"We all swear he can talk!" exclaims his guardian, Nella.
But when Merlin snuck into the garage late one Sunday evening, then ran out when the door was opened, he didn't stop to say where he was going!
"Normally, Merlin does a drop and roll in the grass and waits for you to pick him up," explains Nella. "But it was dark and by the time we got a flashlight, he was gone!"
Nella's youngest daughter made "Lost Cat" posters and put them them up in the community. Her husband suggested putting one on their own front door, with the hope that their newspaper carrier might spot the stray cat. (He's the only person around in the wee hours of the morning!)
After several nights of worry, Nella and her family were awakened by a 4:00 a.m. phone call. It was the newspaper carrier, calling to say he had their cat!
When asked where he was he replied, "At your front door. The red one."
"I went right down to get Merlin and, in my excitement, forgot to ask the man's name or give him the reward," exclaimed Nella. "No one complained when I woke the rest of the household to tell them Merlin was home!"
The newspaper carrier's identify and the reward got sorted out by calling the Hamilton Spectator office later that day. Turns out that the delivery man, Terran, had been keeping an eye out for Merlin since he saw the notice. He found Merlin quite a distance from home and carried him HomeSafe.
"We have one heck of good newspaper delivery man!" says Nella.
