Spring-Heel'd Jack, The Terror of London — page 180: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Tobias and his wife paid, no heed, to this.) who ke om, starve them. They saw no shame cet phat they did. They | the contrary, many rob. their families for the SPRING-HSEL’D JACK ; THE TERROR, OF LONDON. who keep dumb animals seldom, starve them; on — ; ; paid for what they had, and ¢onsidered it better |sake of a tabby cat or dog. Still, as I said be- to, only live up to their means than to go beyond But if. Tobias did not care for his neighbours, he did for his neighbours’ cats. He could ‘shrug |a ore, it is no business of ours what our neigh- bours do, so long as we are left in peace. It is only yesterday T saw Mrs. Snigeles in the garden “id hottited out to her the destruction of which his shoulders and laugh scornfully at the airs of | her cat had been. guilty in my bed of tulips.” mi the former, but of the latter he had a perfect abhorrence. Slat Wi rake gare ert With little to do, he had laid*out, and kept in order, a pretty garden at the back of his cottage, | but the cats played sad havoe with his flowers, and if ever Tobias so far forgot himself as to swear, it was when he. perceived the evidences of the destructive. propensities of these feline ' creatures. Here. was a choice plant broken—there seeds were raked out of the earth ; in another place, the ground had been torn up, and tufts of hair scattered about, plainly gave evidence of a terrific battle which had raged during the night, or perhaps a bed of tulips or verbenas would be utterly destroyed, in a rough and tumble contest. Tobias had taken a glance about his garden some few hoars before the time at which we make his acquaintance, and had vented -his in- dignation in no measured terms upon the con- founded cats, and his rage was down under the influence of the pipe, and the busy fingers of the old lady.’ ° oe, But the circumstance could not wholly be for- | gotten, for; as the old gentleman knocked the ashes from his pipe on the bar of the stove and placed the long tube of clay in the chimney- corner, he exclaimed— ~~ ** Drat the cats '—drat the cats !”’ iy “Tt’s no use dratting them,” said Mrs. John- son, drawing the stocking over her arm which she was mending. “For my ‘part, I can’t see what people want with such a lot of dumb animals. It’s them as ought to be dratted, not the cats. A cat’s all very well if you’ve got mice, but the mice don’t come where: there’s nothing to eat, and there can’t be much where there’s so much finery. JI ain’t got patience with people, I ain’t !” | And the old lady slipped the stockine off her arm’ with a vengeance so expressive of her in- dignation of her neighbours; for, woman like, she was hurt at their scornful bearing towards herself and her husband. ‘Well, as for that,” said Tobias) “ that’s no business of ours. If people hkes to kéep cats, let ’em keep ’em ; but I wish they’d keep ’em ott of my garden. Jf shall set savage one of these days, and shoot ’em, I know Ishall. Now, look at next door. There’s three families in that house, and each family has got a cat—no, the kitchens a4 got two, so that makes four cats. Tt’s shame- uW ! 29 | ‘¢ Yes, and I don’t believe there’s more than 4 ha’porth of meat taken in a day for the lot of ‘em. If there was, they wouldn’t be so destruc- tive.” | } “Nonsense, wife,” said ‘the! old’ man, with a smile. “ You are too uneharitable: Tdon’t care much for my neighbours, and look upon them with equally as much contempt 'as they look upon ie : but I think you must be mistaken there. People gradually cooling | . © And what did she say ?’ and flounced towards the house, saying— _ “What. disagreeable persons these common eople are? My cat’s quite as good as him, [ now.” en “What! that tailor’s trotter’s wife said that to you, a respectable retired. mechanic!” cried the old lady bursting with indignation, and nearly cutting half the foot of the stocking away in her rage. | | She did.”’ es Octal ae ae “ The impudent minx, I wish I’d heard her. I'd have given her a bit of my mind—Id have —oh, the nasty, proud, stuck up, tally-dressed hussey !” <e “Hush ! wife—hush!’" said Tobias, depre- catingly. : , ‘And what did you say—what did you do ? asked his wife. | | ‘ T smiled at her remarks, and I pitied her,” he replied. | “*'Pitied !” “ Yes, wife.” ‘““ Td have pitied her, I’d”’ * Yes, wife, I pitied her ignorance, pitied her for her want of self-respect. ButI did more, for I was hurt at her remark. I told her that [had a blunderbuss, that I would load it.and shoot her cat ifit ever did more damage to my plants. Fad she have only appeared to recret thé damage I should have been satisfied. Of course the poor animal don’t know any better ; its the nature of cats, | suppose, to scratch and tear, but it is cer- tainly not the act of a lady to treat me as she did. Could T have so far forgotten myself as she did, I might have said to her that which would have pained her more acutely than her words pained me.” — | eee “ And I would shoot them, too,” said the wife, bursting with indignation. “I would shoot them if there was a hundred of them. We ain’t so stuck up as them, and they think they can do as they like. Id show ’em I was as good as they are, and better too. Load tha “hloaidebuse Toby, load it quite full, and when you see a cat m the garden just show ’em you mean what you say, and that you ain’t afraid of no. tailor’s trotters nor jumped-up, would’ be somebody in existence. Common people are we—common people! Yes, we are common people, but we only eat and wear what’s paid for, and that’s more than a good many of such as them can say.” And the old lady severed the worsted with the scissors In such a manner as to lead her husband to think that it would have afforded’ her much gratification to have severed the liead from the body of Mrs. Sniggles in the same manner. ‘Anyhow, I’m determined I'l frighten the confounded eats, if I don’t shoot them,” said ‘the old man, reaching down a blunderbuss from ovelL: the mantle. “T don’t like to hurt the animals, . — | Tere —_ --————_—-—- —_—- et comicbooks.com ——V |