"Well, one night, it may have been one o'clock, or two, or three, I
was awakened by the awfullest screaming and sputtering, growling and
swearing, that ever startled a weary man from his slumbers. I leaped
out of bed under the impression that at least twenty little children
had fallen into as many tubs of boiling water. I threw open the window
and stepped out upon the roof of the tea-room. I don't intend to
exaggerate, but I honestly believe that there were less than three
hundred cats over against me, on the roofs of the out-houses; each one
of which had a tail bigger than a Bologna sausage, his back crooked up
like an oxbow, and his great round eyes gleaming fiercely in the
moonlight, putting in his very best in the way of catterwauling. Two
of the largest, one black as night and the other a dark grey or
brindle, appeared to be particularly in earnest, and the way they
scolded, and screamed, and swore at each other was a sin to hear. I
won't undertake to report all they said; a decent regard for the
proprieties of language, compels me to give only a sketch of
the debate.
"'You infernal, big-tailed, hump-backed, ugly-mugged thief,' screamed
the grey, 'I'd like to know what _you_ are out here for this time of
night, skulking, and creeping, and nosing about in the dark, poaching
upon other people's preserves?'
"'Very well I mighty well!' was the reply, 'for _you_, to talk, you
black-skinned, ogre-eyed, growling and sputtering robber, to come upon
this roof, sticking up _your_ back and taking airs on yourself.
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