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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sparrow the tramp, by Lily F.
-Wesselhoeft
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: Sparrow the tramp
-       A fable for children
-
-Authors: Lily F. Wesselhoeft
-         Jessie McDermott
-
-Release Date: September 2, 2022 [eBook #68899]
-
-Language: English
-
-Produced by: D A Alexander, Dorothy Scrafford Whaley (who received the
-             book on her sixth birthday, October 16th, 1912, and
-             bequeathed the book to her granddaughter, the PM and PP for
-             the book), and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
-             https://www.pgdp.net
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPARROW THE TRAMP ***
-
-
-
-
-
-SPARROW, THE TRAMP.
-
-
-
-
-  [Illustration: “The sparrow again waited until the child had almost
-  reached him.”--_Page_ 155.]
-
-
-
-
-  SPARROW, THE TRAMP.
-
-  A Fable for Children.
-
-  BY LILY F. WESSELHOEFT.
-
-  _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JESSIE McDERMOTT._
-
-  [Illustration: Posy]
-
-  BOSTON:
-  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY.
-  1902.
-
-
-
-
-  _Copyright, 1888_,
-  BY ROBERTS BROTHERS.
-
-  UNIVERSITY PRESS:
-  JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.
-
-
-
-
-PUBLISHERS’ NOTE.
-
-
-The lamented author of “Little Women” in her last days read with great
-delight the manuscript of this little story; and its publication is
-owing greatly to the interest which she had in it.
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: MRS. POLLY.]
-
-
-
-
-SPARROW, THE TRAMP.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER I.
-
-
-“LET that sugar-bowl alone, Posy,” said Tom, as Posy extracted a lump
-while they were waiting for Papa and Mamma to come down to breakfast.
-
-“I’m not taking it for _myself_,” answered Posy, as plainly as the
-large lump in her mouth permitted her to speak; “I’m only just getting
-a lump for Dicky.”
-
-“That’s a story,” said Tom.
-
-“I was only just tasting it to see if it was a real sweet lump,” said
-Posy very distinctly now, for the lump had disappeared. “I didn’t mean
-to eat it, but it went all to pieces in my mouth.”
-
-“You might have known it would,” said Tom.
-
-“I guess I’d better pick out a real hard lump next time,” said Posy;
-and she made up her mind not to put that one in her mouth, so she only
-lapped it a little as she walked towards the canary’s cage.
-
-Just then a noise was heard from the china-closet, and Tom at once went
-to see what it was.
-
-“Why, there’s a mouse-hole right in the corner of that upper shelf,” he
-said; “I thought it sounded like a mouse gnawing.”
-
-“Rats! rats!” called the parrot, whose cage hung in the window by the
-side of the canary’s.
-
-“You’re mistaken, ma’am,” said Tom; “the barn-cat doesn’t give the rats
-a chance to come into the house,--they live in the barn.”
-
-“Rats!” again cried the parrot.
-
-Posy went up to the parrot’s cage and looked in.
-
-“How do you do? How’s your mother?” asked the parrot, with her head on
-one side.
-
-“Pretty well, I thank you, Mrs. Polly,” answered Posy; and she couldn’t
-resist the temptation of trying to seize the red feathers in Mrs.
-Polly’s tail and give them a little tweak. Mrs. Polly always resented
-such liberties, and made sudden dives at the chubby fingers; but Posy
-had learned to be careful, and drew them out in time.
-
-“You wouldn’t really bite Posy, would you?” asked the canary.
-
-“No,” said Mrs. Polly, “I wouldn’t; but I guess you wouldn’t like to
-have your tail pulled every time she gets a chance. It doesn’t hurt,
-you know, but it’s very disagreeable. She steals the peanuts out of my
-cage, too, and eats them. She’s a very mischievous child.”
-
-“But she’s kind and good,” answered the canary.
-
-Although this conversation took place between the birds, to the
-children it seemed as if the canary sang his usual song and Polly
-chattered in her accustomed way.
-
-Just then Mr. and Mrs. Winton appeared, and the family took their
-places at the breakfast-table.
-
-Soon a slight rattling was heard among the dishes in the china-closet,
-and Mr. Winton cautiously approached the closet door and suddenly
-opened it. A large rat whisked into the hole Tom had discovered.
-
-“We never had a rat in the house before,” said Mr. Winton, as he
-returned to his seat; “I am afraid the house-cat doesn’t do her duty. I
-never thought her so good a ratter as the barn-cat.”
