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diff --git a/24751.txt b/24751.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..862768d --- /dev/null +++ b/24751.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1690 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Kitchen Cat and Other Stories, by Amy Walton + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Kitchen Cat and Other Stories + +Author: Amy Walton + +Release Date: March 4, 2008 [EBook #24751] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KITCHEN CAT AND OTHER STORIES *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + THE KITCHEN CAT + + AND OTHER STORIES + + + BY + + AMY WALTON + Author of "The Hawthorns" "Susan" + "A Pair of Clogs" &c. + + + BLACKIE & SON LIMITED + LONDON AND GLASGOW + + + + + BLACKIE & SON LIMITED + _50 Old Bailey, London_ + _17 Stanhope Street, Glasgow_ + + BLACKIE & SON (INDIA) LIMITED + _Warwick House, Fort Street, Bombay_ + + BLACKIE & SON (CANADA) LIMITED + _Toronto_ + + +_Printed in Great Britain by Blackie & Son, Ltd., Glasgow_ + + + + +Contents + + + Page + + THE KITCHEN CAT 5 + + SARAH'S SUNDAY OUT 42 + + THE TOAD IN THE HOLE 56 + + + + +THE KITCHEN CAT + + +CHAPTER I + +The Visitor from the Cellar + +The whole house in London was dull and gloomy, its lofty rooms and +staircases were filled with a sort of misty twilight all day, and the +sun very seldom looked in at its windows. Ruth Lorimer thought, however, +that the very dullest room of all was the nursery, in which she had to +pass so much of her time. It was so high up that the people and carts +and horses in the street below looked like toys. She could not even see +these properly, because there were iron bars to prevent her from +stretching her head out too far, so that all she could do was to look +straight across to the row of tall houses opposite, or up at the sky +between the chimney-pots. How she longed for something different to +look at! + +The houses always looked the same, and though the sky changed sometimes, +it was often of a dirty grey colour, and then Ruth gave a little sigh +and looked back from the window-seat where she was kneeling, into the +nursery, for something to amuse her. It was full of all sorts of +toys--dolls, and dolls' houses elegantly furnished, pictures and books +and many pretty things; but in spite of all these she often found +nothing to please her, for what she wanted more than anything else was a +companion of her own age, and she had no brothers or sisters. + +The dolls, however much she pretended, were never glad, or sorry, or +happy, or miserable--they could not answer her when she talked to them, +and their beautiful bright eyes had a hard unfeeling look which became +very tiring, for it never changed. + +There was certainly Nurse Smith. She was alive and real enough; there +was no necessity to "pretend" anything about her. She was always there, +sitting upright and flat-backed beside her work-basket, frowning a +little, not because she was cross, but because she was rather +near-sighted. She had come when Ruth was quite a baby, after Mrs. +Lorimer's death, and Aunt Clarkson often spoke of her as "a treasure". +However that might be, she was not an amusing companion; though she did +her best to answer all Ruth's questions, and was always careful of her +comfort, and particular about her being neatly dressed. + +Perhaps it was not her fault that she did not understand games, and was +quite unable to act the part of any other character than her own. If she +did make the attempt, she failed so miserably that Ruth had to tell her +what to say, which made it so flat and uninteresting that she found it +better to play alone. But she often became weary of this; and there were +times when she was tired of her toys, and tired of Nurse Smith, and did +not know what in the world to do with herself. + +Each day passed much in the same way. Ruth's governess came to teach her +for an hour every morning, and then after her early dinner there was a +walk with Nurse, generally in one direction. And after tea it was time +to go and see her father--quite a long journey, through the silent +house, down the long stairs to the dining-room where he sat alone at +his dessert. + +Ruth could not remember her mother, and she saw so little of her father +that he seemed almost a stranger to her. He was so wonderfully busy, and +the world he lived in was such a great way off from hers in the nursery. + +In the morning he hurried away just as she was at her breakfast, and all +she knew of him was the resounding slam of the hall door, which came +echoing up the staircase. Very often in the evening he came hastily into +the nursery to say good-bye on his way out to some dinner-party, and at +night she woke up to hear his step on the stairs as he came back late. +But when he dined at home Ruth always went downstairs to dessert. Then, +as she entered the large sombre dining-room, where there were great oil +paintings on the walls and heavy hangings to the windows, and +serious-looking ponderous furniture, her father would look up from his +book, or from papers spread on the table, and nod kindly to her: + +"Ah! it's you, Ruth. Quite well, eh? There's a good child. Have an +orange? That's right." + +Then he would plunge into his reading again, and Ruth would climb slowly +on to a great mahogany chair placed ready for her, and watch him as she +cut up her orange. + +She wondered very much why people wrote him such long, long letters, all +on blue paper and tied up with pink tape. She felt sure they were not +nice letters, for his face always looked worried over them; and when he +had finished he threw them on the floor, as though he were glad. This +made her so curious that she once ventured to ask him what they were. +They were called "briefs", he told her. But she was not much wiser; for, +hearing from Nurse Smith that "brief" was another word for short, she +felt sure there must be some mistake. + +Exactly as the clock struck eight Nurse's knock came at the door, Ruth +got down from her chair and said good-night. + +Sometimes her father was so deeply engaged in his reading that he stared +at her with a far-away look in his eyes, as if he scarcely knew who she +was. After a minute he said absently: "Bed-time, eh? Good-night. +Good-night, my dear." Sometimes when he was a little less absorbed he +put a sixpence or a shilling into her hand as he kissed her, and added: +"There's something to spend at the toy-shop." + +Ruth received these presents without much surprise or joy. She was used +to buying things, and did not find it very interesting; for she could +not hope for any sign of pleasure from her dolls when she brought them +new clothes or furniture. + +It is a little dull when all one's efforts for people are received with +a perfectly unmoved face. She had once brought Nurse Smith a small china +image, hoping that it would be an agreeable surprise; but that had not +been successful either. "Lor', my dear, don't you go spending your money +on me," she said. "Chany ornaments ain't much good for anything, to my +thinking, 'cept to ketch the dust." + +Thus it came to pass that Ruth never talked much about what interested +her either to her father or to Nurse Smith, and as she had no brothers +and sisters she was obliged to amuse herself with fancied conversations. +Sometimes these were carried on with her dolls, but her chief friend was +a picture which she passed every night on the staircase. It was of a man +in a flat cap and a fur robe, and he had a pointed smooth chin and +narrow eyes, which seemed to follow her slyly on her way. She did not +like him and she did not actually fear him, but she had a feeling that +he listened to what she said, and that she must tell him any news she +had. There was never much except on "Aunt Clarkson's day", as