Snowbal and Ebony

Listen Ad Free https://www.solgoodmedia.com - Listen to hundreds of audiobooks, thousands of short stories, and ambient sounds all ad free!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Snowball and Ebony by Mabel Humphrey down at my feet
on the red tiles in front of a roaring great
fire set a great black cat and a soft white
angora pussy. They are named Ebony and Snowball and are
as different in nature as they are in color, but
are devoted friends for all that possibly because of it.

(00:24):
For where Snowball is timid, Ebony will bravely lead the way,
while if Ebony is cross, Snowball will purr and coax
and cuddle until he gradually grows peaceful and pleasant again.
From the time he was a tiny kitten, Ebony had
known no home, and such food as he had was

(00:45):
picked up when and wherever he chanced to find it.
He had won many and lost few of his many
cat battles, but he did not like to fight, and
never did it unless obliged to. Snowball had never struck
or received a blow in all of her carefully guarded life.
She was a finely bred angora that had taken many

(01:09):
prizes at the cat shows, while her meals, far from
being irregularly picked up, had always been brought to her
on a sober tray as regularly as the sun rose
and considerably oftener. One bright cold November afternoon, Snowball was
wandering restlessly around, looking for something, anything, some excitement. As

(01:32):
she passed the Dresden saucer filled with rich cream, she sniffed,
and when she caught sight of her silk cushioned basket,
she fairly switched her tail. Even the favorite spot on
the warm hearth failed to allure outside. The wind blew
the few remaining leaves from the trees in tempting swirls

(01:53):
to the pavement, but she could not play with them.
She was shut in doors for fear she might be
stolen or stray. She would have run away as soon
as she found the chance. As she wandered into the
broad hall, someone opened the front door to pass through it,
and Miss Pussy saw and seized her chance. Like a flash.

(02:16):
She darted down the steps and up the street, never
stopping until she was well out of side of the house.
Then she paused and looked curiously around. Close under the
railing of a shabby area not many blocks from snowballs home,
she spied three rough coated, gaunt cats greedily drinking from

(02:37):
a dish of sooty skim milk. The saucer was thick
and cracked, and worse yet, had not been washed, since
it contained boiled onions. But to the pampered runaway it
seemed far more desirable than the cream she had left
untasted in her own Dresden china plate. As she edged
slowly toward them, the three waves paid no attention to her,

(03:00):
beyond giving a warning growl or two, which Snowball, not
understanding that she could be unwelcome, mistook for their usual
way of speaking with a friendly bow of greeting. She
drew near and lapped daintily at the strongly flavored milk.
Was it hunger or the feeling of liberty and comradeship

(03:22):
that made it taste so good and made her, for
one short instant perfectly happy. Then a stinging blow on
one ear, followed immediately by a sharp slap on the
side of her head from the big gray cat, sent
her reeling dizzily away from the dish. She recovered herself
and turned in abject terror, her one thought to escape

(03:45):
from this uncom for abuse, But directly in her path
stood the black and white cat with a lashing tail
and flaming eyes. Another turn, and she was again confronted
by the gray crouching angrily ready for another attack, Snowball's
heart seemed to stand still, and she shut her eyes
and waited for the end. When, with one bound, the

(04:07):
black cat stood between her and her enemies. He began
to battle instantly and so vigorously that it was impossible
to stand before the whirlwind of flying claws and snapping
teeth that he seemed to have become. Soon, his opponents
retired with inglorious haste, and he was victor. Snowball was saved.

(04:28):
In the silence that followed, Snowball cautiously opened an eye
and peeped around Peace and her deliverer, again lapping at
the puddle of blue milk that was spreading from the
overturned saucer across the broken flagstones. He saw the timid
glance and moved a little to one side with a
gesture of friendly invitation. Gratefully, she crept to his side.

(04:54):
The black and white noses bobbed busily up and down
together as the pink tongues darted in and out, and
the milk rapidly disappeared. That afternoon, Snowball brought Ebony home
with her and seemed so fond of him that I
could do no less than ask him to stay, and

(05:14):
for the first time they sat in their now usual
resting place, down at my feet on the warm red tiles.
How do I know about the rescue? Ah, that's quite
a story too, not to day. Dear End of Snowball
and Ebony by Mabel Humphrey