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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11190 ***
+
+CAPTAINS ALL
+
+By W.W. Jacobs
+
+
+
+THE WHITE CAT
+
+[Illustration: "The White Cat."]
+
+The traveller stood looking from the tap-room window of the _Cauliflower_
+at the falling rain.  The village street below was empty, and everything
+was quiet with the exception of the garrulous old man smoking with much
+enjoyment on the settle behind him.
+
+"It'll do a power o' good," said the ancient, craning his neck round the
+edge of the settle and turning a bleared eye on the window.  "I ain't
+like some folk; I never did mind a drop o' rain."
+
+The traveller grunted and, returning to the settle opposite the old man,
+fell to lazily stroking a cat which had strolled in attracted by the
+warmth of the small fire which smouldered in the grate.
+
+"He's a good mouser," said the old man, "but I expect that Smith the
+landlord would sell 'im to anybody for arf a crown; but we 'ad a cat in
+Claybury once that you couldn't ha' bought for a hundred golden
+sovereigns."
+
+The traveller continued to caress the cat.
+
+"A white cat, with one yaller eye and one blue one," continued the old
+man.  "It sounds queer, but it's as true as I sit 'ere wishing that I 'ad
+another mug o' ale as good as the last you gave me."
+
+The traveller, with a start that upset the cat's nerves, finished his own
+mug, and then ordered both to be refilled.  He stirred the fire into a
+blaze, and, lighting his pipe and putting one foot on to the hob,
+prepared to listen.
+
+It used to belong to old man Clark, young Joe Clark's uncle, said the
+ancient, smacking his lips delicately over the ale and extending a
+tremulous claw to the tobacco-pouch pushed towards him; and he was never
+tired of showing it off to people.  He used to call it 'is blue-eyed
+darling, and the fuss 'e made o' that cat was sinful.
+
+Young Joe Clark couldn't bear it, but being down in 'is uncle's will for
+five cottages and a bit o' land bringing in about forty pounds a year, he
+'ad to 'ide his feelings and pretend as he loved it.  He used to take it
+little drops o' cream and tit-bits o' meat, and old Clark was so pleased
+that 'e promised 'im that he should 'ave the cat along with all the other
+property when 'e was dead.
+
+Young Joe said he couldn't thank 'im enough, and the old man, who 'ad
+been ailing a long time, made 'im come up every day to teach 'im 'ow to
+take care of it arter he was gone.  He taught Joe 'ow to cook its meat
+and then chop it up fine; 'ow it liked a clean saucer every time for its
+milk; and 'ow he wasn't to make a noise when it was asleep.
+
+"Take care your children don't worry it, Joe," he ses one day, very
+sharp.  "One o' your boys was pulling its tail this morning, and I want
+you to clump his 'ead for 'im."
+
+"Which one was it?" ses Joe.
+
+"The slobbery-nosed one," ses old Clark.
+
+"I'll give 'im a clout as soon as I get 'ome," ses Joe, who was very fond
+of 'is children.
+
+"Go and fetch 'im and do it 'ere," ses the old man; "that'll teach 'im to
+love animals."
+
+Joe went off 'ome to fetch the boy, and arter his mother 'ad washed his
+face, and wiped his nose, an' put a clean pinneyfore on 'im, he took 'im
+to 'is uncle's and clouted his 'ead for 'im.  Arter that Joe and 'is wife
+'ad words all night long, and next morning old Clark, coming in from the
+garden, was just in time to see 'im kick the cat right acrost the
+kitchen.
+
+He could 'ardly speak for a minute, and when 'e could Joe see plain wot a
+fool he'd been.  Fust of all 'e called Joe every name he could think of--
+which took 'im a long time--and then he ordered 'im out of 'is house.
+
+"You shall 'ave my money wen your betters have done with it," he ses,
+"and not afore.  That's all you've done for yourself."
+
+Joe Clark didn't know wot he meant at the time, but when old Clark died
+three months arterwards 'e found out.  His uncle 'ad made a new will and
+left everything to old George Barstow for as long as the cat lived,
+providing that he took care of it.  When the cat was dead the property
+was to go to Joe.