-
-“Michael must stop up the hole at once with broken glass and mortar,”
-said Mrs. Winton; “I can’t have rats in the house.”
-
-“Posy, run into the kitchen and see if Hannah has any more muffins,”
-said Papa; for Katie, who had been both waitress and nurse to Posy, had
-been gone a few days, and her place had not been supplied.
-
-“How long that child stays!” said Papa, when some minutes had elapsed
-and she did not return.
-
-“Hannah is rather slow,” answered Mamma, “and perhaps the muffins were
-not quite ready.”
-
-A few minutes more passed, but no Posy appeared.
-
-“What can that thumping be?” said Mamma. “I can’t imagine what Hannah
-can be doing. I have heard it for some time. Do run and see what it
-means, Tom.”
-
-“I shouldn’t wonder if Posy were up to some mischief,” said Tom, as he
-disappeared.
-
-“What in the world can that boy be doing?” exclaimed Papa, after they
-had waited some time and neither of the children appeared.
-
-“I will see what the trouble is,” said Mamma; but before she rose from
-her seat Tom reappeared, laughing, and leading Posy, who appeared
-somewhat confused as she resumed her seat in silence.
-
-“What do you suppose Posy has been doing?” said Tom. “She found Hannah
-down cellar getting coal, and she locked her down; and then she took
-the house-kittens and dipped their heads in the pitcher of milk on the
-table and made ’em drink, and then she brought in the barn-kittens and
-made them drink too. Hannah said Posy made believe she didn’t hear when
-Hannah pounded on the door and told Posy to let her out. She said she
-heard Posy running backward and forward, hurrying to get through before
-anybody came.”
-
-“Well,” said Posy, “kittens have to be teached to drink milk, you know.”
-
-Papa laughed, as he was very apt to do when he heard of Posy’s
-mischief; but when Mamma shook her head at him he stopped and tried to
-look very serious.
-
-“It was very naughty of you to lock Hannah down cellar, Posy,” he said;
-“you see I can’t have any more muffins, for it’s time for me to go for
-the train.”
-
-Posy looked very sad to think she had been the cause of so much
-trouble, and Papa could never bear to see his little girl unhappy; so
-he caught her in his arms and kissed her, saying,--
-
-“But I can’t help loving you, if you _are_ naughty.”
-
-“Hannah,” said Posy, as Hannah entered to take away the breakfast, “my
-papa says it was very naughty in me to lock you down cellar, but that
-he loves me still.”
-
-“Michael,” said Mr. Winton, as the horse was brought around to the door
-to take him to the depot, “the rats gnawed a hole through the wall in
-the china-closet last night, and I want you to stop it up with mortar
-and broken glass.”
-
-“All right, sir,” answered Michael. “If the barn-cat could be in two
-places to onst, it’s no rats ye’d have in the house. She’s a rale
-knowing baste, is the barn-cat. If you could only see the sinsible way
-she has wid them kittens of hers. She kapes thim out of doors in foine
-weather; and when the jew begins to fall, if it’s shut the door is, she
-kapes thim walking about, for fear it’s a cold they’ll get.”
-
-“Let’s go and see them,” said Tom; and off ran the children as Mr.
-Winton stepped into the carriage and drove off.
-
-Then, when all was still in the dining-room, a slight noise might have
-been heard in the china-closet, and a long nose and a pair of very
-sharp black eyes appeared in the now rat-hole.
-
-Looking cautiously around, and stopping every minute to listen, the rat
-ventured out. He was quite gray about the mouth from age, and had a
-particularly vicious look in his shrewd old eyes. Finding all still, he
-ventured out a little farther, and still farther, and at last slid down
-from the shelf and entered the dining-room.
-
-Mrs. Polly’s quick ears had heard him, and she watched him as he
-noiselessly moved about, picking up the crumbs that had fallen from the
-table.
-
-“Hallo!” called out Mrs. Polly.
-
-“Speak a little louder while you’re about it,” snarled the old rat, who
-had started at the sound of her voice and listened anxiously to hear if
-there were danger of detection; and as he spoke he gave a very vicious
-grin that displayed his long yellow teeth, with one of the front ones
-broken.
-
-“I haven’t time to sit for my portrait this morning,” resumed the old
-rat, as Mrs. Polly continued to gaze steadfastly at him. “You’ll know
-me the next time you see me, I hope!”