she called +it. + +Aunt Clarkson was her father's sister. She lived in the country, and had +many little boys and girls whom Ruth had seldom seen, though she heard a +great deal about them. + +Once every month this aunt came up to London for the day, had long +conversations with Nurse, and looked carefully at all Ruth's clothes. + +She was a sharp-eyed lady, and her visits made a stir in the house which +was like a cold wind blowing, so that Ruth was glad when they were over, +though her aunt always spoke kindly to her, and said: "Some day you must +come and see your little cousins in the country." + +She had said this so often without its having happened, however, that +Ruth had come to look upon it as a mere form of speech--part of Aunt +Clarkson's visit, like saying "How d'ye do?" or "Good-bye." + +It was shortly after one of these occasions that quite by chance Ruth +found a new friend, who was better than either the dolls or the man in +the picture, because, though it could not answer her, it was really +alive. She discovered it in this way. + +One afternoon she and Nurse Smith had come in from their usual walk, and +were toiling slowly up from the hall to the nursery. The stairs got +steeper at the last flight, and Nurse went more slowly still, and panted +a good deal, for she was stouter than she need have been, though Ruth +would never have dreamed of saying so. Ruth was in front, and she had +nearly reached the top when something came hurrying towards her which +surprised her very much. It was a long, lean, grey cat. It had a guilty +look, as though it knew it had been trespassing, and squeezed itself as +close as it could against the wall as it passed. + +"Pretty puss!" said Ruth softly, and put out her hand to stop it. + +The cat at once arched up its back and gave a friendly little answering +mew. Ruth wondered where it came from. It was ugly, she thought, but it +seemed a pleasant cat and glad to be noticed. She rubbed its head +gently. It felt hard and rough like Nurse's old velvet bonnet; there was +indeed no sleekness about it anywhere, and it was so thin that its sides +nearly met. + +"Poor puss!" said Ruth stroking it tenderly. + +The cat replied by pushing its head gently against her arm, and +presently began a low purring song. Delighted, Ruth bent her ear to +listen. + +"Whoosh! Shish! Get along! Scat!" suddenly sounded from a few steps +below. Nurse's umbrella was violently flourished, the cat flew +downstairs with a spit like an angry firework, and Ruth turned round +indignantly. + +"You _shouldn't_ have done that," she said, stamping her foot; "I wanted +to talk to it. Whose is it?" + +"It's that nasty kitchen cat," said Nurse, much excited, and grasping +her umbrella spitefully. "I'm not going to have it prowling about on +_my_ landing. An ugly thieving thing, as has no business above stairs at +all." + +Ruth pressed her face against the balusters. In the distance below she +could see the small grey form of the kitchen cat making its way swiftly +and silently downstairs. It went so fast that it seemed to float rather +than to run, and was soon out of sight. + +"I should like to have played with it up in the nursery," she said, with +a sigh, as she continued her way. "I wish you hadn't frightened it +away." + +"Lor', Miss Ruth, my dear," answered Nurse, "what can a little lady like +you want with a nasty, low, kitchen cat! Come up and play with some of +your beautiful toys, there's a dear! Do." + +Nevertheless Ruth thought about the cat a great deal that afternoon, and +the toys seemed even less interesting than usual. When tea was over, and +Nurse had taken up her sewing again, she began to make a few inquiries. + +"Where does that cat live?" she asked. + +"In the kitchen, to be sure," said Nurse; "and the cellar, and +coal-hole, and such like. Alonger the rats and mice--and the beadles," +she added, as an after-thought. + +"The beadles!" repeated Ruth doubtfully. "_What_ beadles?" + +"Why, the _black_ beadles, to be sure," replied Nurse cheerfully. + +Ruth was silent. It seemed dismal company for the kitchen cat. Then she +said: + +"Are there many of them?" + +"Swarms!" said Nurse, breaking off her thread with a snap. "The +kitchen's black with 'em at night." + +What a dreadful picture! + +"Who feeds the cat?" asked Ruth again. + +"Oh, I don't suppose nobody _feeds_ it," answered Nurse. "It lives on +what it ketches every now and then." + +No wonder it looked thin! Poor kitchen cat! How very miserable and +lonely it must be with no one to take care of it, and how dreadful for +it to have such nasty things to eat! And the supply even of these must +be short sometimes, Ruth went on to consider. What did it do when it +could find no more mice or rats? Of the beetles she could not bear even +to think. As she turned these things seriously over in her mind she +began to wish she could do something to alter them, to make the cat's +life more comfortable and pleasant. If she could have it to live with +her in the nursery for instance, she could give it some of her own bread +and milk, and part of her own dinner; then it would get fatter and +perhaps prettier too. She would tie a ribbon round its neck, and it +should sleep in a basket lined with red flannel, and never be scolded or +chased about or hungry any more. All these pictures were suddenly +destroyed by Nurse's voice: + +"But I hope you'll not encourage it up here, Miss Ruth, for I couldn't +abide it, and I'm sure your Aunt Clarkson wouldn't approve of it +neither. I've had a horror of cats myself from a gal. They're that +stealthy and treacherous, you never know where they mayn't be hiding, or +when they won't spring out at you. If ever I catch it up here I shall +bannock it down again." + +There was evidently no sympathy to be looked for from Nurse Smith; but +Ruth was used to keeping her thoughts and plans to herself, and did not +miss it much. As she could not talk about it, however, she thought of +her new acquaintance all the more; it was indeed seldom out of her mind, +and while she seemed to be quietly amusing herself in her usual way, she +was occupied with all sorts of plans and arrangements for the cat when +it should come to live in the nursery. Meanwhile it was widely +separated from her; how could she let it know that she wanted to see it +again? When she went up and down stairs she peered and peeped about to +see if she could catch a glimpse of its hurrying grey figure, and she +never came in from a walk without expecting to meet it on her way to the +nursery. But she never did. The kitchen cat kept to its own quarters and +its own society. Perhaps it had been too often "bannocked" down again to +venture forth. And yet Ruth felt sure that it had been glad when she had +spoken kindly to it. What a pity that Nurse did not like cats! + +She confided all this as usual to the man in the picture, who received +it with his narrow observant glance and seemed to give it serious +consideration. Perhaps it was he who at last gave her a splendid idea, +which she hastened to carry out as well as she could, though remembering +Nurse's strong expression of dislike she felt obliged to do so with the +greatest secrecy. + +As a first step, she examined the contents of her little red purse. A +whole shilling, a sixpence, and a threepenny bit. That would be more +than enough. Might they go to some shops that afternoon, she asked, +when she and Nurse were starting for their walk. + +"To be sure, Miss Ruth; and what sort of shops do you want? Toy-shops, I +suppose." + +"N-no," said Ruth; "I think not. It must be somewhere where they sell +note-paper, and a baker's, I _think_; but I'm not quite sure." + +Arrived at the stationer's, Ruth was a long time before deciding on what +she would have; but at last, after the woman had turned over a whole +boxful, she came to some