+
+The cat was only two years old at the time, and George Barstow, who was
+arf crazy with joy, said it shouldn't be 'is fault if it didn't live
+another twenty years.
+
+The funny thing was the quiet way Joe Clark took it.  He didn't seem to
+be at all cut up about it, and when Henery Walker said it was a shame,
+'e said he didn't mind, and that George Barstow was a old man, and he was
+quite welcome to 'ave the property as long as the cat lived.
+
+"It must come to me by the time I'm an old man," he ses, "ard that's all
+I care about."
+
+Henery Walker went off, and as 'e passed the cottage where old Clark used
+to live, and which George Barstow 'ad moved into, 'e spoke to the old man
+over the palings and told 'im wot Joe Clark 'ad said.  George Barstow
+only grunted and went on stooping and prying over 'is front garden.
+
+"Bin and lost something?" ses Henery Walker, watching 'im.
+
+"No; I'm finding," ses George Barstow, very fierce, and picking up
+something.  "That's the fifth bit o' powdered liver I've found in my
+garden this morning."
+
+Henery Walker went off whistling, and the opinion he'd 'ad o' Joe Clark
+began to improve.  He spoke to Joe about it that arternoon, and Joe said
+that if 'e ever accused 'im o' such a thing again he'd knock 'is 'ead
+off.  He said that he 'oped the cat 'ud live to be a hundred, and that
+'e'd no more think of giving it poisoned meat than Henery Walker would of
+paying for 'is drink so long as 'e could get anybody else to do it for
+'im.
+
+They 'ad bets up at this 'ere _Cauliflower_ public-'ouse that evening as to
+'ow long that cat 'ud live.  Nobody gave it more than a month, and Bill
+Chambers sat and thought o' so many ways o' killing it on the sly that it
+was wunnerful to hear 'im.
+
+George Barstow took fright when he 'eard of them, and the care 'e took o'
+that cat was wunnerful to behold.  Arf its time it was shut up in the
+back bedroom, and the other arf George Barstow was fussing arter it till
+that cat got to hate 'im like pison.  Instead o' giving up work as he'd
+thought to do, 'e told Henery Walker that 'e'd never worked so 'ard in
+his life.
+
+"Wot about fresh air and exercise for it?" ses Henery.
+
+"Wot about Joe Clark?" ses George Bar-stow.  "I'm tied 'and and foot.  I
+dursent leave the house for a moment.  I ain't been to the _Cauliflower_
+since I've 'ad it, and three times I got out o' bed last night to see if
+it was safe."
+
+"Mark my words," ses Henery Walker; "if that cat don't 'ave exercise,
+you'll lose it.
+
+"I shall lose it if it does 'ave exercise," ses George Barstow, "that I
+know."
+
+He sat down thinking arter Henery Walker 'ad gone, and then he 'ad a
+little collar and chain made for it, and took it out for a walk.  Pretty
+nearly every dog in Claybury went with 'em, and the cat was in such a
+state o' mind afore they got 'ome he couldn't do anything with it.  It
+'ad a fit as soon as they got indoors, and George Barstow, who 'ad read
+about children's fits in the almanac, gave it a warm bath.  It brought it
+round immediate, and then it began to tear round the room and up and
+downstairs till George Barstow was afraid to go near it.
+
+[Illustration: "He 'ad a little collar and chain made for it, and took it
+out for a walk."]
+
+It was so bad that evening, sneezing, that George Barstow sent for Bill
+Chambers, who'd got a good name for doctoring animals, and asked 'im to
+give it something.  Bill said he'd got some powders at 'ome that would
+cure it at once, and he went and fetched 'em and mixed one up with a bit
+o' butter.
+
+"That's the way to give a cat medicine," he ses; "smear it with the
+butter and then it'll lick it off, powder and all."
+
+He was just going to rub it on the cat when George Barstow caught 'old of
+'is arm and stopped 'im.
+
+"How do I know it ain't pison?" he ses.  "You're a friend o' Joe Clark's,
+and for all I know he may ha' paid you to pison it."
+
+"I wouldn't do such a thing," ses Bill.  "You ought to know me better
+than that."