-
-“I know you already,” said Mrs. Polly; “you’re Graywhisker.”
-
-“Whew!” exclaimed the old rat, with another grin that showed the broken
-front tooth; “there’s nothing like being famous.”
-
-“I’ve heard of you from my friend the barn-cat,” said Mrs. Polly. “She
-has known you a long time, she says, but you don’t care to become very
-intimate with her;” and Mrs. Polly gave a short laugh that was very
-irritating to Graywhisker’s nerves.
-
-“The old fiend!” he exclaimed angrily; “of all the meddlesome old--”
-
-“Don’t get excited,” said Mrs. Polly calmly.
-
-“You’d better mind your own business,” answered the old rat, “or
-you’ll find yourself in trouble. The barn-cat and you are two very
-different individuals, and I shan’t stand on ceremony with you, I can
-assure you.”
-
-“Do stand on ceremony with me,” said Mrs. Polly, with another laugh.
-
-Graywhisker brought his teeth savagely together; but Mrs. Polly kept
-her cold gray eye on him in such a very unconcerned manner that he
-evidently thought better of his intention and resumed his search for
-food.
-
-“Mean people these,” he muttered; “not a scrap left. Come, don’t be
-stingy, Mrs. Polly; give me one of your peanuts there. I don’t know
-when I’ve tasted a peanut,--not since the day Posy left a few and went
-into the house for a glass of water. She didn’t find many left when she
-came back, though.”
-
-“Come and get one if you want it,” said Mrs. Polly, eying five freshly
-roasted peanuts that lay on the bottom of her cage.
-
-Graywhisker watched her shrewdly for an instant, but couldn’t determine
-from her expressionless countenance whether she really meant what she
-said.
-
-“It’s easy enough to pick one out,” he said to himself as he began to
-climb the drapery that hung by the parrot’s cage.
-
-Mrs. Polly watched him as he nimbly pulled himself up, and sat with her
-head inclined slightly forward, following every motion of his. When
-opposite the cage, he seized it with one of his forepaws, and with the
-other tried to fish out a particularly fat peanut; but before he could
-draw it out Mrs. Polly’s sharp beak pounced down on the paw, and he
-gave a squeal of pain.
-
-“Did it taste as well as those you stole from Posy?” asked Mrs. Polly.
-
-“You old vixen!” began Graywhisker, “you--”
-
-“Don’t swear,” said Mrs. Polly coolly.
-
-The canary had been a silent spectator all this time, and hardly dared
-to breathe; but when Mrs. Polly pounced on the old rat’s paw she gave a
-nervous flutter.
-
-“Oh! I hadn’t noticed you before, my friend,” exclaimed Graywhisker,
-with his horrible grin; “you’re a very tender morsel, and I’m not a bit
-afraid of your soft little beak;” and the old villain began to descend
-the curtain on Mrs. Polly’s side and ascend the one that hung by the
-canary’s cage.
-
-Poor Dicky was completely paralyzed with terror. Up came the gray nose
-and wicked-looking eyes nearer and nearer, and yet poor Dicky sat
-without stirring, his terrified eyes fastened on the horrible monster
-that could crush him with one grasp of his paw. At last he was opposite
-the cage, and was about to reach out his paw to seize it, when the
-spell that kept Dicky silent seemed broken, and he fluttered about,
-uttering cries of terror. The strong paw still held the cage, and the
-other paw reached in between the wires; but as the frightened bird, in
-his agitation, fluttered within reach of the relentless paw, Mrs. Polly
-gave a shrill whistle, and then another louder still.
-
-A rustling was heard in the bushes outside the window, and at the
-sound Graywhisker descended the curtain and scurried into the closet,
-disappearing into his hole as the house-cat, with gleaming eyes, jumped
-on the window-sill and glared around.
-
-“Which way did he go?” she demanded.
-
-The gray nose was pushed cautiously out of the hole, and a voice said,--
-
-“Mrs. House-cat, did you ever get left?”
-
-[Illustration: Graywhisker disappearing into his Hole]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER II.
-
-
-WHEN Posy caught up the kittens to carry them back to their nest in the
-barn, it was no wonder that the barn-cat followed her with a distressed
-and anxious countenance. Posy had been in such a hurry that she had
-taken one of the barn-kittens and one of the house-kittens!