pink note-paper with brightly painted heads of +animals upon it, and upon the envelopes also. + +"Oh!" cried Ruth when she saw it, clasping her hands with delight. +"_That_ would do beautifully. Only--_have_ you any with a cat?" + +Yes, there _was_ some with a nice fluffy cat upon it, and she left the +shop quite satisfied with her first purchase. + +"And now," said Nurse briskly, whose patience had been a good deal +tried, "we must make haste back, it's getting late." + +But Ruth had still something on her mind. She _must_ go to one more +shop, she said, though she did not know exactly which. At last she +fixed on a baker's. + +"What should you think," she asked on the way, "that a cat likes to eat +better than anything in the world?" + +"Why, a mouse to be sure," answered Nurse promptly. + +"Well, but _next_ to mice?" persisted Ruth. + +"Fish," said Nurse Smith. + +"That would never do," thought Ruth to herself as she looked at a +fish-shop they were passing, "It's so wet and slippery I couldn't +possibly carry it home. Perhaps Nurse doesn't _really_ know what cats +like best. Anyhow, I'm sure it's never tasted anything so nice as a Bath +bun." A Bath bun was accordingly bought, carried home, and put carefully +away in the doll's house. And now Ruth felt that she had an important +piece of business before her. She spread out a sheet of the new +writing-paper on the window-seat, knelt in front of it with a pencil in +her hand, and ruled some lines. She could not write very well, and was +often uncertain how to spell even short words; so she bit the end of her +pencil and sighed a good deal before the letter was finished. At last +it was done, and put into the envelope. But now came a new difficulty: +How should it be addressed? After much thought she wrote the following: + + THE KITCHEN CAT, + The Kitchen, + 17 Gower Street. + + +CHAPTER II + +Her Best Friend + +After this letter had been dropped into the pillar-box just in front of +the house, Ruth began to look out still more eagerly for the kitchen +cat, but days passed and she caught no glimpse of it anywhere. + +It was disappointing, and troublesome too, because she had to carry the +Bath bun about with her so long. Not only was it getting hard and dry, +but it was such an awkward thing for her pocket that she had torn her +frock in the effort to force it in. + +"You might a' been carrying brick-bats about with you, Miss Ruth," said +Nurse, "by the way you've slit your pocket open." + +This went on till Ruth began to despair. "I'll try it one more evening," +she said to herself, "and if it doesn't come then I shall give it up." + +Once more, therefore, when she was ready to go downstairs, she took the +bun out of the dolls' house, where she kept it wrapped up in tissue +paper, and squeezed it into her pocket. Rather hopelessly, but still +keeping a careful look-out, she proceeded slowly on her way, when +behold, just as she reached the top of the last flight, a little +cringing grey figure crossed the hall below. + +"It's come!" she exclaimed in an excited whisper. "It's come at last!" + +But though it had come, it seemed now the cat's greatest desire to go, +for it was hurrying towards the kitchen stairs. + +"Puss! puss!" called out Ruth in an entreating voice as she hastily ran +down. "Stop a minute! _Pretty_ puss!" + +Startled at the noise and the patter of the quick little feet, the cat +paused in its flight and turned its scared yellow-green eyes upon Ruth. + +She had now reached the bottom step, where she stood struggling to get +the Bath bun out of her small pocket, her face pink with the effort and +anxiety lest the cat should go before she succeeded. + +"_Pretty_ puss!" she repeated as she tugged at the parcel. "Don't go +away." + +One more desperate wrench, which gashed open the corner of the pocket, +and the bun was out. The cat looked on with one paw raised, ready to fly +at the first sign of danger, as with trembling fingers Ruth managed to +break a piece off the horny surface. She held it out. The cat came +nearer, sniffed at it suspiciously, and then to her great joy took the +morsel, crouched down, and munched it up. "How good it must taste," she +thought, "after the mice and rats." + +By degrees it was induced to make further advances, and before long to +come on to the step where Ruth sat, and make a hearty meal of the bun +which she crumbled up for it. + +"I'm afraid it's dry," she said; "but I couldn't bring any milk, you +know, and you must get some water afterwards." + +The cat seemed to understand, and replied by pushing its head against +her, and purred loudly. How thin it was! Ruth wondered as she looked +gravely at it whether it would soon be fatter if she fed it every day. +She became so interested in talking to it, and watching its behaviour, +that she nearly forgot she had to go into the dining-room, and jumped up +with a start. + +"Good-night," she said. "If you'll come again I'll bring you something +else another day." She looked back as she turned the handle of the heavy +door. The cat was sitting primly upright on the step washing its face +after its meal. "I expect it doesn't feel so hungry now," thought Ruth +as she went into the room. + +The acquaintance thus fairly begun was soon followed by other meetings, +and the cat was often in the hall when Ruth came downstairs, though it +did not appear every evening. The uncertainty of this was most exciting, +and "Will it be there to-night?" was her frequent thought during the +day. As time went on, and they grew to know each other better, she began +to find the kitchen cat a far superior companion to either her dolls or +the man in the picture. True, it could not answer her any more than they +did--in words, but it had a language of its own which she understood +perfectly. She knew when it was pleased, and when it said "Thank you" +for some delicacy she brought for it; its yellow eyes beamed with +sympathy and interest when she described the delights of that beautiful +life it would enjoy in the nursery; and when she pitied it for the +darkness of its present dwelling below, she knew it understood by the +way it rubbed against her and arched up its back. There were many more +pleasures in each day now that she had made this acquaintance. Shopping +became interesting, because she could look forward to the cat's surprise +and enjoyment when the parcel was opened in the evening; everything that +happened was treasured up to tell it when they met, or, if it was not +there, to write to it on the pink note-paper; the very smartest sash +belonging to her best doll was taken to adorn the cat's thin neck; and +the secrecy which surrounded all this made it doubly delightful. Ruth +had never been a greedy child, and if Nurse Smith wondered sometimes +that she now spent all her money on cakes, she concluded that they must +be for a dolls' feast, and troubled herself no further. Miss Ruth was +always so fond of "making believe". So things went on very quietly and +comfortably, and though Ruth could not discover that the kitchen cat got +any fatter, it had certainly improved in some ways since her +attentions. Its face had lost its scared look, and it no longer crept +about as close to the ground as possible, but walked with an assured +tread and its tail held high. It could never be a pretty cat to the +general eye, but when it came trotting noiselessly to meet Ruth, +uttering its short mew of welcome, she thought it beautiful, and would +not have changed it for the sleekest, handsomest cat in the kingdom. + +But it was the kitchen cat still. All this did not bring it one step +nearer to the nursery. It must still live, Ruth often thought with +sorrow, amongst the rats and mice and beetles. Nothing could ever happen +which would induce Nurse Smith to allow it to come upstairs. And yet +something did happen