+
+"All right," ses George Barstow; "you eat it then, and I'll give you two
+shillings in stead o' one.  You can easy mix some more."
+
+"Not me," ses Bill Chambers, making a face.
+
+"Well, three shillings, then," ses George Barstow, getting more and more
+suspicious like; "four shillings--five shillings."
+
+Bill Chambers shook his 'ead, and George Barstow, more and more certain
+that he 'ad caught 'im trying to kill 'is cat and that 'e wouldn't eat
+the stuff, rose 'im up to ten shillings.
+
+Bill looked at the butter and then 'e looked at the ten shillings on the
+table, and at last he shut 'is eyes and gulped it down and put the money
+in 'is pocket.
+
+"You see, I 'ave to be careful, Bill," ses George Barstow, rather upset.
+
+Bill Chambers didn't answer 'im.  He sat there as white as a sheet, and
+making such extraordinary faces that George was arf afraid of 'im.
+
+"Anything wrong, Bill?" he ses at last.
+
+Bill sat staring at 'im, and then all of a sudden he clapped 'is
+'andkerchief to 'is mouth and, getting up from his chair, opened the door
+and rushed out.  George Barstow thought at fust that he 'ad eaten pison
+for the sake o' the ten shillings, but when 'e remembered that Bill
+Chambers 'ad got the most delikit stummick in Claybury he altered 'is
+mind.
+
+The cat was better next morning, but George Barstow had 'ad such a fright
+about it 'e wouldn't let it go out of 'is sight, and Joe Clark began to
+think that 'e would 'ave to wait longer for that property than 'e had
+thought, arter all.  To 'ear 'im talk anybody'd ha' thought that 'e loved
+that cat.  We didn't pay much attention to it up at the _Cauliflower_
+'ere, except maybe to wink at 'im--a thing he couldn't a bear--but at
+'ome, o' course, his young 'uns thought as everything he said was
+Gospel; and one day, coming 'ome from work, as he was passing George
+Barstow's he was paid out for his deceitfulness.
+
+"I've wronged you, Joe Clark," ses George Barstow, coming to the door,
+"and I'm sorry for it."
+
+"Oh!" ses Joe, staring.
+
+"Give that to your little Jimmy," ses George Barstow, giving 'im a
+shilling.  "I've give 'im one, but I thought arterwards it wasn't
+enough."
+
+"What for?" ses Joe, staring at 'im agin.
+
+"For bringing my cat 'ome," ses George Barstow.  "'Ow it got out I can't
+think, but I lost it for three hours, and I'd about given it up when your
+little Jimmy brought it to me in 'is arms.  He's a fine little chap and
+'e does you credit."
+
+Joe Clark tried to speak, but he couldn't get a word out, and Henery
+Walker, wot 'ad just come up and 'eard wot passed, took hold of 'is arm
+and helped 'im home.  He walked like a man in a dream, but arf-way he
+stopped and cut a stick from the hedge to take 'ome to little Jimmy.  He
+said the boy 'ad been asking him for a stick for some time, but up till
+then 'e'd always forgotten it.
+
+At the end o' the fust year that cat was still alive, to everybody's
+surprise; but George Barstow took such care of it 'e never let it out of
+'is sight.  Every time 'e went out he took it with 'im in a hamper, and,
+to prevent its being pisoned, he paid Isaac Sawyer, who 'ad the biggest
+family in Claybury, sixpence a week to let one of 'is boys taste its milk
+before it had it.
+
+The second year it was ill twice, but the horse-doctor that George
+Barstow got for it said that it was as 'ard as nails, and with care it
+might live to be twenty.  He said that it wanted more fresh air and
+exercise; but when he 'eard 'ow George Barstow come by it he said that
+p'r'aps it would live longer indoors arter all.
+
+At last one day, when George Barstow 'ad been living on the fat o' the
+land for nearly three years, that cat got out agin.  George 'ad raised
+the front-room winder two or three inches to throw something outside,
+and, afore he knew wot was 'appening, the cat was out-side and going up
+the road about twenty miles an hour.