-
-The barn-cat tried very hard to make the little girl understand
-her mistake, and ran about her with her tail in the air and crying
-dismally; but Posy didn’t understand, and ran back to the house after
-putting the kittens in their nest. How the barn-cat did wish she could
-speak! She looked at the kitten that belonged to the house-cat. It was
-very pretty,--maltese, with a little white on the breast and about the
-nose, very like its mother.
-
-“It’s rather a good-looking kitten, there’s no doubt about that,” said
-the barn-cat, “but to my mind not _half_ so pretty and cunning as my
-little tiger-kitten that Posy left in the kitchen. That house-cat
-doesn’t know how to bring up a family; she’ll spoil this one just as
-she has all of her others. It’ll grow up as vain and indolent as she
-is herself. I’m sure I don’t want it here. Come,” she said, poking the
-kitten with her paw, “you just run home again, will you?”
-
-The house-kitten didn’t seem to understand what the barn-cat said, for
-she evidently thought the cat wanted to play with her, and she tried to
-catch the big paw in both of her little ones.
-
-“Well, you _are_ cunning,” said the barn-cat. “It’s too bad to have you
-grow up a spoilt child. You’ll never be as smart as my kittens, of
-course, but I’ve a great mind to keep you and see what you’ll make if
-you are properly brought up.”
-
-She didn’t like to show the kitten that she was watching her, for it
-might make her vain; so she pretended to be looking very intently at
-something out in the yard and gently moved the tip of her tail, but she
-looked out of the corners of her eyes and saw the little house-kitten
-at once try to catch it.
-
-“Pretty well,” she said to herself, “considering you’ve never had any
-instruction. When you’re a little older I’ll teach you how to crouch
-and spring, the way I do my own kittens.”
-
-Now that the barn-cat had decided to keep the house-kitten, she
-set about washing it; for Posy had dipped its head so far into the
-milk-pitcher that it presented a very untidy appearance.
-
-She washed it in a most thorough manner; but the barn-cat was not
-so gentle in her ways as the house-cat, and the little house-kitten
-thought her pretty rough.
-
-“You mustn’t be a baby and cry for nothing,” said the barn-cat, when
-the kitten gave a mew as the rough tongue lifted her off her feet; “I
-see you’ve been coddled too much already.”
-
-Just then a plaintive cry was heard from the kitchen, and with one leap
-the barn-cat was out of her nest and running up to the kitchen door.
-She didn’t dare go in; for there was Hannah, and she knew by experience
-that she would be driven out if she attempted to enter. What _was_ to
-be done?
-
-The barn-cat jumped on the window-sill and looked in. There was her
-darling in the box by the stove and crying helplessly for her. The
-mother cat gave a low mew, which the baby kitten heard and understood
-just as a human baby understands when its mother speaks soothingly to
-it.
-
-“Oh dear!” exclaimed the barn-cat, “if I could only get into that
-kitchen! I know what I’ll do. I’ll tell Mrs. Polly about it, and see
-what she advises; she’s very wise.”
-
-So the barn-cat jumped down from the kitchen window and on the sill of
-the dining-room window, which stood open. Posy was in the room, and
-so was Mrs. Winton; but they couldn’t understand the language animals
-converse in.
-
-“Why, there is the barn-cat,” cried Posy, “right on the window-seat!”
-
-“Don’t frighten her away, but watch her quietly,” said Mamma; “I like
-to have her come about the house;” and Posy was very careful not to
-make any noise.
-
-“I do believe that barn-cat is telling Polly something, Mamma,” said
-Posy in a low tone; “her keeps mewing, and Polly looks just as if her
-was listening.”
-
-“Polly is certainly very talkative this morning,” answered Mamma; “it
-really does seem as if they were talking together.”
-
-“I wish I knew what they were saying,” said Posy.
-
-This is what they said:--
-
-“I’m in trouble, Mrs. Polly,” began the barn-cat, “and I want you to
-help me out of it.”
-
-“Well,” answered Polly, with her very wisest expression, “what’s the
-matter?”
-
-Then the barn-cat told about Posy’s mistake, and how anxious it made
-her to have her kitten away from her.
-
-“It’s just like Posy,” answered Polly; “she’s a very mischievous child.
-She always tweaks my tail whenever she gets a chance.”
-
-“But she’s a dear, loving child,” said the barn-cat warmly. “How she
-did cry when they gave away my last kittens!”