which brought this very thing to pass in a strange +way which would never have entered her mind. + +The spring came on with a bright sun and cold sharp winds, and one day +Ruth came in from her walk feeling shivery and tired. She could not eat +her dinner, and her head had a dull ache in it, and she thought she +would like to go to bed. She did not feel ill, she said, but she was +first very hot and then very cold. Nurse Smith sent for the doctor; and +he came and looked kindly at her, and felt her pulse and said she must +stay in bed and he would send some medicine. And she went to sleep, and +had funny dreams in which she plainly saw the kitchen cat dressed in +Aunt Clarkson's bonnet and cloak. It stood by her bed and talked in Aunt +Clarkson's voice, and she saw its grey fur paws under the folds of the +cloak. She wished it would go away, and wondered how she could have been +so fond of it. When Nurse came to give her something she said feebly: + +"Send the cat away." + +"Bless you, my dear, there's no cat here," she answered. "There's nobody +been here but me and Mrs. Clarkson." + +At last there came a day when she woke up from a long sleep and found +that the pain in her head was gone, and that the things in the room +which had been taking all manner of queer shapes looked all right again. + +"And how do you feel, Miss Ruth, my dear?" asked Nurse, who sat sewing +by the bedside. + +"I'm quite well, thank you," said Ruth. "Why am I in bed in the middle +of the day?" + +"Well, you haven't been just quite well, you know," said Nurse. + +"Haven't I?" said Ruth. She considered this for some time, and when +Nurse came to her with some beef-tea in her hand, she asked: + +"Have I been in bed more than a day?" + +"You've been in bed a week," said Nurse. "But you'll get along finely +now, and be up and about again in no time." + +Ruth drank her beef-tea and thought it over. Suddenly she dropped her +spoon into the cup. The kitchen cat! How it must have missed her if she +had been in bed a week. Unable to bear the idea in silence, she sat up +in bed with a flushed face and asked eagerly: + +"Have you seen the cat?" + +Nurse instantly rose with a concerned expression, and patted her +soothingly on the shoulder. + +"There now, my dear, we won't have any more fancies about cats and such. +You drink your beef-tea up and I'll tell you something pretty." + +Ruth took up her spoon again. It was of no use to talk to Nurse about +it, but it was dreadful to think how disappointed the cat must have +been evening after evening. Meanwhile Nurse went on in a coaxing tone: + +"If so be as you make haste and get well, you're to go alonger me and +stay with your Aunt Clarkson in the country. There now!" + +Ruth received the news calmly. It did not seem a very pleasant prospect, +or even a very real one to her. + +"There'll be little boys and girls to play with," pursued Nurse, trying +to heighten the picture; "and flowers--and birds and such--and medders, +and a garding, and all manner." + +But nothing could rouse Ruth to more than a very languid interest in +these delights. Her thoughts were all with her little friend downstairs; +and she felt certain that it had often been hungry, and no doubt thought +very badly of her for her neglect. If she could only see it and explain +that it had not been her fault! + +The next day Aunt Clarkson herself came. She always had a great deal on +her mind when she came up to town, and liked to get through her shopping +in time to go back in the afternoon, so she could never stay long with +Ruth. She came bustling in, looking very strong, and speaking in a loud +cheerful voice, and all the while she was there she gave quick glances +round her at everything in the room. Ruth was well enough to be up, and +was sitting in a big chair by the nursery fire, with picture-books and +toys near; but she was not looking at them. Her eyes were fixed +thoughtfully on the fire, and her mind was full of the kitchen cat. She +had tried to write to it, but the words would not come, and her fingers +trembled so much that she could not hold the pencil straight. The +vexation and disappointment of this had made her head ache, and +altogether she presented rather a mournful little figure. + +"Well, Nurse, and how are we going on?" said Aunt Clarkson, sitting down +in the chair Nurse placed for her. Remembering her dream, Ruth could not +help giving a glance at Aunt Clarkson's hands. They were fat, round +hands, and she kept them doubled up, so that they really looked rather +like a cat's paws. + +"Well, ma'am," replied Nurse, "Miss Ruth's better; but she's not, so to +say, as cheerful as I could wish. Still a few _fancies_ ma'am," she +added in an undertone, which Ruth heard perfectly. + +"Fancies, eh?" repeated Aunt Clarkson in her most cheerful voice. "Oh, +we shall get rid of them at Summerford. You'll have real things to play +with there, Ruth, you know. Lucy, and Cissie, and Bobbie will be better +than fancies, won't they?" + +Ruth gave a faint little nod. She did not know what her aunt meant by +"fancies". The cat was quite as real as Lucy, or Cissie, or Bobbie. +Should she ask her about it, or did she hate cats like Nurse Smith? She +gazed wistfully at Mrs. Clarkson's face, who had now drawn a list from +her pocket, and was running through the details half aloud with an +absorbed frown. + +"I shall wait and see the doctor, Nurse," she said presently; "and if he +comes soon I shall _just_ get through my business, and catch the three +o'clock express." + +No, it would be of no use, Ruth concluded, as she let her head fall +languidly back against the pillow--Aunt Clarkson was far too busy to +think about the cat. + +Fortunately for her business, the doctor did not keep her waiting long. +Ruth was better, he said, and all she wanted now was cheering up a +little--she looked dull and moped. "If she could have a little friend, +now, to see her, or a cheerful companion," glancing at Nurse Smith, "it +would have a good effect." + +He withdrew with Mrs. Clarkson to the door, and they continued the +conversation in low tones, so that only scraps of it reached Ruth: + +"--excitable--fanciful--too much alone--children of her own age--" + +Aunt Clarkson's last remark came loud and clear: + +"We shall cure that at Summerford, Dr. Short. We're not dull people +there, and we've no time for fancies." + +She smiled, the doctor smiled, they shook hands and both soon went away. +Ruth leant her head on her hand. Was there no one who would understand +how much she wanted to see the kitchen cat? Would they all talk about +fancies? What were Lucy and Cissie and Bobbie to her?--strangers, and +the cat was a friend. She would rather stroke its rough head, and listen +to its purring song, than have them all to play with. It was so sad to +think how it must have missed her, how much she wanted to see it, and +how badly her head ached, that she felt obliged to shed a few tears. +Nurse discovered this with much concern. + +"And there was master coming up to see you to-night and all, Miss Ruth. +It'll never do for him to find you crying, you know. I think you'd +better go to bed." + +Ruth looked up with a sudden gleam of hope, and checked her tears. + +"When is he coming?" she asked. "I want to see him." + +"Well, I s'pose directly he comes home--about your tea-time. But if I +let you sit up we mustn't have no more tears, you know, else he'll think +you ain't getting well." + +Ruth sank quietly back among her shawls in the big chair. An idea had +darted suddenly into her mind which comforted her very much, and she was +too busy with it to cry any more. She would ask her father! True, it was +hardly likely that he would have any thoughts to spare for such a small +thing as the kitchen cat; but still there was just a faint chance that +he would understand better than