+
+George Barstow went arter it, but he might as well ha' tried to catch the
+wind.  The cat was arf wild with joy at getting out agin, and he couldn't
+get within arf a mile of it.
+
+He stayed out all day without food or drink, follering it about until it
+came on dark, and then, o' course, he lost sight of it, and, hoping
+against 'ope that it would come home for its food, he went 'ome and
+waited for it.  He sat up all night dozing in a chair in the front room
+with the door left open, but it was all no use; and arter thinking for a
+long time wot was best to do, he went out and told some o' the folks it
+was lost and offered a reward of five pounds for it.
+
+You never saw such a hunt then in all your life.  Nearly every man,
+woman, and child in Claybury left their work or school and went to try
+and earn that five pounds.  By the arternoon George Barstow made it ten
+pounds provided the cat was brought 'ome safe and sound, and people as
+was too old to walk stood at their cottage doors to snap it up as it came
+by.
+
+Joe Clark was hunting for it 'igh and low, and so was 'is wife and the
+boys.  In fact, I b'lieve that everybody in Claybury excepting the parson
+and Bob Pretty was trying to get that ten pounds.
+
+O' course, we could understand the parson--'is pride wouldn't let 'im;
+but a low, poaching, thieving rascal like Bob Pretty turning up 'is nose
+at ten pounds was more than we could make out.  Even on the second day,
+when George Barstow made it ten pounds down and a shilling a week for a
+year besides, he didn't offer to stir; all he did was to try and make fun
+o' them as was looking for it.
+
+"Have you looked everywhere you can think of for it, Bill?" he ses to
+Bill Chambers.  "Yes, I 'ave," ses Bill.
+
+"Well, then, you want to look everywhere else," ses Bob Pretty.  "I know
+where I should look if I wanted to find it."
+
+"Why don't you find it, then?" ses Bill.
+
+"'Cos I don't want to make mischief," ses Bob Pretty.  "I don't want to
+be unneighbourly to Joe Clark by interfering at all."
+
+"Not for all that money?" ses Bill.
+
+"Not for fifty pounds," ses Bob Pretty; "you ought to know me better than
+that, Bill Chambers."
+
+"It's my belief that you know more about where that cat is than you ought
+to," ses Joe Gubbins.
+
+"You go on looking for it, Joe," ses Bob Pretty, grinning; "it's good
+exercise for you, and you've only lost two days' work."
+
+"I'll give you arf a crown if you let me search your 'ouse, Bob," ses
+Bill Chambers, looking at 'im very 'ard.
+
+"I couldn't do it at the price, Bill," ses Bob Pretty, shaking his 'ead.
+"I'm a pore man, but I'm very partikler who I 'ave come into my 'ouse."
+
+O' course, everybody left off looking at once when they heard about Bob--
+not that they believed that he'd be such a fool as to keep the cat in his
+'ouse; and that evening, as soon as it was dark, Joe Clark went round to
+see 'im.
+
+"Don't tell me as that cat's found, Joe," ses Bob Pretty, as Joe opened
+the door.
+
+"Not as I've 'eard of," said Joe, stepping inside.  "I wanted to speak to
+you about it; the sooner it's found the better I shall be pleased."
+
+"It does you credit, Joe Clark," ses Bob Pretty.
+
+"It's my belief that it's dead," ses Joe, looking at 'im very 'ard; "but
+I want to make sure afore taking over the property."
+
+Bob Pretty looked at 'im and then he gave a little cough.  "Oh, you want
+it to be found dead," he ses.  "Now, I wonder whether that cat's worth
+most dead or alive?"
+
+Joe Clark coughed then.  "Dead, I should think," he ses at last.
+"George Barstow's just 'ad bills printed offering fifteen pounds for it,"
+ses Bob Pretty.
+
+"I'll give that or more when I come into the property," ses Joe Clark.
+
+"There's nothing like ready-money, though, is there?" ses Bob.
+
+"I'll promise it to you in writing, Bob," ses Joe, trembling.
+
+"There's some things that don't look well in writing, Joe," says Bob
+Pretty, considering; "besides, why should you promise it to me?"
+
+"O' course, I meant if you found it," ses Joe.
