The narrator wakes up in the middle of the night to find that someone has been watching him. He's worried that someone will find out about the four cats in his house and kill them if they're discovered. He can still afford to buy a bottle of cold beer, so he decides to smoke a cigarette and then drink it with his beer. The narrator's brother harlow comes out of the house, and the cat is delighted to see him. The cat says that he heard a magpie singing this morning, and that in china, magpies are symbols of good fortune, happiness, and good luck