[Illustration]
This was so clearly the enemy’s country and
in view of his reinforcements that the Cat wisely
decided to follow no farther. She jumped from
the climbing Bear to the ground, and then mounted
sentry-guard below, marching around with tail in the
air, daring that Bear to come down. Then the
kittens came out and sat around, and enjoyed it all
hugely. And the mountaineers assured me that the
Bears would have been kept up the tree till they were
starved, had not the cook of the Hotel come out and
called off his Cat—although this statement
was not among those vouched for by the officers of
the Park.
The last time I saw Johnny he was in the top of a
tree, bewailing his unhappy lot as usual, while his
mother was dashing about among the pines, “with
a chip on her shoulder,” seeking for someone—anyone—that
she could punish for Johnny’s sake, provided,
of course, that it was not a big Grizzly or a Mother
Cat.
This was early in August, but there were not lacking
symptoms of change in old Grumpy. She was always
reckoned “onsartin,” and her devotion to
Johnny seemed subject to her characteristic. This
perhaps accounted for the fact that when the end of
the month was near, Johnny would sometimes spend half
a day in the top of some tree, alone, miserable, and
utterly unheeded.
The last chapter of his history came to pass after
I had left the region. One day at grey dawn he
was tagging along behind his mother as she prowled
in the rear of the Hotel. A newly hired Irish
girl was already astir in the kitchen. On looking
out, she saw, as she thought, a Calf where it should
not be, and ran to shoo it away. That open kitchen
door still held unmeasured terrors for Grumpy, and
she ran in such alarm that Johnny caught the infection,
and not being able to keep up with her, he made for
the nearest tree, which unfortunately turned out to
be a post, and soon—too soon—he
arrived at its top, some seven feet from the ground,
and there poured forth his woes on the chilly morning
air, while Grumpy apparently felt justified in continuing
her flight alone. When the girl came near and
saw that she had treed some wild animal, she was as
much frightened as her victim. But others of the
kitchen staff appeared, and recognizing the vociferous
Johnny, they decided to make him a prisoner.
[Illustration]
A collar and chain were brought, and after a struggle,
during which several of the men got well scratched,
the collar was buckled on Johnny’s neck and
the chain made fast to the post.
When he found that he was held, Johnny was simply
too mad to scream. He bit and scratched and tore
till he was tired out. Then he lifted up his
voice again to call his mother. She did appear
once or twice in the distance, but could not make
up her mind to face that Cat, so disappeared, and
Johnny was left to his fate.
[Illustration]