+
+"Well, I'll do my best, Joe," ses Bob Pretty; "and none of us can do no
+more than that, can they?"
+
+They sat talking and argufying over it for over an hour, and twice Bob
+Pretty got up and said 'e was going to see whether George Barstow
+wouldn't offer more.  By the time they parted they was as thick as
+thieves, and next morning Bob Pretty was wearing Joe Clark's watch and
+chain, and Mrs. Pretty was up at Joe's 'ouse to see whether there was any
+of 'is furniture as she 'ad a fancy for.
+
+She didn't seem to be able to make up 'er mind at fust between a chest o'
+drawers that 'ad belonged to Joe's mother and a grand-father clock.  She
+walked from one to the other for about ten minutes, and then Bob, who 'ad
+come in to 'elp her, told 'er to 'ave both.
+
+"You're quite welcome," he ses; "ain't she, Joe?"
+
+Joe Clark said "Yes," and arter he 'ad helped them carry 'em 'ome the
+Prettys went back and took the best bedstead to pieces, cos Bob said as
+it was easier to carry that way.  Mrs. Clark 'ad to go and sit down at
+the bottom o' the garden with the neck of 'er dress undone to give
+herself air, but when she saw the little Prettys each walking 'ome with
+one of 'er best chairs on their 'eads she got and walked up and down like
+a mad thing.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know where we are to put it all," ses Bob Pretty to Joe
+Gubbins, wot was looking on with other folks, "but Joe Clark is that
+generous he won't 'ear of our leaving anything."
+
+"Has 'e gorn mad?" ses Bill Chambers, staring at 'im.
+
+"Not as I knows on," ses Bob Pretty.  "It's 'is good-'artedness, that's
+all.  He feels sure that that cat's dead, and that he'll 'ave George
+Barstow's cottage and furniture.  I told 'im he'd better wait till he'd
+made sure, but 'e wouldn't."
+
+Before they'd finished the Prettys 'ad picked that 'ouse as clean as a
+bone, and Joe Clark 'ad to go and get clean straw for his wife and
+children to sleep on; not that Mrs. Clark 'ad any sleep that night, nor
+Joe neither.
+
+Henery Walker was the fust to see what it really meant, and he went
+rushing off as fast as 'e could run to tell George Barstow.  George
+couldn't believe 'im at fust, but when 'e did he swore that if a 'air of
+that cat's head was harmed 'e'd 'ave the law o' Bob Pretty, and arter
+Henery Walker 'ad gone 'e walked round to tell 'im so.
+
+"You're not yourself, George Barstow, else you wouldn't try and take away
+my character like that," ses Bob Pretty.
+
+"Wot did Joe Clark give you all them things for?" ses George, pointing to
+the furniture.
+
+"Took a fancy to me, I s'pose," ses Bob.  "People do sometimes.  There's
+something about me at times that makes 'em like me."
+
+"He gave 'em to you to kill my cat," ses George Barstow.  "It's plain
+enough for any-body to see."
+
+Bob Pretty smiled.  "I expect it'll turn up safe and sound one o' these
+days," he ses, "and then you'll come round and beg my pardon.  P'r'aps--"
+
+"P'r'aps wot?" ses George Barstow, arter waiting a bit.
+
+"P'r'aps somebody 'as got it and is keeping it till you've drawed the
+fifteen pounds out o' the bank," ses Bob, looking at 'im very hard.
+
+"I've taken it out o' the bank," ses George, starting; "if that cat's
+alive, Bob, and you've got it, there's the fifteen pounds the moment you
+'and it over."
+
+"Wot d'ye mean--me got it?" ses Bob Pretty.  "You be careful o' my
+character."
+
+"I mean if you know where it is," ses George Barstow trembling all over.
+
+"I don't say I couldn't find it, if that's wot you mean," ses Bob.  "I
+can gin'rally find things when I want to."
+
+"You find me that cat, alive and well, and the money's yours, Bob," ses
+George, 'ardly able to speak, now that 'e fancied the cat was still
+alive.
