THE CAT THAT DID

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3185, 8 September 1917, Page 9

THE CAT THAT DID

AN INCIDENT FROM THE WEST FRONT HOW PUSSY CAUGHT A GERMAN SPY (By "C," in the "Daily Mail.")

Khundoo was, and is, a cat of marked , individuality. An. entry in tho mess property book:of the Scindo Brigade describes him as "Cat, one, chestnut with' black points, sire Jungly, dam Persian." The mess butler further states' that he is a "Bahut xabruasti bilf," a cat of a. haughty and imperious disposition. On arrival at Poperingho he elected himself Shah of the felines of that province of Flanders, and tlio local champion, who presumed to challenge him, was admitted to hospital severely wounded. Tho staff captain's fox terrier wore plaster on his nose for a week following an interview with Khundoo, and thereafter yielded precedence, to him on the office hearth-rug. The brigade headquarters was established in the CKateau des Lys, an ultramodern Belgian building with, plaster decorations from tho nude, built on an ancient site : surrounded on three sides by a stagnant moat. Hogge, the brigade major, sat at hie desk beneath _ a plaster statue of Venus, barely clad in a gashelmet and a war map worn as an apron. Ho was putting the finishing touches to the scheme of a minor operation destined to amputate a projection from tho German line. "EooTts a bit of all right, Khundoo, old man," he said. "Three companies wade across at tho canal bend, tfiree more get over on pontoons behind tho mill, ten minutes' intensive bombardment to covov.tho crossing, nnd the heavies undertake to blow every ma-chine-gun out of tho ground. If 11 be a lovely little scrap. You'd enjoy it yourself." , , , , Tho brigade major yawned, locked up his papers in a sham antique cabinet, and went out for a stroll before dinner. He was fresh from the East, where there are no doors except those that won't shut, and ho felt no anxiety about the safety of his papers. Ho trusted to tho moat and to tho sentry in front of the chateau. Enter the Spy. Now there were other staff officers not many miles distant who were interested in iUajor Hoggo's scheme. They had heard rumours of the projected British attack, and would liko to know moro about it. They thought that tho newly arrived Indian brigade would not bo up to tho tricks of staff work in i landers and they employed an agent to investigate. And, about mignight, their representative arrived. Monsieur Schoerke had been selected as eminently suitable for tho job. Ho had been aTootman at tho Chateau des Lys until a liitio matter of pilfering nad compelled him to retire. He had gone into business vjith his savings as part-proprietor of a "ambling-den in Lille, and had risen to comparative wealth and dubious respectability. But his trade was slack just uow, and an offer of iivo thousand frauca had tempted him. ■ Avoiding the front of the house wliere tho sentry pacetl up ami down, he arrived at the moat. There was a. leda in tho miaffle one degree inore offensive than the Venus; and at this point there ran a pipe under the green-scunmied water by which a man could wade across. Schoerke hau'crossed by it before, in the days when Re used to soil nis master s wine at the Cruche Cassee. It would never do to go homo dripping wot, so he took oft his coat and trousors, and gingerly dipped his bare legs into the • water, la two minutes he was across and in at the pantry window. All was quiet; no ono slept in the damp basement and he sneaked stealthily up to the ealon, now tho oliiee. ' . The sham antique cabinet caught ms cyo at once. He took no notice ol Khundoo, who sat at tho feet of tho plaster Venus musing complacently on the defeat of a ono-eared Tom-a little affair of two rounds and :i knock-out. He stooped to examine the cabinet and trod upon Khuudoo's tail. The Indian jungle cat does not waste tiino in yowling when he conies into action. Ho goes straight for. his mark and tho other party does tho yowling. This happened now. Khundoo selected as his objective the point where tho shirt-tails ended, and flow at it, olaws and teeth extended.. Monsieur Schoerke did the yowling. Tho staff captain's fox-terrier was first upon the 6cone, followed by his master and tho brigade major. The guard turned out, the wretched Schoerke was eearched and locked up, and Khundoo curled up to sleep, conscious of having vindicated his dignity. Next day Schoerko appeared before a eonrt-mnrtial, and a brick wall and a machine-gun put a period to his career. Khundoo still reigns at tho Chateau iles Lys.