My friend, the great organist, was to play in the city; and as I had not heard him for some time, of course I must go. So when the appointed night came, I shut Master Frisky securely, as I thought, in the barn, and started for town.
It was a fine evening in early spring; and I walked slowly, enjoying the beauties of the fresh green earth as I went. A will-o'-the-wisp was dancing over the meadows, and a chorus of frogs was singing away with might and main,—the shrill piping of mother frog and the deep bass of father frog, with a host of aunts and cousins, all singing their merry spring song.
My thoughts were very pleasant; but they would have been entirely different, had I looked behind me and seen a naughty little dog following, stopping when I stopped, and going on when I did, and always keeping just out of sight.
I had no sooner left Master Frisky in the barn than he began wondering where his master was going. Surely he was going somewhere,—the new coat and hat said as much,—but where? He had forgotten to take his doggie; he would watch and see; so he stood up on his hind legs and peeked out of the window. Master was going up the street, and that meant over to the city.
The window was low, so this naughty dog took hold of the sash with his teeth, and lifted it until he could get his paw under; then putting his nose under the window and raising it, he got upon the sill, holding the window upon his back, and giving a quick spring was on the ground while the window came down with a bang.
I had walked so slowly that I was late to the concert, so I took a back seat. I had barely got settled when I heard a familiar patter in the aisle; and to my great astonishment, Master Frisky trotted in, and lay down at my feet, and began licking my boots lest I should be angry with him, for he knew well that he had done wrong.
At first he paid little attention to the music, which was soft and far away; but as it grew louder, he pricked up his ears and looked excited, and when the climax was reached he jumped upon the seat beside me, and before I could possibly stop him, barked loud and fiercely.
I was terribly ashamed, for the people all turned and looked; so I took Master Frisky by the collar, and with one hand over his nose that he might not bark again, I marched him out of the church.
On the steps I found a boy who for a quarter agreed to hold him until the concert was over. So I left him in his charge and went back to the music, feeling very mortified and guilty.
When the time came to go home, Master Frisky followed me sheepishly, trying occasionally to attract my attention and get me to forgive him. But, instead, when I got home I punished him severely, and put him to bed without patting his head as I usually did.
When he had been lying in his nest a few minutes, Dandy, our white cat, who thought everything of the dog, sprang down from the hay, and came and rubbed against him.
"I am sorry you got a licking," he said. "What makes you be a naughty dog and have to be punished?"
"I wasn't very bad," said Frisky; "a dog has to have some fun once in a while. But I have got a great secret to tell you."
"What is it?" asked Dandy, with interest.
"I went with master to-night to the city to a place where a wicked man has got a terrible growl-box."
Dandy's eyes opened wide with astonishment; and he asked, "What is a growl-box?"
"You lie down beside me, and get up very close so that I can whisper in your ear, and I will tell you all about it," said Frisky. "You know our master went to the city to-night, and I followed him."
"What did you do that for?" asked Dandy; "it was naughty."
"Oh, no, it wasn't; I thought that he had forgotten me. Well, when we got there we went into a great big house as large as four barns like this one, where there were lots of people."
"How many?" asked Dandy.
"A million, I guess," said Frisky. "I found master right near the door, and went in and lay down beside him; but he didn't look glad to see his doggie. I hadn't but just got there, when there was the queerest noise a great ways off, and awful sad, like the noise the kittens made when Mr. Brown put them in the boiler, and killed them with some terrible smelling stuff. Then pretty quick it grew louder, and louder; and then there were terrible growls mixed in with it, awful growls, that made my hair stand up; the sounds were as loud as fifty bears. Then I peeked up over the top of the pen where master and I were, and I could see a man, a fierce-looking man with long hair,—I guess he was an Injun; he was sitting on a long bench, and kicking away under the growl-box; and every little while he would reach down and pull something, and then the growling would get louder and louder. But pretty soon the growls got so loud, and the long scarey meows so sad, that I barked right out fierce. Then master grabbed me and carried me out, and he gripped my collar so tight that I thought I would die. He gave me to a horrid boy to hold, and went back into the large house. When he came out and started home he was very cross, and would not say anything to me."
"And when you got home he licked you," said Dandy.
