CHAPTER XIII. CONCERNING TROUSERS
Duke, hastening to place himself upon the stone slab, raged at his enemyin safety; and presently the indomitable Gipsy could be heard from thedarkness below, turning on the bass of his siren, threatening thewater that enveloped him, returning Duke's profanity with interest, andcursing the general universe.
"You hush!" Penrod stormed, rushing at Duke. "You go 'way from here! YouDUKE!"
And Duke, after prostrating himself, decided that it would be a reliefto obey and to consider his responsibilities in this matter at an end.He withdrew beyond a corner of the house, thinking deeply.
"Why'n't you let him bark at the ole cat?" Sam Williams inquired,sympathizing with the oppressed. "I guess you'd want to bark if a cathad been treatin' you the way this one did Duke."
"Well, we got to get this cat out o' here, haven't we?" Penrod demandedcrossly.
"What fer?" Herman asked. "Mighty mean cat! If it was me, I let 'at olecat drownd."
"My goodness," Penrod cried. "What you want to let it drown for?Anyways, we got to use this water in our house, haven't we? You don'ts'pose people like to use water that's got a cat drowned in it, doyou? It gets pumped up into the tank in the attic and goes all over thehouse, and I bet you wouldn't want to see your father and mother usin'water a cat was drowned in. I guess I don't want my father and moth--"
"Well, how CAN we get it out?" Sam asked, cutting short this virtuousoration. "It's swimmin' around down there," he continued, peering intothe cistern, "and kind of roaring, and it must of dropped its fishbone,'cause it's spittin' just awful. I guess maybe it's mad 'cause it fellin there."
"I don't know how it's goin' to be got out," said Penrod; "but I knowit's GOT to be got out, and that's all there is to it! I'm not goin' tohave my father and mother--"
"Well, once," said Sam, "once when a kitten fell down OUR cistern, Papatook a pair of his trousers, and he held 'em by the end of one leg, andlet 'em hang down through the hole till the end of the other leg was inthe water, and the kitten went and clawed hold of it, and he pulled itright up, easy as anything. Well, that's the way to do now, 'cause ifa kitten could keep hold of a pair of trousers, I guess this ole catcould. It's the biggest cat _I_ ever saw! All you got to do is to goand ast your mother for a pair of your father's trousers, and we'll havethis ole cat out o' there in no time."
Penrod glanced toward the house perplexedly.
"She ain't home, and I'd be afraid to--"
"Well, take your own, then," Sam suggested briskly.
"You take 'em off in the stable, and wait in there, and I and Herman'llget the cat out."
Penrod had no enthusiasm for this plan; but he affected to consider it.
"Well, I don't know 'bout that," he said, and then, after gazingattentively into the cistern and making some eye measurements of hisknickerbockers, he shook his head. "They'd be too short. They wouldn'tbe NEAR long enough!"
"Then neither would mine," said Sam promptly.
"Herman's would," said Penrod.
"No, suh!" Herman had recently been promoted to long trousers, and heexpressed a strong disinclination to fall in with Penrod's idea. "MyMammy sit up late nights sewin' on 'ese britches fer me, makin' 'emouten of a pair o' pappy's, an' they mighty good britches. Ain' goin'have no wet cat climbin' up 'em! No, suh!"
Both boys began to walk toward him argumentatively, while he movedslowly backward, shaking his head and denying them.
"I don't keer how much you talk!" he said. "Mammy gave my OLE britchesto Verman, an' 'ese here ones on'y britches I got now, an' I'm go' tokeep 'em on me--not take 'em off an' let ole wet cat splosh all over'em. My Mammy, she sewed 'em fer ME, I reckon--d'in' sew 'em fer nocat!"
"Oh, PLEASE, come on, Herman!" Penrod begged pathetically. "You don'twant to see the poor cat drown, do you?"
"Mighty mean cat!" Herman said. "Bet' let 'at ole pussy-cat 'lone whurit is."
"Why, it'll only take a minute," Sam urged. "You just wait inside thestable and you'll have 'em back on again before you could say 'JackRobinson.'"
"I ain' got no use to say no Jack Robason," said Herman. "An' I ain' go'to han' over my britches fer NO cat!"
"Listen here, Herman," Penrod began pleadingly. "You can watch us everyminute through the crack in the stable door, can't you? We ain't goin'to HURT 'em any, are we? You can see everything we do, can't you? Lookat here, Herman: you know that little saw you said you wished it wasyours, in the carpenter shop? Well, honest, if you'll just let us takeyour trousers till we get this poor ole cat out the cistern, I'll giveyou that little saw."
Herman was shaken; he yearned for the little saw.
"You gimme her to keep?" he asked cautiously. "You gimme her befo' Ihan' over my britches?"