-
-“Yes, she’s a good little thing,” said Polly. “If ’twas anybody else
-that pulled my tail, I’d give ’em such a nip that they wouldn’t try it
-again in a hurry; but nobody could hurt Posy. She does fish some of my
-peanuts out of my cage and eat ’em up sometimes, but then she doesn’t
-mean any harm.”
-
-“What I want to know is whether you can think of any way for me to get
-my kitten back,” said the barn-cat. “I tried to make Posy understand
-what a dreadful mistake she’d made, but she was in such a hurry she
-didn’t see it.”
-
-Mrs. Polly put her head on one side in a very knowing and contemplative
-manner. After a few moments’ reflection she said, “The thing to do is
-to get Hannah out of the kitchen for a while.”
-
-“That’s very evident,” said the canary, who had been listening
-attentively and didn’t like to be left out of the conversation.
-
-“If it’s so very evident,” said Mrs. Polly, bristling up, “why don’t
-you do it?”
-
-“I didn’t say _I_ could do it; but if I could talk as you can, I
-would,” answered the canary good-naturedly.
-
-“How would you do it, pray?” asked Mrs. Polly in an irritable tone.
-
-“Why, I’d call Hannah the way Mrs. Winton does. I heard you call her
-the other day, and I declare I wouldn’t have believed it wasn’t she. I
-never knew a bird that could talk as plainly as you do.”
-
-The canary was so good-natured that Mrs. Polly was rather ashamed of
-her ill-temper, and gave a sneeze and cough to hide her embarrassment.
-
-“Well,” she said, after a pause, “perhaps that’s as good a way as any
-other. I _did_ think of yelling to make her think I’d got my head
-caught between the wires, but Posy doesn’t like to hear such a noise.
-You go ’round to the kitchen door,” she said to the barn-cat; “and
-when Hannah leaves the kitchen you just dart in, seize your kitten, and
-run off with it.”
-
-The barn-cat hardly waited to hear the last words, and ran around to
-the kitchen door. She had hardly arrived there when she heard Polly
-call “Hannah!” so exactly like Mrs. Winton that Hannah dropped the
-broom with which she was sweeping the floor, and answering, “Yes,
-ma’am,” hurried into the dining-room.
-
-In darted the barn-cat, caught up her darling in her mouth, and had it
-back in her own nest in the barn before Hannah had discovered how Polly
-had “fooled” her, as she called it.
-
-But when the house-cat came home from her visit, imagine what was her
-surprise and grief to find one of her babies gone!
-
-“That barn-cat!” she exclaimed, “I believe she has stolen it because
-it’s so much prettier than her common-looking babies. She was always
-as jealous as she could be of them!” and out to the barn went the
-house-cat.
-
-“I never visited her before,” she said to herself, “she’s so
-countrified in her ways and lives in a barn; but I must see if she’s
-got my baby.”
-
-The barn-cat knew what she was coming for as soon as she caught sight
-of her.
-
-“I want my kitten,” said the house-cat, going up to the box; and she
-stepped very daintily and held her head very high, as if she were
-afraid of soiling her shining fur. “I should think you’d be ashamed
-of yourself to slink into the house and steal my kitten! But I don’t
-suppose you know any better, as you’ve never been used to good society.”
-
-“I didn’t steal your kitten! I don’t want your old kitten; it isn’t
-half so smart or pretty as mine are.”
-
-“Indeed!” answered the house-cat with a toss of her head. “Your
-common-looking tiger-kittens! Look at my baby’s soft skin and her
-gentle little ways!”
-
-“I’ll leave it to Posy if mine are not the smartest and handsomest,”
-answered the barn-cat angrily. “They had hard work to get anybody to
-take your kittens the last time, and mine were spoken for before they
-had their eyes open!”
-
-The house-cat was very angry, but she knew there was truth in what
-the barn-cat said; so she only repeated, “Indeed!” in a very scornful
-manner, and tossed her head.
-
-“You coddle your children too much,” continued the barn-cat. “You keep
-them by the warm stove, and don’t take them out doors often enough.
-That makes them tender.”
-
-“When I want your advice I’ll ask for it,” answered the house-cat
-loftily, as she took up her kitten and went home with it.
-
-“It was a pretty enough kitten, though I wasn’t going to tell her so,”
-said the barn-cat to herself. “I think I could have made a smart kitten
-of it, but it will only be spoiled now;” and the barn-cat sighed as she
-lapped a rough spot on one of her kitten’s ears.
