A Cat in Court.

Bush Advocate, Volume XI, Issue 832, 16 September 1893, Page 5

A Cat in Court.

When Mr Baegallay took his scab on the bench at West Ham a few weeks ago a oat put its head through the open Bky-light window and commenced to mew loudly. " Arrest that intruder," said the magistrate, with a amile. One officer hurried into tho office to find out what form of warrant was applicable to the circumstances, while another thought to solve the difficulty hy shutting the window on pues's head. But the cat outmanoeuvred him by lightly jumping into the court, and taking up a favorable position on a ledge under the skylight. There it stood for a fow minutes listening to the cssas, and not finding what it wanted leapt out again and disappeared over the roofs. If anyone had understood tho language of cats he would have divined at once, from the intonation of voice, that put was astfing : " Is this the Court whore the mioe case Ryland v. Montgomery, is on!' 1 but, as nobody knew what it meant, it stepped inside and waited until it found tli tit ordinary Police Court proceedings had no interest. In truth, it had mistaken the place, for the mice oase in which it was interested was almost at the moment developing itelf in Mr Commissioner Kerr's oourt, where Mr Montgomery was ineffectually arguing that he ought not to pay rent for a house in Balham which was bo infested with mice as to render the lives of himself and his wife miserable Tho mice were so numerous that sometimes in the morning the floors were ike battlefields — strewn with vermin whioh tho cat had- billed. Was this the animal that found its way to Mr Baggallay's court instead of Mr Commissioner Kerr's, and by its unfortunate mistake in topography missed tho very .case in whioh it was interested ? — " Telegraph."