"You'll see!" Penrod ran into the stable, came back with the little saw,and placed it in Herman's hand. Herman could resist no longer, and twominutes later he stood in the necessary negligee within the shelter ofthe stable door, and watched, through the crack, the lowering of thesurrendered garment into the cistern. His gaze was anxious, and surelynothing could have been more natural, since the removal had exposedHerman's brown legs, and, although the weather was far from inclement,November is never quite the month for people to be out of doors entirelywithout leg-covering. Therefore, he marked with impatience that Sam andPenrod, after lowering the trousers partway to the water, had withdrawnthem and fallen into an argument.
"Name o' goo'ness!" Herman shouted. "I ain' got no time fer you all doso much talkin'. If you go' git 'at cat out, why'n't you GIT him?"
"Wait just a minute," Penrod called, and he came running to the stable,seized upon a large wooden box, which the carpenters had fitted witha lid and leather hinges, and returned with it cumbersomely to thecistern. "There!" he said. "That'll do to put it in. It won't get out o'that, I bet you."
"Well, I'd like to know what you want to keep it for," Sam saidpeevishly, and, with the suggestion of a sneer, he added, "I s'pose youthink somebody'll pay about a hunderd dollars reward or something, onaccount of a cat!"
"I don't, either!" Penrod protested hotly. "I know what I'm doin', Itell you."
"Well, what on earth--"
"I'll tell you some day, won't I?" Penrod cried. "I got my reasons forwantin' to keep this cat, and I'm goin' to keep it. YOU don't haf toke--"
"Well, all right," Sam said shortly. "Anyways, it'll be dead if youdon't hurry."
"It won't, either," Penrod returned, kneeling and peering down uponthe dark water. "Listen to him! He's growlin' and spittin' away likeanything! It takes a mighty fine-blooded cat to be as fierce as that. Ibet you most cats would 'a' given up and drowned long ago. The water'sawful cold, and I expect he was perty supprised when he lit in it."
"Herman's makin' a fuss again," Sam said. "We better get the ole cat outo' there if we're goin' to."
"Well, this is the way we'll do," Penrod said authoritatively: "I'll letyou hold the trousers, Sam. You lay down and keep hold of one leg, andlet the other one hang down till its end is in the water. Then you kindof swish it around till it's somewheres where the cat can get hold ofit, and soon as he does, you pull it up, and be mighty careful so's itdon't fall off. Then I'll grab it and stick it in the box and slam thelid down."
Rather pleased to be assigned to the trousers, Sam accordingly extendedhimself at full length upon the slab and proceeded to carry out Penrod'sinstructions. Meanwhile, Penrod, peering from above, inquired anxiouslyfor information concerning this work of rescue.
"Can you see it, Sam? Why don't it grab hold? What's it doin' now, Sam?"
"It's spittin' at Herman's trousers," said Sam. "My gracious, but it's afierce cat! If it's mad all the time like this, you better not ever tryto pet it much. Now it's kind o' sniffin' at the trousers. It acks to meas if it was goin' to ketch hold. Yes, it's stuck one claw in 'em--OW!"
Sam uttered a blood-curdling shriek and jerked convulsively. The nextinstant, streaming and inconceivably gaunt, the ravening Gipsy appearedwith a final bound upon S
am's shoulder. It was not in Gipsy's characterto be drawn up peaceably; he had ascended the trousers and Sam's armwithout assistance and in his own way. Simultaneously--for this was anotable case of everything happening at once--there was a muffled, soggysplash, and the unfortunate Herman, smit with prophecy in his seclusion,uttered a dismal yell. Penrod laid hands upon Gipsy, and, after astruggle suggestive of sailors landing a man-eating shark, succeeded ingetting him into the box, and sat upon the lid thereof.
Sam had leaped to his feet, empty handed and vociferous.
"Ow ow, OUCH!" he shouted, as he rubbed his suffering arm and shoulder.Then, exasperated by Herman's lamentations, he called angrily: "Oh, what_I_ care for your ole britches? I guess if you'd 'a' had a cat climb upYOU, you'd 'a' dropped 'em a hunderd times over!"
However, upon excruciating entreaty, he consented to explore thesurface of the water with a clothes-prop, but reported that the lucklesstrousers had disappeared in the depths, Herman having forgotten toremove some "fishin' sinkers" from his pockets before making the fatedloan.
Penrod was soothing a lacerated wrist in his mouth.
"That's a mighty fine-blooded cat," he remarked. "I expect it'd gotaway from pretty near anybody, 'specially if they didn't know much aboutcats. Listen at him, in the box, Sam. I bet you never heard a cat growlas loud as that in your life. I shouldn't wonder it was part panther orsumpthing."
Sam began to feel more interest and less resentment.
"I tell you what we can do, Penrod," he said: "Let's take it in thestable and make the box into a cage. We can take off the hinges andslide back the lid a little at a time, and nail some o' those laths overthe front for bars."
"That's just exackly what I was goin' to say!" Penrod exclaimed. "Ialready thought o' that, Sam. Yessir, we'll make it just like a reg'larcircus-cage, and our good ole cat can look out from between the barsand growl. It'll come in pretty handy if we ever decide to have anothershow. Anyways, we'll have her in there, good and tight, where we canwatch she don't get away. I got a mighty good reason to keep this cat,Sam. You'll see."