Nurse and Aunt Clarkson. So she waited +with patience, listening anxiously for his knock and the slam of the +hall door, and at last, just as Nurse was getting the tea ready, it +came. Her heart beat fast. Soon there was a hurried step on the stairs, +and her father entered the room. Ruth studied his face earnestly. Was he +tired? Was he worried? Would he stay long enough to hear the important +question? + +He kissed her and sat down near her. + +"How is Miss Ruth to-day?" he said rather wearily to Nurse. + +Standing stiffly erect behind Ruth's chair, Nurse Smith repeated all +that the doctor and Mrs. Clarkson had said. + +"And I think myself, sir," she added, "that Miss Ruth will be all the +better of a cheerful change. She worrits herself with fancies." + +Ruth looked earnestly up at her father's face, but said nothing. + +"Worries herself?" repeated Mr. Lorimer, with a puzzled frown. "What can +she have to worry about? Is there anything you want, my dear?" he said, +taking hold of Ruth's little hot hand and bending over her. + +The moment had come. Ruth gathered all her courage, sat upright, and +fixing an entreating gaze upon him said: + +"I want to see my best friend." + +"Your best friend, eh?" he answered, smiling as if it were a very slight +affair. "One of your little cousins, I suppose? Well, you're going to +Summerford, you know, and then you'll see them all. I forget their +names. Tommie, Mary, Carry, which is it?" + +Ruth gave a hopeless little sigh. She was so tired of these cousins. + +"It's none of them," she said shaking her head. "I don't want any of +them." + +"Who is it, then?" + +"It's the kitchen cat." + +Mr. Lorimer started back with surprise at the unexpected words. + +"The kitchen cat!" he repeated, looking distractedly at Nurse. "Her best +friend! What does the child mean?" + +"Miss Ruth has fancies, sir," she began with a superior smile. But she +did not get far, for at that word Ruth started to her feet in +desperation. + +"It isn't a fancy!" she cried; "it's a _real_ cat. I know it very well +and it knows me. And I _do_ want to see it so. _Please_ let it come." + +The last words broke off in a sob. + +Mr. Lorimer lifted her gently on to his knee. + +"Where is this cat?" he said, turning to Nurse with such a frown that +Ruth thought he must be angry. "Why hasn't Miss Ruth had it before if +she wanted it?" + +"Well, I believe there _is_ a cat somewhere below, sir," she replied in +an injured tone; "but I'd no idea, I'm sure, that Miss Ruth was +worritting after it. To the best of my knowledge she's only seen it +once. She's so fond of making believe that it's hard to tell when she +_is_ in earnest. I thought it was a kind of a fancy she got in her head +when she was ill." + +"Fetch it here at once, if you please." + +Nurse hesitated. + +"It's hardly a fit pet for Miss Ruth, sir." + +"At once, if you please," repeated Mr. Lorimer. And Nurse went. + +Ruth listened to this with her breath held, almost frightened at her own +success. Not only was the kitchen cat to be admitted, but it was to be +brought by the very hands of Nurse herself. It was wonderful--almost too +wonderful to be true. + +And now it seemed that her father wished to know how the kitchen cat had +become her best friend. He was very much interested in it, and she +thought his face looked quite different while he listened to her to what +it looked when he was reading his papers downstairs. Finding that he +asked sensible questions, and did not once say anything about "fancies", +she was encouraged to tell him more and more, and at last leant her head +on his shoulder and closed her eyes. It would be all right now. She had +found someone at last who understood. + +The entrance of the kitchen cat shortly afterwards was neither dignified +nor comfortable, for it appeared dangling at the end of Nurse's +outstretched arm, held by the neck as far as possible from her own +person. When it was first put down it was terrified at its new +surroundings, and it was a little painful to find that it wanted to rush +downstairs again at once, in spite of Ruth's fondest caresses. It was +Mr. Lorimer who came to her help, and succeeded at last in soothing its +fears and coaxing it to drink some milk, after which it settled down +placidly with her in the big chair and began its usual song of +contentment. She examined it carefully with a grave face, and then +looked apologetically at her father. + +"It doesn't look its _best_," she said. "Its paws are white _really_, +but I think it's been in the coal-hole." + +This seemed very likely, for not only its paws but the smart ribbon Ruth +had tied round its neck was grimy and black. + +"It's not _exactually_ pretty," she continued, "but it's a _very_ nice +cat. You can't think how well it knows me--generally." + +Mr. Lorimer studied the long lean form of the cat curiously through his +eye-glass. + +"You wouldn't like a white Persian kitten better for a pet--or a nice +little dog, now?" he asked doubtfully. + +"Oh, _please_ not," said Ruth with a shocked expression on her face. "I +shouldn't love it half so well, and I'm sure the kitchen cat wouldn't +like it." + +That was a wonderful evening. Everything seemed as suddenly changed as +if a fairy had touched them with her wand. Not only was the kitchen cat +actually there in the nursery, drinking milk and eating toast, but there +was a still stranger alteration. This father was quite different to the +one she had known in the dining-room downstairs, who was always reading +and had no time to talk. His very face had altered, for instead of +looking grave and far-away it was full of smiles and interest. And how +well he understood about the kitchen cat! When her bed-time came he +seemed quite sorry to go away, and his last words were: + +"Remember, Nurse, Miss Ruth is to have the cat here whenever she likes +and as long as she likes." + +It was all so strange that Ruth woke up the next morning with a feeling +that she had had a pleasant dream. The kitchen cat and the new father +would both vanish with daylight; they were "fancies", as Nurse called +them, and not real things at all. But as the days passed and she grew +strong enough to go downstairs as usual, it was delightful to find that +this was not the case. The new father was there still. The cat was +allowed to make a third in the party, and soon learned to take its place +with dignity and composure. But though thus honoured, it no longer +received all Ruth's confidences. She had found a better friend. Her +difficulties, her questions, her news were all saved up for the evening +to tell her father. It was the best bit in the whole day. + +On one of these occasions they were all three sitting happily together, +and Ruth had just put a new brass collar which her father had bought +round the cat's neck. + +"I don't want to go to Summerford," she said suddenly. "I'd much rather +stay here with you." + +"And the cat," added Mr. Lorimer as he kissed her. "Well, you must come +back soon and take care of us both, you know." + +"You'll be kind to it when I'm gone, won't you?" said Ruth. "Because, +you know, I don't think the servants _understand_ cats. They're rather +sharp to it." + +"It shall have dinner with me every night," said Mr. Lorimer. + +In this way the kitchen cat was raised from a lowly station to great +honour, and its life henceforth was one of peace and freedom. It went +where it would, no one questioned its right of entrance to the nursery +or dared to slight it in any way. In spite, however, of choice meals and +luxury it never grew fat, and never, except in Ruth's eyes, became +pretty. It also kept to many of its old habits, preferring liberty and +the chimney-pots at night to the softly-lined basket prepared for its +repose. + +But with all its faults Ruth loved it faithfully as long as it lived, +for in