Madam Trinket

Our Clara was given a spotted kitten. It was much loved and be came a choice pet. She named her Madam Trinket. She grew to be a beautiful, well cared-for cat; and although Clara's Father had often indicated his dislike for cats, Madam Trinket'S favorite place each evening was on his lap where she would cautiously crawl and where she would purr as he stroked her fur while he watched T.V.

As I came from a meeting one evening I found this note: Dear Mom, As soon as you get hear put the cat out. She is in bed with me, but she does not have any fleese on her because I bathed her and looked her over and she is all right. so don't worye about hen, please. Clara.

One evening daddy had company--a neighbor, Alma Frederickson came to watch wrestling with him on T.V., and sat in daddy's chair, Madam Trinket's favorite place in the evening. The two men were so engrossed in watching wrestling that no one noticed the cat cautiously climb on the back of his chair until she pounced onto Mr. Frederickson's bald head, giving him an awful scare.

When Clara was a High School senior it became apparent that Madam Trinket would become a mother. She chose a box of rags under the bed to bear her babies. When Clara discovered them she excitedly told her high-school friends who all came to see the unusual family of five.

When the kittens were ready to wean, she gave Joanna one of her prize kittens Joanna would bring her kitten when she came to see Clara and let it visit it's family. They were amused to have her kitten who at home drank milk from a saucer, nurse the mother with the others when she would bring it over.

One day I observed the mother cat eating a sparrow. I thought nothing of it until she became ill. Joanna's kitten was with her at the time Madam Trinket died. I remembered a neighbor had told me they had been putting out poison grain for the many sparrows who would swarm in their chicken yard and eat the grain they had scattered for their chickens. Madam Trinket had picked up and eaten one of the poisoned sparrows. Clara was heart broken at the death of her treasured pet, but I did not tell her about the sparrows.

She was given a fitting funeral and burial and a clever head-stone was erected at her grave bearing her name "MADAM TRINKET" etched on the polished, painted board. One by one the kittens, who had nursed the poison died. Also with fitting burials beside the mother, and many tears shed for the treasured kittens.

Joanna's kitten, also became ill. It had not had as much of the mother's milk as the others, so was the last to become ill. She brought it over, perhaps we could save it.  It had lost weight and was a poor kitten. As Clara went to school she begged us to give it a shot of penicillan. She felt surely its life would be spared if we would.

We brought the kitten and prepared to give it a shot of penecillan. It looked so poor, daddy said, "It is not worth it, there is hardly enough flesh for a needle, we can get her a healthier cat than that." So I took it back into the bedroom to it's box. When I got back into the kitchen, on looking back, there it stood, looking up at us so pittifully. Daddy said, "Give it here, we will give it a shot." He did and when Clara came from school it seemed much better. She was sure now it would live, and that made her so happy.

The next day was Clara's graduation day and she excitedly was getting ready for her exercises when she noticed the kitten was dead. So Clara went, to her exercises with reddened eyes and a heavy heart.