Told by Mr. John M. Harper of Ozark, Illinois, whose stories were once well known throughout Johnson County, where he'd entertain "the loafers at the court-house and the county officials with them." Collected by Charles Neely and published in his "Tales & Songs of Southern Illinois: Timeless folklore in story and verse," 1938, George Banta Polishing Company, Menasha, Wisconsin, and reprinted by Crossfire Press, Herrin, Illinois, 1989, and SIU Press in 1998.

Jack Storme was the local cooper and blacksmith of Thebes. He had a cat that stayed around his shop. The cat was the best mouser in the whole country, Jack said. He kept the shop free of rats and mice. But one day the cat got a fore-paw cut off. After that he began to grow poor and thin and didn't take any interest in anything because he wasn't getting enough to eat.

So one day Jack decided to fix him up with a wooden paw. He whittled one out with his knife and strapped it on the maimed leg. After that the cat began to grow sleek and fat again. Jack decided to stay at the shop one night to see how the cat managed it with his wooden paw. After .dark the cat got down in front of a mouse-hole and waited. Pretty soon a mouse peered out cautiously. Quick as a flash the cat seized it with his good paw and knocked it on the head with his wooden one. In no time that cat had eighteen mice piled up before the hole.

20 ILLINOIS HERITAGE