"Yes," answered Frisky, "but I did not mind that, for I have found out about that growl-box."
"What do you think was in it?" asked Dandy.
"Dogs in one end, and cats in the other," replied Frisky promptly.
Dandy looked very much astonished. "And what was the man doing?" he asked.
"He was kicking at the dogs, and pulling the cats' tails; and all these folks were there hearing them growl and meow, and thinking it was funny."
"How dreadful!" said Dandy. "I do not believe our master knew what the man was doing, or he would have stopped him."
"Perhaps he didn't," said Frisky; "but I am sure that was what it was."
"Can't we do something to help them?" asked Dandy.
"That's what I have been thinking," said Frisky; "we might go over some night and let them all out, and then they could run home to their folks. I know the way."
"The very thing," said Dandy; "let's go to-morrow night."
"All right," said Frisky; "and we ought to go to bed right off, or we will be sleepy when the time comes."
The friends rubbed noses, and cuddling down together were soon fast asleep.
The next night I locked Frisky in the barn as usual; and at the same time Dandy went to the loft to hunt rats, as I thought, but my guess was far from the truth.
When the lights were all out in the house, Frisky opened the window, as he had done the night before, and he and Dandy started upon their errand of rescuing the poor dogs and cats from the growl-box.
It was Saturday night; and when they reached the church, the choir had just finished rehearsing, but Dandy caught a faint sound of his distressed brothers in the growl-box as he came near. They stayed in the shadow of the porch until the people were gone, and then quietly slipped in and hid in a pew just before the janitor shut up the church.
When it became quiet and the lights went out, the two friends walked carefully to the back of the church, Master Frisky leading the way; and soon they were standing by the great organ. "There," said Frisky triumphantly, "that is the growl-box."
Dandy sniffed cautiously about, and then said, "Let me speak to the cats;" and he mewed twice softly, but there was no response.
"Let me call the dogs," said Frisky; and he growled deep, but there was still no answer.
"I am afraid we are too late," said Frisky mournfully; "I guess they are all dead."
They went all about the growl-box and examined it on every side, and finally Dandy found a small door at the back. "Here is the back door of the growl-box," he said; "you stay and watch, and I will go in to the poor cats."
So Master Frisky watched, and Dandy poked his way in. It was very dark and dusty, and he sighed as he thought of his friends in that musty place all their lives.
"It's an awful queer place," he called to Master Frisky; "I guess they"—but the rest of the sentence was drowned by a loud bang. The door by which Dandy had found his way into the growl-box had blown together, and had shut with a spring lock, not to open until the key had been applied.
"What makes it so dark?" asked Dandy.
"The door has blown together and I cannot get it open," said Frisky, with a scared little bark.
"Push hard," said Dandy.
Frisky pushed with all his might, but it would not give an inch. "I never can get it open," he whined.
"Then I shall always have to stay in here," said Dandy, with a sorrowful mew; and he thought with terror of the morrow when the cruel man would probably come and pull his tail, and make him yowl that the folks might hear.
"Frisky," he said,—and his voice had a faraway and husky sound,—"I am afraid that I shall never see you again; but you might run home and tell master, and perhaps he would rescue me."
"I'll do my best," said Frisky. "Good-by, Dandy; you are the best cat friend that I have got; I do not know what I shall do without you."
"Good-by," replied Dandy; "give my love to the cats that I like, and tell them all to keep away from this horrible place."
The door by which they had entered was shut tight, and Frisky could not return that way; but he was a very wise little dog, and so he trotted down-stairs into the vestry. There he found a low window, and one strong bound carried him through a pane of glass and on to the pavement. Once out in the open air, he started for home at such a pace that you could not have counted his jumps. People upon the street stepped one side as he galloped by with his head low, and running like a race-horse.
When he arrived home I was sound asleep, but his sharp bark under my bedroom window soon woke me. I was very tired; and remembering the night before when Frisky had gotten out of the barn, I was angry. "We have had enough of this getting up at night and racing about," I thought. "I will put a stop to it at once." So I got up and dressed me, and went out.