-
-“Meaw! meaw!” was heard in plaintive tones just outside the barn-door.
-It was a new voice, and the barn-cat quickly sprang up to see what was
-the matter. On the step of the barn-door sat a little gray kitten with
-a rough and muddy fur, who looked as if she had travelled a long way.
-She kept uttering sad little mews; and as she turned her head towards
-the barn-cat the latter saw that she was blind.
-
-[Illustration: The Blind Kitten]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER III.
-
-
-“WELL, where did you come from, I should like to know?” asked the
-barn-cat sharply; for the little gray kitten didn’t present a very
-respectable appearance, and she was very particular about the company
-her family kept.
-
-“Oh! I’ve come a long, long way,” said the gray kitten in a sad little
-voice, “all the way from the other side of the town, and I am very
-tired.”
-
-“Why didn’t you stay at home?” said the barn-cat. “Home’s the best
-place for young people.”
-
-“I haven’t got any home,” sighed the gray kitten.
-
-“That’s a likely story,” said the barn-cat shortly. “Where’s your
-mother? She must be a nice kind of a mother not to provide a home for
-her children. Every cat can do that.”
-
-“I haven’t got any mother,” said the little gray kitten sadly.
-
-The barn-cat gave her nose a sharp rub with her paw,--a habit she had
-when her feelings were touched.
-
-“Well, you live somewhere, I suppose. Who gives you food? You can’t
-live on air.”
-
-“Last night I slept in a hollow tree,” said the gray kitten, “and I
-assure you I don’t get much to eat. If it hadn’t been for a little girl
-sharing her food with me, I should have starved long ago, for I am
-’most blind and can’t see well enough to make my own living.”
-
-“I should like to hear your story,” said the barn-cat, “and then we’ll
-see what can be done for you. Let me see--” and she rubbed her ear in
-a contemplative way. “I think we’d better let Mrs. Polly and the canary
-hear your story, too. They are both pretty wise, and three heads are
-better than one any day. There comes that house-cat; she’s nobody.”
-
-So the barn-cat led the way to the open window where the parrot’s and
-canary’s cages were hanging.
-
-“What under the sun have you got there?” asked Mrs. Polly, eying the
-poor little gray kitten shrewdly.
-
-The barn-cat had jumped on the window-seat, but the gray kitten had
-modestly seated herself on the ground under the window. The house-cat,
-too, had joined the group, and placed herself where she could watch the
-little gray kitten. She stared at the poor little thing so scornfully
-that she didn’t know which way to look; so she looked on the ground
-and presented a very miserable appearance indeed, with her soiled and
-rumpled fur and her poor half-blind eyes.
-
-“Where did you pick her up?” asked Mrs. Polly.
-
-“I don’t know much more about her than you do,” answered the barn-cat.
-“I found her a few minutes ago on the door-step of the barn, and she
-tells me she has come from the other side of the town, and that she
-hasn’t any mother. I thought you’d better see her and hear her story,
-and perhaps you’d think of something that could be done for her.”
-
-Mrs. Polly put on her wise look and gave a little Ahem! for it always
-gratified her to be looked up to and asked for advice.
-
-Meanwhile the house-cat sat staring the poor gray kitten out of
-countenance. “_My_ advice is to send her back where she came from,”
-she said. “Anybody can see that she’s only a tramp. I won’t have _my_
-children taught any of her common ways. Besides, there are too many
-cats around already,” she added, eying the barn-cat so scornfully that
-it was very evident she referred to her and her kittens.
-
-“Whoever she is and wherever she comes from, it’s as plain as the nose
-on your face that she’s been well brought up,” answered the barn-cat
-quickly. “She’s quiet and lady-like in her manners, and that’s more
-than can be said of some who’ve had the best of advantages.”
-
-“She’s a common kitten, probably brought up in a barn,” said the
-house-cat contemptuously, “and has no style whatever.”
-
-This was too much for the barn-cat’s endurance, and she gave an angry
-spit, when the canary, who was always the peace-maker, interposed.
-
-“Whatever she may be,” said the canary gently, “she’s neglected and
-unfortunate; so, if Mrs. Polly will find out her story, I’m sure she
-will find a way to help her out of her troubles. If her wise head
-can’t, I don’t know whose can.”