"Well, why don't you--" Sam was interrupted by n vehement appeal fromthe stable. "Oh, we're comin'!" he shouted. "We got to bring our cat inits cage, haven't we?"
"Listen, Herman," Penrod called absent-mindedly. "Bring us some bricks,or something awful heavy to put on the lid of our cage, so we can carryit without our good ole cat pushin' the lid open."
Herman explained with vehemence that it would not be right for him toleave the stable upon any errand until just restorations had been made.He spoke inimically of the cat that had been the occasion of his loss,and he earnestly requested that operations with the clothes-prop beresumed in the cistern. Sam and Penrod declined, on the ground thatthis was absolutely proven to be of no avail, and Sam went to look forbricks.
These two boys were not unfeeling. They sympathized with Herman; butthey regarded the trousers as a loss about which there was no use inmaking so much outcry. To them, it was part of an episode that ought tobe closed. They had done their best, and Sam had not intended to dropthe trousers; that was something no one could have helped, and thereforeno one was to be blamed. What they were now interested in was theconstruction of a circus-cage for their good ole cat.
"It's goin' to be a cage just exactly like circus-cages, Herman," Penrodsaid, as he and Sam set the box down on the stable floor. "You can helpus nail the bars and--"
"I ain' studyin' 'bout no bars!" Herman interrupted fiercely. "What goodyou reckon nailin' bars go' do me if Mammy holler fer me? You white boyssutn'y show me bad day! I try treat people nice, 'n'en they go th'ow mybritches down cistern!
"I did not!" Sam protested. "That ole cat just kicked 'em out o' my handwith its hind feet while its front ones were stickin' in my arm. I betYOU'D of--"
"Blame it on cat!" Herman sneered. "'At's nice! Jes' looky here minute:Who'd I len' 'em britches to? D' I len' 'em britches to thishere cat?No, suh; you know I didn'! You know well's any man I len' 'em britchesto you--an' you tuck an' th'owed 'em down cistern!"
"Oh, PLEASE hush up about your old britches!" Penrod said plaintively."I got to think how we're goin' to fix our cage up right, and you makeso much noise I can't get my mind on it. Anyways, didn't I give you thatlittle saw?"
"Li'l saw!" Herman cried, unmollified. "Yes; an' thishere li'l saw go'do me lot o' good when I got to go home!"
"Why, it's only across the alley to your house, Herman!" said Sam. "Thatain't anything at all to step over there, and you've got your littlesaw."
"Aw right! You jes' take off you' closes an' step 'cross the alley,"said Herman bitterly. "I give you li'l saw to carry!"
Penrod had begun to work upon the cage.
"Now listen here, Herman," he said: "if you'll quit talkin' so much, andkind of get settled down or sumpthing, and help us fix a good cage forour panther, well, when mamma comes home about five o'clock, I'll go andtell her there's a poor boy got his britches burned up in a fire,and how he's waitin' out in the stable for some, and I'll tell her Ipromised him. Well, she'll give me a pair I wore for summer; honest shewill, and you can put 'em on as quick as anything."
"There, Herman," said Sam; "now you're all right again!"
"WHO all right?" Herman complained. "I like feel sump'm' roun' my laigsbefo' no five o'clock!"
"Well, you're sure to get 'em by then," Penrod promised. "It ain'twinter yet, Herman. Come on and help saw these laths for the bars,Herman, and Sam and I'll nail 'em on. It ain't long till five o'clock,Herman, and then you'll just feel fine!"
Herman was not convinced; but he found himself at a disadvantage in theargument. The question at issue seemed a vital one to him--and yet histwo opponents evidently considered it of minor importance. Obviously,they felt that the promise for five o'clock had settled the whole matterconclusively; but to Herman this did not appear to be the fact. However,he helplessly suffered himself to be cajoled back into carpentry, thoughhe was extremely ill at ease and talked a great deal of his misfortune.He shivered and grumbled, and, by his passionate urgings, compelledPenrod to go into the house so many times to see what time it was by thekitchen clock that both his companions almost lost patience with him.
"There!" said Penrod, returning from performing this errand for thefourth time. "It's twenty minutes after three, and I'm not goin' into look at that ole clock again if I haf to die for it! I never heardanybody make such a fuss in my life, and I'm gettin' tired of it. Mustthink we want to be all night fixin' this cage for our panther! If youask me to go and see what time it is again, Herman, I'm a-goin' to takeback about askin' mamma at five o'clock, and THEN where'll you be?"
"Well, it seem like mighty long aft'noon to me," Herman sighed. "I jes'like to know what time it is gettin' to be now!"
"Look out!" Penrod warned him. "You heard what I was just tellin' youabout how I'd take back--"
"Nemmine," Herman said hurriedly. "I wasn' astin' you. I jes' sayin'sump'm' kind o' to myse'f like."
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