SILVERTIP STOPS A QUARREL
This is the story of something which did not really happen in thedooryard of the big house, yet it has seemed best to put it in withthese tales because it could all be seen from that yard, and becauseSilvertip had a part in it.
He was sitting quietly upon the broad top-rail of the fence oneafternoon, wishing that the sun would shine again. It had rained mostof the time for three days, and he did not like wet weather. Hethought it was going to clear off, for the clouds had not sent anydrops down since noon. The grass and walks were still damp, so he saton the fence-rail. He had stayed in the house so long that he wastired of it, and he was also watching a pair of Robins who had builta nest on one of the up-stairs window-ledges. They had put it right ontop of a last year's Robins' nest, and that was on one of the yearbefore. You can see that it was well worth looking at.
Silvertip had been here only a short time, when he saw Mr. White Cat,from another house, walking over to the one across the street. MissTabby Cat lived there, and he knew that Mr. Tiger Cat was aroundsomewhere. Mr. White Cat looked very cross. He was one of those peoplewho are good-natured only when the sun is shining and they haveeverything they want, and this, you know, is not the best sort of aperson.
"Um-hum!" said Silvertip to himself. "I think there will be a fightbefore long. I will watch." He stood up and stretched himselfcarefully and sat down the other way, so as to see all that happened.Silvertip himself never fought. He spent a great deal of time inmaking believe fight, and usually entertained his Cat callers byglaring, spitting, or even growling at them, but he never reallyclawed and scratched and bit. He did not care to have sore places allover him, and he did not wish to get his ears chewed off.
"I can get what I want without fighting for it, so why should Ifight?" said he. He was a very good sort of Cat, and had never beenreally cross about anything except when the Little Boy came to live inthe big house. Then he had been sulky for weeks, and would not stay inthe room with the Little Boy at all. He thought that if he made enoughfuss about it, the Gentleman and the Lady would not let the Little Boylive there. When he found the Little Boy would stay anyway, he stoppedbeing cross. After a while he loved him too.
No, Silvertip would not fight. But he very much liked to watch otherCats fight. Now he saw Miss Tabby sit quietly by the house across thestreet and right in front of a hole under the porch. She had her legstucked beneath her, and her tail neatly folded around them. She lookedas though she had found a small spot which was dry, and wanted to getall of herself on that.
Just inside the open doorway of the barn, there sat Mr. Tiger Cat. Healso had his legs tucked in and his tail folded around him. Mr. WhiteCat walked straight up to him and stood stiff-legged. Mr. Tiger Cat,who had just eaten a hearty meal and wanted an after-dinner nap, halfopened his eyes and looked at him. Then he closed them again.
This made Mr. White Cat more ill natured still. He did not like to havepeople look at him and then shut their eyes. He began to switch histail and stand his hair on end. He decided to make the other Cat fightanyway. He cared all the more about it because Miss Tabby waswatching him. He had not noticed Silvertip. "Er-oo!" said he, drawingback his head and lowering his tail stiffly. "Did you say it was goingto rain, or did you say it was not?"
"I hardly think it will," answered Mr. Tiger Cat pleasantly.
"You don't think it will, hey?" asked Mr. White Cat. "Well, I say itwill pour."
Mr. Tiger Cat slid his thin eyelids over his eyes.
"Did you hear me?" asked Mr. White Cat, still standing in the sameway.
"Certainly," answered the other.
"Well, what do you say to that?" asked Mr. White Cat, and now he beganto stand straighter and hold his tail out behind.
"I am willing it should pour," said Mr. Tiger Cat, beginning touncover his eyes slowly.
"Oo-oo! You are?" growled Mr. White Cat. "You are, are you? Well, I amnot!"
There was no answer. You see Mr. Tiger Cat did not want to fight. Hedid not need to just then, and he never fought for the fun of it whenhis stomach was so full. He supposed he would have to in the end, forhe knew when a fellow has really made up his mind to it, and ispicking a quarrel, it has to end in that way. At least, it has to endin that way when one is a Cat. If one is bigger and better, there areother ways of ending it.
Mr. Tiger Cat knew all this, and yet he waited. "The longer I wait,"he thought, "the more I shall feel like it. My stomach will not be sofull and I can fight better. He needn't think he can come around andpick a quarrel and chew my ears when Miss Tabby is looking on. Noindeed."
You see Mr. Tiger Cat was also fond of Miss Tabby.
"Er-roo!" said Mr. White Cat, straightening his legs until he stoodvery tall indeed. "Er-roo!"
He had made himself so angry now that he could not talk in words atall. Mr. Tiger Cat sat still.
"Er-row!" said Mr. White Cat, speaking way down his throat. "Er-row!"Mr. Tiger Cat sat still.
Silvertip became so excited that he could not stay longer on thefence. He dearly loved to see a good fight, you know, so he jumpedquietly down without looking away from the barn door, and beganwalking softly toward it. He knew that when a Cat got to saying"Er-row!" down in his throat, something was going to happen very soon.Silvertip did not know, however, exactly what it would be because hedid not see a couple of big Dogs trotting down the street toward him.
He crept nearer and nearer to the barn, hardly looking where hestepped for fear of missing some of the fun. His pretty white paws gotwet and dirty, but that did not matter now. Paws could be licked cleanat any time. Fights must be watched while they may be found.
"Ra-ow!" said Mr. White Cat, giving a forward jump.
"Pht!" answered Mr. Tiger Cat, standing stiffly on his hind feet andletting his front ones hang straight down. He was wide awake now, andready to teach Mr. White Cat a lesson in politeness.
"Bow-wow!" said the Dogs just behind Silvertip. He might have run up atree near by, but he had a bright idea.
"I'll do it," he exclaimed. "The Little Boy says it is wicked tofight, anyway." Then he ran straight in through that open door andjumped to a high shelf in the barn. He saw Miss Tabby turn asummersault backward and crawl under the porch.
Mr. Tiger Cat took a long jump to the sill of a high window. Mr. WhiteCat did not seem to care at all whether it was going to pour or not.He sprang to the top round of a ladder. The Dogs frisked below,wagging their tails and talking to each other about the Cats.
Mr. Tiger Cat, who was very well-bred and could always think ofsomething polite to say, remarked to Silvertip: "Your call was quitean unexpected pleasure!" He had a smiling look around the mouth as hespoke.
"Yes," answered Silvertip, who liked a joke as well as anybody, unlessit were a joke on himself alone. "Yes, I found myself coming this way,and just ran in."
Then they both settled down comfortably where they were, tucking theirfeet under them and wrapping their tails around. Nobody said anythingto Mr. White Cat, who had no chance to sit down, and, indeed, couldhardly keep from falling off the ladder.
The Dogs frisked and tumbled in the barn for a while and hung aroundthe foot of the ladder. They knew they could not get either of theothers, but they had a happy hope that Mr. White Cat might fall.
When at last the Dogs had gone, and Mr. White Cat had also sneakedaway, Mr. Tiger Cat said: "Fighting is very wrong."
"Yes," replied Silvertip, "very wrong indeed. But," he added, "I'llmake believe fight anybody." So he jumped stiffly down and Mr. TigerCat jumped stiffly down, and they glared and growled at each other allthe afternoon and never bit or even unsheathed a claw. They had a mostdelightful time, and Miss Tabby came out from under the porch andsmiled on them both. She loved Cats who acted bravely.