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 chain because they were too strong for his muscles and teeth。  He did his slave…task of performance and rendered obedience to Jacob Henderson; but he neither loved nor feared that master。  And because of this his spirit turned in on itself。  He slept much; brooded much; and suffered unprotestingly a great loneliness。  Had Henderson made a bid for his heart; he would surely have responded; but Henderson had a heart only for the fantastic mental gyrations of Swedenborg; and merely made his living out of Michael。

Sometimes there were hardships。  Michael accepted them。 Especially hard did he find railroad travel in winter…time; when; on occasion; fresh from the last night's performance in a town; he remained for hours in his crate on a truck waiting for the train that would take him to the next town of performance。  There was a night on a station platform in Minnesota; when two dogs of a troupe; on the next truck to his; froze to death。  He was himself well frosted; and the cold bit abominably into his shoulder wounded by the leopard; but a better constitution and better general care of him enabled him to survive。

Compared with other show animals; he was well treated。  And much of the ill…treatment accorded other animals on the same turn with him he did not comprehend or guess。  One turn; with which he played for three months; was a scandal amongst all vaudeville performers。  Even the hardiest of them heartily disliked the turn and the man; although Duckworth; and Duckworth's Trained Cats and Rats; were an invariable popular success。

〃Trained cats!〃 sniffed dainty little Pearl La Pearle; the bicyclist。  〃Crushed cats; that's what they are。  All the cat has been beaten out of their blood; and they've become rats。  You can't tell me。  I know。〃

〃Trained rats!〃 Manuel Fonseca; the contortionist; exploded in the bar…room of the Hotel Annandale; after refusing to drink with Duckworth。  〃Doped rats; believe me。  Why don't they jump off when they crawl along the tight rope with a cat in front and a cat behind?  Because they ain't got the life in 'm to jump。  They're doped; straight doped when they're fresh; and starved afterward so as to making a saving on the dope。  They never are fed。  You can't tell me。  I know。  Else why does he use up anywhere to forty or fifty rats a week!  I know his express shipments; when he can't buy 'm in the towns。〃

〃My Gawd!〃 protested Miss Merle Merryweather; the Accordion Girl; who looked like sixteen on the stage; but who; in private life among her grand…children; acknowledged forty…eight。  〃My Gawd; how the public can fall for it gets my honest…to…Gawd goat。  I looked myself yesterday morning early。  Out of thirty rats there were seven dead;starved to death。  He never feeds them。  They're dying rats; dying of starvation; when they crawl along that rope。 That's why they crawl。  If they had a bit of bread and cheese in their tummies they'd jump and run to get away from the cats。 They're dying; they're dying right there on the rope; trying to crawl as a dying man would try to crawl away from a tiger that was eating him。  And my Gawd!  The bonehead audience sits there and applauds the show as an educational act!〃

But the audience!  〃Wonderful things kindness will do with animals;〃 said a member of one; a banker and a deacon。  〃Even human love can be taught to them by kindness。  The cat and the rat have been enemies since the world began。  Yet here; tonight; we have seen them doing highly trained feats together; and neither a cat committed one hostile or overt act against a rat; nor ever a rat showed it was afraid of a cat。  Human kindness!  The power of human kindness!〃

〃The lion and the lamb;〃 said another。  〃We have it that when the millennium comes the lion and the lamb will lie down togetherand outside each other; my dear; outside each other。  And this is a forecast; a proving up; by man; ahead of the day。  Cats and rats! Think of it。  And it shows conclusively the power of kindness。  I shall see to it at once that we get pets for our own children; our palm branches。  They shall learn kindness early; to the dog; the cat; yes; even the rat; and the pretty linnet in its cage。〃

〃But;〃 said his dear; beside him; 〃you remember what Blake said:


〃'A Robin Redbreast in a cage Puts all heaven in a rage。'〃


〃Ahbut not when it is treated truly with kindness; my dear。  I shall immediately order some rabbits; and a canary or two; and what sort of a dog would you prefer our dear little ones to have to play with; my sweet?〃

