 door latch

and peeped in

The old lady, av rapped in a was sitting in her big chair leaning OA'er a small oil stove on Avhich a little kettle was boiling. With a feeble smile she looked up. "I'm bad, my dear: I'ac not been to bed these, two nights."

"And you've been ail alone. Oh, why didn't I come before!" cried Mrs Brown.

"No,. I've had ever such good com. pany," said Mrs Smith. She pointed to her feet —and there la.y a large tabby cat. "He hasn't left me for more than a few minutes all the time I've been ill. He knows I'm ill. A dog could not have, watched over me more faithfully." And she told Mrs Brown about the rescue.

Yes, Tabby did remember what Mrs Smith had done for him and he was showing his gratitude in the only way possible to him.

Scientists tell us that the cat has such a highly-organised nervous system that even a speck of dirt on its coat causes the animal acute discomfort. Imagine then, what a cat suffers when it is ill treated or neglected.