when miss kitty cat came to the farmhouse to live she soon showed old dog spot that she could fight like a vixen. the first time he cornered her she put some scratches on his nose that he never forgot. and after that he always took great pains to keep out of reach of miss kitty's claws.
so long as miss kitty cat ran away from him spot would follow her, yelping madly. but when she stopped, he stopped too, digging his own claws into the dirt in order to leave a safe distance between miss kitty and his nose.
he quickly discovered that there were ways in which he could tease miss kitty cat that annoyed her greatly, while keeping his nose out of harm's way. growling always made her tail grow big. barking made her spit at him. but there was something else that angered her still more. when spot stood stock still one day, with his tail stuck straight out behind him, and pointed at her with his nose, he made her almost frantic.
"what are you pointing at with that long nose of yours?" miss kitty cat snarled.
spot didn't say a word. for the moment he didn't move any more than the iron dog did, that stood in a yard on the outskirts of the village and never so much as wagged his tail from one year's end to another.
somehow spot's queer behavior gave miss kitty cat an odd, creepy feeling along her back. her fur rose on end. she glared at spot and spat at him in a most unladylike fashion.
spot found it very hard to stand still and never let out a single yelp. once he almost whined. but he managed to stifle the sound.
"if she swells up much more she's likely to burst," he thought.
"go away!" miss kitty scolded. "don't you know better than to stare at a lady?"
never an answer did old spot make.
it was a little more than miss kitty cat could endure. with a yowl that had in it something of anger and something of fear, too, she jumped off the doorstep where she had been sitting and whisked around the corner of the house.
with miss kitty's first leap spot came suddenly to life. he barked joyfully and followed her. miss kitty cat ran up a tree in the yard and stayed there until spot went off chuckling.
"i'm glad i played that trick on her," he said to himself. "it seems to bother her more than anything else i've ever tried."
thereafter spot often pointed at miss kitty when he met her, either inside the house or about the yard. and she never failed to fly into a passion.
"such manners i never saw!" she spluttered when she talked one day with a cat from the nearest farmhouse.
"i'd soon cure the old dog of that unpleasant trick if he tried it on me," her neighbor remarked.
"what would you do?" miss kitty cat wanted to know.
"i'd chase him."
"he can run faster than i can," said miss kitty.
"when he's pointing at you, jump at him before he can turn around. if you drag your claws across his nose just once he'll be careful after that to look the other way when he sees you."
"your plan sounds as if it might be worth trying," said miss kitty thoughtfully.
