The Cat Came Back... The Very Next Day

. . . . .
The man around the corner swore he'd kill the cat on sight,
He loaded up his shotgun with nails and dynamite;
He waited and he waited for the cat to come around,
Ninety-seven pieces of the man is all they ever found

But the cat came back the very next day
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner,
But the cat came back, it just couldn't stay away,
Away, away, yea, yea, yea. . .

On a telegraph wire, sparrows sitting in a bunch,
The cat was feeling hungry, thought he'd like 'em for a lunch;
Climbing softly up the pole, and when he reached the top
Put his foot on the electric wire, which tied him in a knot.

But the cat came back the very next day
The cat came back, we thought he was a goner,
But the cat came back, it just couldn't stay away
Away, away, yea, yea, yea....

from the folk song, "The Cat Came Back," by Harry S. Miller (and later folk additions)

Additional Information: Now, this is the cat that ate the fluffy wool wings on the angel in our wooden finger-puppet manger scene, a collection of finger puppets that I painted and clothed in felt when the kids were very young. (A friend sent me the kit. By the time I had finished the kit, I really didn't want to see another manger scene again.) Every year that I take that manger scene out and place it on a table, the angel ends up on the floor, chewed on some more. Yes, our cat PLUTO is appropriately named.