her own mind she felt that she owed it a great deal. + +She remembered that evening when, a lonely little child, she had called +it her "best friend". Perhaps she would not have discovered so soon that +she had a better friend still, without the kitchen cat. + + + + +SARAH'S SUNDAY OUT + + +"Who saw Sarah last?" + +It was Hester who had seen her last when she had said good-bye to a +friend at the hall door. That was at eleven o'clock in the morning; now +it was one o'clock in the afternoon, and there was no Sarah to be found +anywhere. Not in the nursery, not in any of the bedrooms, not upstairs, +not downstairs; every hole and corner and crevice much too small to hide +Sarah was thoroughly searched. Her name was called in the fondest tones +by every member of the family from father and mother down to little +Diana, and by all the servants, but there was no answer. There could be +no doubt about it--Sarah was lost! + +Little Diana was heart-broken. It was dreadful to think of Sarah out +alone in the noisy London streets, where she knew no one and no one +would know her, where she would soon get confused and lose her way, and +where all the houses looked so much alike that she would never, never be +able to find her home again. Perhaps even some wicked person might steal +Sarah, or she might be run over by a carriage, or bitten by a dog, +or--there were no end of misfortunes which might happen to her, for it +made it all the more sad to remember that Sarah could not speak. + +Who was Sarah? + +Perhaps you may have been thinking that she was a little girl. Nothing +of the kind. She was the dearest little dog in the world, with a yellow +and white silky coat, and a very turned-up nose, and goggling, +affectionate dark eyes. She was a gay-tempered little creature, full of +playful coaxing ways, and a great pet with everyone; but she was fondest +of her mistress, Diana. She went everywhere with her, knew her step from +that of any of the other children, and would prick up her ears and +listen for it a long way off. Her whole name was "Sarah, Duchess of +Marlborough", and she was a Blenheim spaniel. + +As befitted her rank, Sarah led a life of luxury, and had a great many +possessions of her very own. Smart collars and bells, a box full of +different coloured ribbons, a travelling trunk with her name upon it, a +brush and comb, a warm coat for cold weather, and a comfortable basket +to sleep in. Everything that heart could desire for comfort or adornment +was hers. She had never been used to the least roughness or hardship, +and certainly was too delicate to fight her own way in the world. + +And now Sarah was lost! All through that Sunday everyone was very much +disturbed, and talked of nothing but how they could find her. If a +visitor came in, the conversation was all about Sarah; but no one seemed +to be very hopeful that she would be brought back. There were +dog-stealers about, they said, and such a little dog would be easily +picked up and hidden. Poor Diana listened to all this, and got more and +more miserable as the day went on, for she began to feel quite sure that +she should never see her dear little dog again. She moped about, got +very pale, would not eat her dinner, and would have been in utter +despair if Mother had not given her some comfort. For Mother was the +only person who thought there was a chance of Sarah's return, and this +cheered Diana, because she had a feeling that Mother knew everything. + +Nevertheless when Monday morning came and there was no Sarah, Diana went +downstairs in the lowest spirits. + +"Immediately after breakfast," said her mother, "I shall put on my +bonnet and go out to look for Sarah." + +"Will you _promise_ to bring her back?" asked poor little Diana +earnestly. + +Even Mother could not _promise_, but she would do her very best, and +when she had started Diana went up to the nursery somewhat comforted, to +wait as patiently as she could for her return. + +Long, long before that could possibly happen she stationed herself at +the window, and fixed her eyes on the busy street below. Carts, +carriages, cabs, people, how they all went on and on without a pause, +full of their own business or pleasure! So many ladies, but not Mother; +so many dogs, small and big, but not one quite like Sarah. Diana's mouth +began to droop more and more with disappointment, and she was very near +crying. Even Mother could not bring Sarah back! + +"A watched kettle never boils, Miss Diana," said Nurse. "You'd much +better come away from the window and play, and then the time'd pass +quicker." + +But Diana would not move. Just as Nurse spoke she caught sight of a +bonnet in the distance just like Mother's, but she had been so often +deceived that she hardly dared to hope. It came nearer--it was opposite +the house. Oh, joy! Mother's face, with an expression of triumphant +satisfaction upon it, looked up to the nursery window. No wonder it was +triumphant, for under her arm there appeared a yellow and white head, +with silky ears and large dark eyes. Sarah was found! It seemed almost +too good to be true. + + * * * * * + +You may imagine how Diana rejoiced over Sarah and petted her, and how +interested she and everyone else were to hear how the little dog had +been traced to a coachman's house in a mews close by. Sarah, on her +side, seemed very glad to be with her dear little mistress again, and +after returning her caresses curled herself up and went to sleep on the +sofa, no doubt tired with her adventures. How Diana wished she could +tell her all she had done and seen on that Sunday when everyone had been +so unhappy about her! + +"Where did you go, you darling?" she asked her over and over again, but +Sarah never answered. She only wagged her fringy tail, and licked her +mistress's hand, and goggled at her with her full dark eyes. And yet +Diana felt quite sure that she had many strange and interesting things +to tell, if she only could. + +One afternoon she was lying on the school-room sofa with Sarah by her +side. It was a very hot day, the blinds were down and the windows wide +open, so that the distant rumble of the carts and carriages came up from +the street below. There was an organ playing too, and as Diana listened +dreamily to these noises, and stroked Sarah's head with one hand, she +began to wonder again about those wonderful adventures. + +"Tell me where you went on Sunday," she whispered once more. + +To her great surprise, she plainly heard, among all the other noises, +the sound of a tiny voice close to her. She listened eagerly, and this +is what it said: + +"You must know, my dear mistress, that I have long had a great wish to +see more of the world. The park is pleasant enough, but after all if you +are led on a string and not allowed to speak to other dogs, it soon +becomes dull and tiresome. I wanted to go out alone, into the busy +street, to stay as long as I liked, to take whatever direction I +fancied, and to join in the amusements of other dogs. In short, I wanted +more freedom; and although I never gave way to temper or became +snappish, I grew more and more discontented with my safe and pleasant +life. I was so closely watched, however, that I could never get an +opportunity for the least little stroll alone, and I began to despair, +when, at last, on Sunday, the chance really came. I was alone in the +hall, Hester opened the door, I slipped out unseen, and there I +was--free! + +"It was delightful to find myself alone on the door-step, and to hear +the door shut behind me; not that I did not fully intend to go back, for +I love my mistress and am not ungrateful for the kindness shown me, but +it was so pleasant to think that for a short time I could do just as I +liked. I soon found, however, that this was very far from the case. + +"At first I trotted along the pavement in the best