Frisky came up to me, and began licking my boots, and saying in dog language, "Good old master." I thought that he was making excuses for getting out, so I took him roughly by the collar, and gave him a sound trouncing, and ended by tying him in the carriage-house. I then went to bed feeling that I had done my duty, but little knew that I had spoiled Dandy's chance of escaping from the growl-box.
The next day was as fair an Easter Sunday as I can remember. The sun was warm and bright, and earth seemed to take on a new beauty by way of celebrating our Lord's triumph over death and darkness.
Poor Frisky looked so mournful when I opened the barn-door, that I forgave him and untied his rope. Instead of going to the shed for his breakfast as usual, he started on a gallop out of the yard, and before I thought to call him, went round a corner and was out of sight. "What has got into the dog?" I said; "has he run away again?" When it was time to go to church he had not come back, so I went on without knowing where he was or what he was up to.
But in the beauty and gladness of the morning I soon forgot him, and did not think of him again until I reached the church.
"Mister," said the janitor to me, as I came up the steps, "you will have to keep that dog of yours at home; he has been hanging around the church doors all the morning, and I had to shut him in the cellar."
"I will take him home with me when service is over," I said, "and see that he does not bother you again."
When I entered, the choir was singing a very soft anthem, just as the angels must have sung while the Saviour was still sleeping in his cold tomb. Then the anthem grew loud and triumphant as the angel descended and the stone was rolled away, and our Lord arose. When it ceased it was so still in the church that you could have heard a mouse squeak, if there had been one to squeak; but what the people did hear was a very distinct "Mew, mew," coming from, no one knew where. Every one looked astonished; and as the "Mew, mew," was repeated, there was a general smile. The minister, though, did not look amused; his face was stern, and he began to pray. "O Lord, we beseech Thee,"—"Mew, mew," was heard again. The minister opened one eye, and looked down in the pulpit; but he quickly shut it, as he saw the people looking at him, and began his prayer again. "O Lord, we beseech Thee,"—"Mew, mew, mew," and much louder and fiercer than before; and this time there was no mistaking the direction,—it was from the organ. The minister said "Amen" with a jerk, and added with much dignity, "Will some one please remove that cat from the organ?"
The janitor at once opened the small door; and I could scarcely believe my eyes when out sprang Dandy, his tail bristling, and his eyes as big as silver dollars. Straight down the aisle he came, and as ill fortune would have it, saw me, and jumped into my lap. There he nestled down and went to sleep. I looked very shamefaced and guilty during that long service. When it was over I started hurriedly for the door. Every one looked suspiciously at me while I quickly descended to the cellar to get Master Frisky, hoping that I could escape without further notice. But again I was unlucky, for at the door I met the minister.
"Are those animals yours?" he asked, with more anger than becomes a preacher.
"They belong over my way," I replied, "and I will take them home."
"Well, tell their owner from me, that they will do better home than at church, breaking up the devotions of people who love the Lord and are trying to serve him."
I hurried home without stopping to hear more; and we looked anything but church-goers as we walked home together—the man, the dog, and the cat.
Dandy held his head very high, and would have nothing to say to poor Frisky, who was delighted to see him; but after trying once or twice to make friends, and getting his nose clawed each time, he trotted along by my side, and said nothing further until we reached home.
When Dandy had drank some milk, and gotten rested from his long walk, he felt better, and then invited Frisky to come and lie with him on the piazza.
"I'm awful glad to see you," said Frisky. "I ran right home to master, and tried to tell him about the growl-box; but he would not hear me, and gave me a licking, and tied me up in the barn. As soon as I got loose I ran right over to help you, but the man would not let me in."
"You did?" asked Dandy, more pleasantly than he had spoken before.
"Yes, honest," said Frisky; "but did you see the poor cats in the growl-box?" he asked.
"It wasn't a growl-box at all," said Dandy; "there wasn't a dog or a cat in it, but it was awful dark and scarey."
"Didn't you hear the terrible noise?" asked Frisky.
"Yes; but it was not cats or dogs; I guess it was a storm; I could hear the wind howl, and thunder," said Dandy; "but it wasn't a growl-box."
"Well, I'm glad to get you back," said Frisky, rubbing up, "and I am glad you are safe." And the friends lay down together for a sun-bath.