Kootchie by H.D. Umbstaetter (1895)
Kootchie, by H.D. Umbstaetter, opens on a sweltering evening on the Boston Common, where a fat, sleek pug named Buttons and his equally pampered butler are out for an airing. They spot a hungry pet cat left behind by a family that has gone away for the summer. Buttons chases her up a tree and then onto an iron fence, while the butler shakes the tree to prolong the fun. A quiet gentleman holding a yellow-haired little girl asks why they torture the cat. The butler answers that Buttons is death on cats. The gentleman helps the cat escape, while the cat's owner dines at a gathering of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The next evening Buttons returns and finds the same gentleman and girl on a bench, with a huge paper bag stirring between them. Curious, the pug barks at it. The gentleman twists the bag open and calls "Hi, hi, Kootchie!" A furious cat bursts out, and a savage fight follows. The butler rushes in with his loaded cane, but the gentleman orders him back, saying he likes fair play. A crowd gathers, and the butler soon carries off what is left of Buttons. The little girl says Kootchie is her pussy, and her father explains that she is a young California wild cat sent by a friend in Tiger Valley.
By H.D. Umbstaetter · First published 1895 · Genre: Satire, Comedy of manners, Dark humor · 1,164 words
First lines
The east wind had failed to put in an appearance that evening, and the thermometer registered ninety-five under the stately elms of the Boston Common.
The family had gone away for the summer, and Buttons and the butler were out for an airing. Both were so well fed and so little exercised that they needed something to stir their blood.
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Genres
- Satire — Mocks Boston high society through the absent owners who send missionaries abroad while their cat starves, the SPCA president who dines on fish and missionary port, and the butler's pompous self-importance.
- Comedy of manners — Its humor depends on class pretensions, idle wealth, and the servants' imitation of their employers, all within a Gilded Age social setting.
- Dark humor — Violence is treated as entertainment, with the pug mauled to pieces, the butler's 'fun' with the cat, and the policeman's 'ghoulish satisfaction' played for laughs.
- Revenge tale — The plot turns on Kootchie's counterattack against Buttons, a reversal in which the tormented animal wins its retribution and the aggressor is punished.
Tags
Boston Common · Boston · Beacon Street Mall · summer heat · pet dog · pug · pet cat · wild cat · cat and dog fight · animal cruelty · Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals · pampered pets
What this Textopian page supports
Kootchie is listed on Textopian as a short story by H.D. Umbstaetter, dated 1895 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: H.D. Umbstaetter
- Date: 1895 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Satire, Comedy of manners, Dark humor, Revenge tale, Animal fiction
- Length: 1,164 words
- Structure: 1 section, 21 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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- Work identity for Kootchie by H.D. Umbstaetter
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