-
-“Well,” said Mrs. Polly, “I should have done so long ago if our friends
-here hadn’t taken up so much time in disputing. Now, little gray
-kitten, tell us all you know about yourself,--where you were born, and
-how it happens that you are left alone in this big world to take care
-of yourself.”
-
-“I can’t remember very much about myself,” began the little gray kitten
-in a plaintive voice, “but I know we were always poor. My mother worked
-very hard to support us, for the woman who kept us was very mean and
-never gave us anything to eat. I have heard my mother say she was the
-meanest woman she ever knew. She said she had heard her say that she
-kept a cat to get rid of the rats and mice, and that she expected her
-to earn her own living.”
-
-“Well,” interrupted the barn-cat, “that is all very well for a single
-cat; but when a cat has a young family it comes pretty hard to keep
-them supplied with food. I never let my children eat mice; it doesn’t
-agree with them,--gives ’em the stomach-ache and makes ’em fitty.”
-
-“It’s no harm to give ’em a mouse to play with,” said the house-cat; “I
-often do mine.”
-
-“When you catch one, which isn’t often,” said the barn-cat in an
-undertone.
-
-“What was that you said?” asked the house-cat sharply; “be kind enough
-to say it a little louder.”
-
-“Oh, come, come,” put in the canary, “do let the gray kitten go on with
-her story. You were telling us that your mother had to catch all the
-food for you.”
-
-“Yes,” continued the little gray kitten, “so she did. She often brought
-us mice, and sometimes a bird,--birds agreed best with us, she said.”
-
-“Dear me!” exclaimed the canary with a shudder, “what a very
-bloodthirsty cat your mother must have been!”
-
-“Excuse me, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” said the little gray
-kitten, so politely that Mrs. Polly said to herself with a little nod
-of satisfaction,--
-
-“Very well brought up, indeed!”
-
-“Go on, my dear, with your story,” said Mrs. Polly, aloud. “How many
-were there of you?”
-
-“There were only my brother and myself,” answered the little gray
-kitten. “My mother said there were two others, but they died very
-young,--before they had their eyes open. She said she thought they
-didn’t have enough to eat.”
-
-“Well, how about your mother? I’m anxious to hear about her,” said the
-barn-cat.
-
-“It makes me very sad to think about it,” continued the little gray
-kitten, almost crying. “One day my mother told me and my brother that
-she was going to teach us how to hunt. It was the first time we had
-been out of doors; we lived in an old shed. It was a very pleasant day,
-and the air was so fresh, and the birds did look so tempting-- I beg
-your pardon,” she added, as the canary began to flutter nervously.
-
-“Never mind; go on with your story,” said the canary good-naturedly.
-“It’s your nature; you aren’t to blame.”
-
-The little gray kitten was so embarrassed by this interruption that she
-forgot where she had left off in her story; but then she was so very
-little!
-
-“You were saying,” said Mrs. Polly, “that your mother took you out of
-doors to teach you to hunt.”
-
-“Oh yes,” answered the gray kitten, “so I was. Well, it was very
-pleasant, and we enjoyed ourselves very much, and I caught a little
-field-mouse, and so did my brother; and our mother praised us, and said
-that after all perhaps we would turn out smarter cats than if we had
-been brought up to have everything we wanted, for then we might have
-become lazy.”
-
-“Very true, indeed,” interrupted the barn-cat, with a triumphant glance
-at the house-cat. “Your mother must have been a very sensible cat!”
-
-“Well, then what happened, little one?” asked Mrs. Polly; for the gray
-kitten was again thrown off her balance by the interruption.
-
-“The next is very sad, indeed,” said the gray kitten. “We were going
-home, so happy to think our dear mother was so pleased with us, when
-all at once we heard a dreadful noise. My brother and I were frightened
-half to death, for we had never heard a noise like it. My mother said
-it was a dog, and there was a boy with it,--a bad boy; my mother said
-all boys were bad--”
-
-“Not _all_ boys,” said the barn-cat. “Tom isn’t a bad boy; he wouldn’t
-hurt a kitten for the world. I’d trust him anywhere with my kittens.”
-
-“He isn’t so mischievous as Posy is,” said the house-cat.
-
-“Posy isn’t mischievous,” said the barn-cat warmly; “she doesn’t mean
-to do mischief. You can’t call it mischief when she thinks she’s doing
-something to help you all the time.”
