Mitch was a beautiful Persian kitten and lived in Kansas City, Missouri. City kittens do not have such large playgrounds as kittens on the farm for many times they are kept in the house almost all the time. There are many dangers for kittens outside in the big cities, too. Some one may steal them and take them away from their homes or they may get run over by the cars and big trucks.
A little girl whose name was Mitchell gave the kitten to the lady who told me this story. The family called him Mitchie for awhile after the name Mitchell. Some of them thought that name too long so they shortened it to Mitch, and that became the name of this beautiful Persian kitten.
The mistress kept a large fruit basket on the dining table and when there was no fruit in it, Mitch used it for a bed. He learned to run toward the table and with one jump he would land right in the basket. Then he would curl up for a long nap and be perfectly satisfied for hours. He always liked to get into boxes and when the dresser drawers were left open he would get into them. It did not make much difference to Mitch just what it was for he could feel contented in anything. One day a member of the family brought something home in a paper sack and taking the articles out, laid the sack on the bed. In a few minutes Mitch was curled up in the sack, fast asleep.
The lady’s husband worked at night, or about half the night, and when he came home about midnight, Mitch would always meet him at the head of the stairs ready for a romp. He loved to play with the man’s watch chain but one day it was a costly play. The watch was left on the dresser with the chain hanging over the edge and Mitch decided to romp with it a little while. Of course, he did not know the watch might fall and break. In some way he got his claws fastened in the chain and jerked the watch to the floor. Mitch did not mean to break the watch but it cost about seven dollars to have it repaired. Mitch could not repair the broken watch and he had no way of paying the debt except by love and affection for his master.
Mitch was like Snooks (in the other story), he liked water and liked to play in it. He was very careful about keeping clean and would go to the lavatory and put his feet in the water and then wash his face. One faucet in the bathtub leaked a little and Mitch found that he could get a drink there. In some way he learned that he could strike the faucet with his feet and turn on more water. One day some member of the family had prepared a half tub of water for a bath and about the same time Mitch decided that he wanted a drink. He went to the bath room and as usual jumped right over into the tub, but this time he landed in all the water. You should have seen him scramble to get out for he was terribly frightened.
One day the lady and her husband moved away from the city to the farm and of course Mitch went along and became a country kitten. I am sure that he liked to be on the farm where he could get out into the big outdoors and catch lots of mice. About a year passed and the family moved back to the city, but Mitch was left on the farm with the family who moved on the place. Evidently he did not like his new friends or else decided to go back to the city for he disappeared one afternoon and has not been heard of since. If you should see Mitch anywhere it would be kind of you to tell him that the fruit basket is on the table in the city waiting for him. His mistress, too, will be very glad to hear from him or have him return to his former home.
