she had not really minded being an alley cat until the kittens came. but every one who has had children knows that one feels being poor much more keenly on their account, than on one’s own. and the strawless corner of a deserted shed did not seem a suitable bed for her mother’s grandchildren.

the alley cat took no pride in her own appearance. indeed, it had been said when she was born that her mother, the blooded tortoise-shell of a beautiful home, had never produced such a terrible kitten. she would[2] not have been allowed to live, if an accident had not deprived her mother of the others. and as she grew up even her own parent saw that she was homely.

it may be thought that homely cats have no feelings; but this is not the case, for homely cats, like plain people, are sensitive, and have even more feelings than others. so one day when some particularly unkind remark had been made about the brindled kitten with yellow sides, she left her home and ran away to become an alley cat.

she was sorry for this afterwards, of course, like every other kitten that runs away. but she would not go home, and slept all summer in empty boxes and under the barns of people who did not like cats. she visited garbage pails, and learned to dash off with the others when the maid opened the kitchen door. she learned to walk on her stomach when crossing the street, and by the time that winter came, she had cobwebs in her whiskers, and looked at everybody out of frightened green eyes.

[3]

she was naturally a good mouser, but when the weather grew cold, people shut up their barns, and every cat knows that the open-air mice who live around unused sheds are very poor eating. but she managed to get along until the kittens came, and then she became desperate enough to beg at back doors, and purr for a piece of meat. but some people cannot appreciate even the finest kind of a purr, and the alley cat’s purr was hoarse and miserable like herself.

“i once had a good soprano,” she told the friendly barn cat who brought her a second joint of rat. “but i’m out of voice now, being up so much daytimes with the kittens.”

there were only two kittens,—one ugly like herself, and the other the very image of that beautiful mother who had never loved her. but the alley cat remembered this, and made a point of loving the ugly kitten best.

it was soon after their eyes were opened that the coldest weather came, and the alley[4] cat made her first acquaintance with the back yard.

she had visited other back yards in her time, but this was very different, because kind children played there,—the children of a mother who loved all helpless things. it is true that she did not particularly yearn after alley cats, and was glad when this one refused to be tamed, and brought into the house.

but she said, “you may put some milk and meat for her out on the coal box, eunice. she probably knows who she is, even if we don’t!”

so very often after that, when the alley cat leaped with a crash of snow and icicles to the side fence, she would smell a nice warm luncheon waiting for her on the coal box, and go home with a happy, purring heart.

but just before christmas, the family went away on a visit and the house was closed, so when the crash of icicles came, and an anxious gray face looked over the fence, there was nothing to be seen or smelled that a body could eat.

[5]

the pleasant barn cat who had brought her the second joint of rat, came to tell his friend of a place that he had found down-town behind a restaurant, where many things could be had without asking. he was really a very kind cat, although he had but one hole in his nose, instead of two, owing to the partition having been torn through in a fight.

but she could not move her kittens, and indeed had told him very little about them, fearing that he might not like children.

it was soon after this that the gray kitten[6] died, and the tortoise-shell kitten became so thin that there was scarcely room on her sides for all her beautiful tortoise-shell spots. but it was not until the day before christmas that the family of kind children came home; and that night, when the mother and grandmother were out in the woodshed unpacking holly wreaths, the alley cat came into the yard. the mother of the children noticed her at once, because there had been a heavy snow, and her little dark figure showed quite plainly against it. “mother, that cat is carrying something. i believe it’s a kitten!” she said, and went to the door to look.

the alley cat came with her head held high, for it was a heavy kitten, and her poor little back strained under the burden. but she managed to reach the shed, and laid her baby at the feet of her who loved all helpless things, then turned and went out again into the snow.

“mother, did you see that? ah, mother, look!” she took up the kitten with pitiful[7] hands, and held it to her cheek. its little nose was quite white with cold, and snow was on its tail.

“do you suppose there’d be any danger in keeping it?” she asked. “eunice wants a kitten dreadfully, and has been praying for one every night for a month.”

“danger? what nonsense! i’ll disinfect it,” grandmother said sharply. “somebody heard that prayer, if the lord didn’t, and the cat’s come for christmas morning.”

“it’s a perfect beauty, even if it is thin,” said the children’s mother. “but it’s pretty young to keep.”

“i kept my babies when they were younger than that, and i’ll warrant this cat won’t make half so much trouble. besides, its mother trusted you, so there’s nothing else to do.”

but it was not until after they had warmed some milk for the kitten, and grandmother had wrapped her up in a first aid bichloride bandage, that they remembered how the alley cat had gone out again into the night.

[8]

“she looked hungry,” said the children’s mother, with tears in her eyes, “and i know she must have been hungry. but she thought she wasn’t wanted, and went away. oh, poor alley cat!”

she opened the outside door, and called, “come back, kitty, come back, poor kitty, kitty! come back, poor kitty-cat!”

but nothing entered except the wind and the snow. and they never saw the alley cat again.

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