+
+Bob Pretty shook his 'ead.  "No; that won't do," he ses.  "S'pose I did
+'ave the luck to find that pore animal, you'd say I'd had it all the time
+and refuse to pay."
+
+"I swear I wouldn't, Bob," ses George Barstow, jumping up.
+
+"Best thing you can do if you want me to try and find that cat," says Bob
+Pretty, "is to give me the fifteen pounds now, and I'll go and look for
+it at once.  I can't trust you, George Barstow."
+
+"And I can't trust you," ses George Barstow.
+
+"Very good," ses Bob, getting up; "there's no 'arm done.  P'r'aps Joe
+Clark 'll find the cat is dead and p'r'aps you'll find it's alive.  It's
+all one to me."
+
+George Barstow walked off 'ome, but he was in such a state o' mind 'e
+didn't know wot to do.  Bob Pretty turning up 'is nose at fifteen pounds
+like that made 'im think that Joe Clark 'ad promised to pay 'im more if
+the cat was dead; and at last, arter worrying about it for a couple o'
+hours, 'e came up to this 'ere _Cauliflower_ and offered Bob the fifteen
+pounds.
+
+"Wot's this for?" ses Bob.
+
+"For finding my cat," ses George.
+
+"Look here," ses Bob, handing it back, "I've 'ad enough o' your insults;
+I don't know where your cat is."
+
+"I mean for trying to find it, Bob," ses George Barstow.
+
+"Oh, well, I don't mind that," ses Bob, taking it.  "I'm a 'ard-working
+man, and I've got to be paid for my time; it's on'y fair to my wife and
+children.  I'll start now."
+
+He finished up 'is beer, and while the other chaps was telling George
+Barstow wot a fool he was Joe Clark slipped out arter Bob Pretty and
+began to call 'im all the names he could think of.
+
+"Don't you worry," ses Bob; "the cat ain't found yet."
+
+"Is it dead?" ses Joe Clark, 'ardly able to speak.
+
+"'Ow should I know?" ses Bob; "that's wot I've got to try and find out.
+That's wot you gave me your furniture for, and wot George Barstow gave me
+the fifteen pounds for, ain't it?  Now, don't you stop me now, 'cos I'm
+goin' to begin looking."
+
+He started looking there and then, and for the next two or three days
+George Barstow and Joe Clark see 'im walking up and down with his 'ands
+in 'is pockets looking over garden fences and calling "Puss."  He asked
+everybody 'e see whether they 'ad seen a white cat with one blue eye and
+one yaller one, and every time 'e came into the _Cauliflower_ he put his
+'ead over the bar and called "Puss," 'cos, as 'e said, it was as likely
+to be there as anywhere else.
+
+It was about a week after the cat 'ad disappeared that George Barstow was
+standing at 'is door talking to Joe Clark, who was saying the cat must be
+dead and 'e wanted 'is property, when he sees a man coming up the road
+carrying a basket stop and speak to Bill Chambers.  Just as 'e got near
+them an awful "miaow" come from the basket and George Barstow and Joe
+Clark started as if they'd been shot.
+
+"He's found it?" shouts Bill Chambers, pointing to the man.
+
+"It's been living with me over at Ling for a week pretty nearly," ses the
+man.  "I tried to drive it away several times, not knowing that there was
+fifteen pounds offered for it."
+
+George Barstow tried to take 'old of the basket.
+
+"I want that fifteen pounds fust," ses the man.
+
+"That's on'y right and fair, George," ses Bob Pretty, who 'ad just come
+up.  "You've got all the luck, mate.  We've been hunting 'igh and low for
+that cat for a week."
+
+Then George Barstow tried to explain to the man and call Bob Pretty names
+at the same time; but it was all no good.  The man said it 'ad nothing to
+do with 'im wot he 'ad paid to Bob Pretty; and at last they fetched
+Policeman White over from Cudford, and George Barstow signed a paper to
+pay five shillings a week till the reward was paid.
+
+George Barstow 'ad the cat for five years arter that, but he never let it
+get away agin.  They got to like each other in time and died within a
+fortnight of each other, so that Joe Clark got 'is property arter all.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The White Cat, by W.W. Jacobs
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11190 ***