spirits, meeting very +few dogs, and those of a very rough kind, so that I did not care to +speak to them. It was, as you remember, a very hot day. The ground felt +quite burning under my feet, and soon I should have been thankful to be +carried a little while. I got thirsty too, and I began to look about for +a shady place where I could lie down and rest out of the sun. Presently +I came to a narrow turning, which looked dark and cool compared to the +bright hot streets. It was quiet too, for there was only a man in the +yard washing a cart, and a rough-coated grey dog sitting near. I made up +my mind to try this, and trotting up to the dog made a few remarks about +the heat of the weather. From his replies I soon perceived that he was +quite a common dog, though very good-natured in manner, and he shortly +told me he belonged to the green-grocer and that his name was 'Bob'. + +"We continued to talk, and before long I learnt a good deal about his +way of life, which interested me extremely from its great contrast to my +own. In spite of its hardships there was something attractive about it +too, though quite out of the question for anyone of delicacy and +refinement. For Bob was a working dog. He had to be at Covent Garden by +daybreak with his master, to go on all his rounds with him, and to take +care of the vegetables in the cart while he called at the different +houses. + +"'And what do you get for all that?' I asked. + +"'I get my food, and a good many kicks sometimes,' he answered. + +"'Poor dog!' I exclaimed, for my heart was filled with pity for him, and +I no longer thought his an attractive life. 'Why don't you run away?' + +"Bob grinned. 'I'm not so stupid as that,' he replied. 'Dogs that run +away come to bad ends. Besides, I'm happy enough. I get a holiday +sometimes, and a walk in the park, and on Sunday I can do what I like.' + +"'Dear me!' I exclaimed languidly. 'What a dreadful life! Now, _I_ have +nothing to do but to please myself every day in the week, and as for +the park, I go there so often I'm perfectly sick of it.' + +"'Do you get your Sundays out?' asked Bob. + +"I hesitated. 'This is really my first Sunday out,' I replied at length, +'but I intend in future----' + +"'What's your name?' rudely interrupted Bob. + +"He certainly had no manners at all, but what could you expect from a +dog of low degree? + +"'My name,' I replied, holding up my head with a slight sniff of +disdain, 'is--Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough!' + +"I had no time to notice the effect of these words, for they were hardly +out of my mouth when I felt myself seized by a large hand, lifted into +the air, and thrust into someone's coat pocket. From this humiliating +position I heard the voice of the man washing the cart: + +"'That _your_ dorg?' And someone answered, 'It belongs to the lady.' + +"You may judge, my dear mistress, how frightened I felt. Here was a +sudden end to my freedom! Imprisoned in a strange man's pocket, from +which escape was impossible, nearly stifled with the smell of tobacco, +and filled with dread as to what would happen next. I managed to wriggle +my head out of the corner, but saw at once that it would be useless to +think of jumping out, the distance from the ground being far too great. +I remained still therefore, and as the man walked out of the yard had a +faint hope that he knew where I lived and was taking me home. Alas! I +was soon disappointed. He turned down a mews, went into a house I had +never seen before, up some narrow stairs without any carpet, and entered +a room where there sat a large fat man in his shirt sleeves, smoking and +reading a newspaper. I was placed trembling on the table by his side, +and he took the pipe out of his mouth and turned his head to look at me. + +"'Nice little sort of a fancy dorg,' he said at last. 'What they call a +"Blennum".' + +"'Strayed into the yard,' said the man who had picked me up. 'I'm going +to show it to the missus presently.' + +"'Worth a tidy sum,' said the fat man, and went on smoking. + +"Was ever a dog of my rank and position brought down so low? No one took +any more notice of me, or seemed to think me of any importance, and I +remained shivering on the table with large tears rolling down my cheeks. +How I repented my folly! I had wanted to see the world, and here it was, +a miserable contrast to my happy life at home, where I was fondled and +admired by everyone. Foolish, foolish little dog that I had been! I +began to think too how my dear little mistress would miss me, and how +they would search everywhere and call for me in vain, and the more I +thought the more painful it all seemed. A long and wretched time passed +in this way, during which the fat man, who was a coachman I afterwards +heard, puffed at his pipe and read his newspaper, sometimes shaking his +head and talking to himself a little. He hardly seemed to know I was +there, and I believe if the door had been open I could easily have +escaped, for the other man had gone out of the room. But there was no +chance of that; by and by he came back, took me under his arm and went +out into the street again. Where was he going, I wondered. He had talked +of the missus, but if the missus was any friend of his I had no hope +that she would prove agreeable. It was a great surprise, therefore, to +find myself a little later in a large house where there were soft +carpets, and pictures, and flowers, and everything I have been used to +see around me. Not only this, but I was most warmly received by a lady, +who called me a duck, a darling, a love, and a beauty. These familiar +names, which I had been accustomed to hear from my birth, made me feel +somewhat at home, and I began to take comfort. At any rate, I was now +with people who knew how to behave to me, and would treat me with +consideration. I passed the rest of the day, therefore, in peace, though +I still sighed for my own mistress, and had no appetite for the new roll +and cream offered me. + +"All my fears returned, however, for to my distress I was sent back to +sleep at the coachman's house, where I passed the night full of anxiety +and the most dismal thoughts. How would all this end? Who can picture my +ecstasy of delight the next morning when I heard the sound of your +mother's voice talking to the coachman below? I need not tell you how +she had succeeded in tracing me through the green-grocer, who had seen +me picked up in the yard, for that you know already. I cannot help +feeling that Bob may have had something to do with my recovery, for I am +sure though rough in his manners he was a well-meaning dog. If so, I am +grateful to him. To end a long story, my dear mistress, I must remark +that I have no longer any wish to know more of the world. It is far too +rough and noisy a place for me, and you need have no fear, therefore, +that I shall try to repeat my experience, or shall ever forget the +lesson taught me by 'my Sunday out'." + + + + +THE TOAD IN THE HOLE + + +"When is she coming?" + +"To-morrow." + +"Are you glad?" + +"No. Are you?" + +"I don't care. I wonder how long she will stay. I know Mother said a +week, but I dare say she'll ask her to stay longer as she did last +year." + +"Well, I know she'll be tiresome, and I shall be glad when she goes +away." + +"I'm going to sleep now." + +"Oh, Martha, how soon you always do go to sleep! I'm not a bit sleepy +yet." + +A snore from the other little bed soon showed Betty that further talk +was hopeless. She would have liked to chatter longer, but Martha had a +way of falling asleep at the most interesting points, and Betty knew it +would be useless to try and rouse her now. + +So she resigned herself to her own thoughts with a sigh. Kitty was +coming to-morrow! Coming before Martha and she had had any enjoyment of +their country life together, for the