And his dear looked at him in all his imperturbable; complacent self…consciousness of kindness; and saw herself the little rural school…teacher who; with Ella Wheeler Wilcox and Lord Byron as her idols; and with the dream of herself writing 〃Poems of Passion;〃 had come up to Topeka Town to be beaten by the game into marrying the solid; substantial business man beside her; who enjoyed delight in the spectacle of cats and rats walking the tight…rope in amity; and who was blissfully unaware that she was the Robin Redbreast in a cage that put all heaven in a rage。

〃The rats are bad enough;〃 said Miss Merle Merryweather。  〃But look how he uses up the cats。  He's had three die on him in the last two weeks to my certain knowledge。  They're only alley…cats; but they've got feelings。  It's that boxing match that does for them。〃

The boxing match; sure always of a great hand from the audience; invariably concluded Duckworth's turn。  Two cats; with small boxing…gloves; were put on a table for a friendly bout。 Naturally; the cats that performed with the rats were too cowed for this。  It was the fresh cats he used; the ones with spunk and spirit 。 。 。 until they lost all spunk and spirit or sickened and died。  To the audience it was a side…splitting; playful encounter between four…legged creatures who thus displayed a ridiculous resemblance to superior; two…legged man。  But it was not playful to the cats。  They were always excited into starting a real fight with each other off stage just before they were brought on。  In the blows they struck were anger and pain and bewilderment and fear。  And the gloves just would come off; so that they were ripping and tearing at each other; biting as well as making the fur fly; like furies; when the curtain went down。  In the eyes of the audience this apparent impromptu was always the ultimate scream; and the laughter and applause would compel the curtain up again to reveal Duckworth and an assistant stage…hand; as if caught by surprise; fanning the two belligerents with towels。

But the cats themselves were so continually torn and scratched that the wounds never had a chance to heal and became infected until they were a mass of sores。  On occasion they died; or; when they had become too abjectly spiritless to attack even a rat; were set to work on the tight…rope with the doped starved rats that were too near dead to run away from them。  And; as Miss Merle Merryweather said:  the bonehead audiences; tickled to death; applauded Duckworth's Trained Cats and Rats as an educational act!

A big chimpanzee that covered one of the circuits with Michael had an antipathy for clothes。  Like a horse that fights the putting on of the bridle; and; after it is on; takes no further notice of it; so the big chimpanzee fought the putting on the clothes。  Once on; it was ready to go out on the stage and through its turn。  But the rub was in putting on the clothes。  It took the owner and two stage…hands; pulling him up to a ring in the wall and throttling him; to dress himand this; despite the fact that the owner had long since knocked out his incisors。

All this cruelty Michael sensed without knowing。  And he accepted it as the way of life; as he accepted the daylight and the dark; the bite of the frost on bleak and windy station platforms; the mysterious land of Otherwhere that he knew in dreams and song; the equally mysterious Nothingness into which had vanished Meringe Plantation and ships and oceans and men and Steward。



CHAPTER XXXIII



For two years Michael sang his way over the United States; to fame for himself and to fortune for Jacob Henderson。  There was never any time off。  So great was his success; that Henderson refused flattering offers to cross the Atlantic to show in Europe。  But off…time did come to Michael when Henderson fell ill of typhoid in Chicago。

It was a three…months' vacation for Michael; who; well treated but still a prisoner; spent it in a caged kennel in Mulcachy's Animal Home。  Mulcachy; one of Harris Collins's brightest graduates; had emulated his master by setting up in business in Chicago; where he ran everything with the same rigid cleanliness; sanitation; and scientific cruelty。  Michael received nothing but the excellent food and the cleanliness; but; a solitary and brooding prisoner in his cage; he could not help but sense the atmosphere of pain and terror about him of the animals being broken for the delight of men。

Mulcachy had originated aphorisms of his own which he continually enunciated; among which were:

〃Take it from me; when an animal won't give way to pain; it can't be broke。  Pain is the only school…teacher。〃

〃Just as you got to take the buck out of a broncho; you've got to take the bite o

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