Yet in Harvie’s cage, owing to Harvie’s
skilful manipulations, the peace which prevails
is almost somnolent. Recently, Harvie gave a
grand public performance in Atlanta, and it
was a glorious success. Even I was asked to
go, in a round-about non-committal sort of
way, but I laughed at the very idea; and went
on with a letter which was due my Uncle Sol
oman Beeswax.
Still, it must be rarely entertaining to see
Jordan’s Happy Family, wherein the cat lets
the mouse sit on her back, and the hawk
makes love to the dove.
The Spinner who buys a bale of cotton from
the Grower for S6O and sells it back to him for
SIBO, after weaving it into 3,000 yards of cal
ico, can well afford, in‘his gorged condition,
to leave the lamb untouched. The corporation
hawk, having already made a good meal, can
well abstain from further gluttony during the
brief hour of the performance. The Trust
cats have already had as many mice as they
can eat for the day—why shouldn’t they hu
mor the trainer and escape some disagreeable
consequences, by letting the mouse sit on their
backs?
After the people had paid their admission
fee and had seen the Happy Family, all of
the wiser visitors understood how the thing
was done.
They knew that the lion, the tiger, the hawk,
the cat, and every other one of the predatory
animals, had been fed to complete satiety,
before the lamb, and the dove and the mouse
came into the cage. The predatory animals
were in peaceful mood, because the trainer had
given them all they wanted.
