Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 November 1895 — The Parrot That Scared the Cat. [ARTICLE]

The Parrot That Scared the Cat.

Cats may not be superstitious, but they object to being startled just as stronely as any nervous old maid, particularly'by a parrot. When a parrot in a large cage arrived in a passenger’s baggage at the Great Northern depot yesterday morning, Baggagemaster Miller set him on the floor of the baggage room. There he stood for two mortal hours in dead silence, and no coaxing of the passengers could arouse his loquacity. When the crowd had left the depot a large sleek cat appeared on the scene, and spying the bird, marched majestically up to the cage and sat down. He poked his nose between the bars aud sat contemplating Poll, thinking what a dainty morsel he would make if those pesky bars were only out of the way. He had sat thus for an hour, and the silence had gradually grown denser wheu Mr. Miller was aroused by the unearthly screams from Poll’s direction: “Hal ha! Come on, boys.” The cat did not care to continue the conversation; he just went, his tail up, lifted and swollen witii fear till it looked like a feather duster. The parrot smiled a gleeful smile, and the cat did not come back to trouble him.