children had only just left London. +Coming to spoil all their plans and games with her tiresome ways, just +as she had done last year. Of course she would insist on being first in +everything, on ruling everyone, and would be as pushing and disagreeable +as possible. It was all very well to say that she was a visitor and must +do as she wished, but that did not make it any the less provoking. + +And then Martha took it all so quietly. It was almost impossible to +rouse her to be angry, and that was annoying too in its way. "I +suppose," thought Betty, very sleepily now, "that I ought to try to be +patient too, but sometimes I really _can't_." She fell asleep here, and +dreamed that Kitty was an immense "daddy-long-legs" flapping and buzzing +about in her hair. + +The next afternoon Kitty arrived, full of excitement, and ready to be +more than delighted with everything. + +She was eleven years old, just Martha's age, and Betty was two years +younger. Fresh from her life in London, where there always were so many +lessons to be learned and so little "fun" of any kind, this beautiful +country home was a sort of paradise to her. To have no one to scold her, +no lessons to learn, no tiresome straight walks with her governess, and +above all, to have two playfellows always ready to join in pleasures and +games! Kitty was an only child, and her life was often dull for want of +companionship. Everything went on very well at first, for there was so +much to do and see that there was no time for disputes. True, Kitty +commanded as much as ever, and had a way of setting people to rights +which was distinctly trying; but she and Betty did not come to any open +disagreement until she had been at Holmwood for nearly a week. +Nevertheless there had been many small occasions on which Betty had felt +fretted and irritated; for Kitty, without the least intending it, seemed +often to choose just the wrong thing to say and do. + +And then she always wished to do _exactly_ the same as Martha and +herself, and that was _so_ tiresome. + +For instance, all the children were very fond of dear Miss Grey. But now +it was always Kitty who must sit next to her, Kitty who rushed to supply +her with roses to wear and strawberries to eat, Kitty who kissed her +repeatedly at the most awkward moments. Martha and Betty, who naturally +felt that Miss Grey was their _own dear_ Miss Grey, could hardly get +near her at all, and Betty resented this very much. In fact, she +gradually got to dwell so entirely on these annoyances that she could +not think of Kitty's good qualities at all, and was quite unable to +remember that she was generous and affectionate, and that her faults, +though tiresome, were partly the result of a longing to be loved. + +At last, the clouds having gathered, the storm came. + +One morning, almost as soon as she got up, Betty felt that every single +thing Kitty did or said was silly. It did not occur to her that perhaps +she was a little bit cross herself, which was the real explanation. + +After breakfast they all three went down to the pond, and, dividing the +water into shares, began to fish for frogs and newts. + +"In a minute," said Betty to herself as she watched Kitty, "she'll say +Martha and I have the best places." + +It happened just so. + +"I say," said Kitty, throwing down her net and coming close up to Betty, +"I've got the worst place of all, there's nothing to catch in this +part!" + +"You haven't tried long enough," said Martha. + +"Let's change," was Kitty's next suggestion as she stood looking eagerly +over Betty's shoulder. + +"All right," said Betty moodily, and she went round to the part of the +pond Kitty had left, where she almost immediately caught two tadpoles +and a newt. + +"Look there!" she cried, holding up her net triumphantly. + +"Oh!" screamed Kitty, "you _are_ lucky. _Do_ let me try," and she rushed +up to Betty's side and seized hold of the net. But this was too much. +Betty let go of the handle and said indignantly, "I shan't fish any +more. You're so unfair; you always are!" And she walked away in a rage. +"Kitty is more tiresome than ever," she said to herself. "She spoils +everything. I wish she would go away!" + +All that day she preserved an attitude of dignified sulkiness in spite +of Kitty's frequent attempts to make it up. When she came and threw her +arm round her, Betty shook it off impatiently. + +That evening the three little girls were in the woods with dear Miss +Grey and baby Susie, who was just three years old. Betty was walking a +little behind the others with her eyes fixed on the ground. It was damp +and mossy, and there was a thick growth of ferns and underwood at the +side of the path. Suddenly she saw something move quickly through this, +and disappear down a hole. She stopped and moved aside the ferns and +moss. What do you think she saw sitting comfortably in the hole and +staring at her with its moist bright eyes? + +A large speckled toad! + +"Look, look, Miss Grey!" she cried, and everyone gathered round to see +what she had found. Even Susie peered into the hole, and poked a bit of +fern gently at the toad, which sat there gazing quietly at them. + +"What a jolly little home he's made for himself!" said Martha. "All soft +and moist, and just exactly to fit him." + +"He can't see out much," said Betty as she put back the moss gently over +the top. + +"I don't think he wants to," said Miss Grey. "He is quite satisfied, +like many other people who live in holes." + +The children ran on through the wood, except Betty, who kept back and +took hold of Miss Grey's hand. + +"What do you mean about living in holes?" she asked presently. + +"Well, you know, we all live in holes of one kind or another. Some are +rough and some smooth, some fit us exactly, and some don't fit us at +all. Some are softly lined with all sorts of comforts, and some are full +of pricks and troubles. And it is always very difficult to see out of +them." + +"Why?" asked Betty. + +"Because, like the toad's hole we saw just now, our own lives are so +near us and surround us so closely, that it is only by making an effort +that we can get out of them and understand other people's lives at all. +The only thing that can really make us do that is sympathy." + +"What does that mean?" + +"It is that which makes us able to put ourselves in thought into other +people's holes, and feel what it is like to live there. When we do that +it makes us remember to be patient and gentle with our friends and +companions, for if they live in uncomfortable holes it must be difficult +for them to be unselfish and amiable. If we had their troubles and +vexations we might not be half so pleasant as they are." + +Betty was silent. + +"Do you think Martha's hole and mine is nicer than Kitty's?" she said at +last. + +"Well, I think in some ways it may be. At any rate you know Kitty has no +sisters to play with, and very little of this country life you all enjoy +so much. While her holiday lasts I should try to make it as pleasant as +possible for her, if I were you." + +"I do," said Betty, "generally. Only sometimes she makes me feel so +cross." + +At this moment up rushed Kitty, and elbowed Betty away from Miss Grey's +side. + +"You've had her long enough!" she shouted. "It's my turn now!" + +And Betty was thinking so much about the toad in the hole, that she did +not even frown. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Kitchen Cat and Other Stories, by Amy Walton + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KITCHEN CAT AND OTHER STORIES *** + +***** This file should be named 24751.txt or 24751.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/7/5/24751/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Stephen Blundell and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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