-
-“Please don’t interrupt so often,” said the canary; “you said, little
-kitten, that a big dog and a boy came up.”
-
-“Yes,” continued the little gray kitten; “and as soon as the boy saw
-us he said, ‘Hie, Rover, seize ’em, sir!’ and the big dog, looking,
-oh, so fierce and angry, rushed at us with his mouth wide open, and
-making that dreadful noise. There was a tree near us, and my mother
-told my brother and me to climb up the tree as quickly as we could. My
-poor mother gave us the first chance, for she knew we couldn’t climb as
-well as she could, and she stood at the foot of the tree with her fur
-all bristling up and spitting at the big dog. We got up to the first
-branches where the dog couldn’t reach us; but before my poor mother had
-time to follow us the big dog seized her, and gave her one shake and
-killed her.”
-
-Her hearers were very quiet as the little gray kitten ceased and sat
-crying softly to herself. The barn-cat gave her nose a sharp rub with
-her paw, and then jumped down and examined very carefully a hole under
-the window, as if she expected to find a mouse there. Her feelings were
-very much touched, for she couldn’t help thinking how dreadful it would
-be if her little kittens were left without a mother to care for them.
-
-“Well,” she said, after a pause, coming back to her place on the
-window-sill, “what did your brother and you do then?”
-
-“We waited till the boy and the big dog were gone,” said the little
-gray kitten, “and then we climbed down from the tree and went home. It
-was very lonely in the old shed, and we almost starved to death, for
-we were too small to catch mice enough to satisfy our appetites. My
-brother got tired of living so, and said he was going to try to find a
-better home where they would feed him, but I stayed where I was.”
-
-“How about that girl you said used to feed you?” asked the house-cat.
-
-“She was a poor little girl who didn’t have any mother either, and the
-woman I belonged to made her work hard and gave her very little to eat;
-but she pitied me, and often went hungry herself to share her food with
-me.”
-
-“What made your eyes so bad, my dear?” asked Mrs. Polly kindly.
-
-“I think it must have been the cold; it was very cold in the shed.”
-
-There was a few minutes’ silence, and then Mrs. Polly said,--
-
-“I have been thinking the matter over, and I believe the best thing to
-do is to get Posy to help us. You put yourself in the way where she’ll
-see you,” she said to the little gray kitten, “and all will be well.”
-
-[Illustration: The poor little girl and the blind kitten.--_Page_ 45.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IV.
-
-
-POSY and Tom were seated on the kitchen door-step, and the two
-house-kittens lay in Posy’s lap. Posy was in a very thoughtful mood,
-and sat watching the kittens in silence.
-
-“I’ve been wondering, Tom,” she said at last, “where God keeps his
-babies that haven’t got any wings.”
-
-“Why, babies don’t ever have wings, Posy,” said Tom.
-
-“Yes, they do, the angel babies. I mean the ones he brings down here to
-people.”
-
-“Oh!” said Tom, “I suppose he has some nice place to keep ’em in.”
-
-“I should think,” said Posy thoughtfully, “that we might see Him when
-he goes around from house to house.”
-
-“Why, of course we can’t,” answered Tom decidedly.
-
-Posy played with the kittens in her lap.
-
-“Come, Kitty, and have your bonnet on,” she said, folding her
-handkerchief over the head of one of the kittens and tying it under
-her chin. “Poor thing, you haven’t got a single dress after your name,
-and I must make you one. And I guess I’d better make some little
-cow-catchers around your forehead; they are very becoming to your
-little rosy face.”
-
-“Cow-catchers!” laughed Tom. “You mean beau-catchers! What a little
-goosie you are, Posy!”
-
-“I know that just as well as you can,” answered Posy, blushing; and she
-thought it best to turn the conversation.
-
-“Tom,” she said, “I guess I shall marry you when I’m grown up,--either
-you or Papa.”
-
-“People can’t marry their fathers!” said Tom, with an air of superior
-wisdom, “because they’ve got married already, you know.”
-
-“Well, then, I shall marry you, because I love you so much. People can
-marry their brothers, can’t they, Tom?”
-
-“I don’t know about that,” answered Tom shrewdly.
-
-“Well, then, let me see--who shall I marry? I _did_ think of marrying
-Mary Weston, but her’s married already, you know. I guess I’ll marry
-Mr. Dawson.”
-
-“I know why,” said Tom quickly; “it’s because he’s got some puppies!
-Oh, you selfish girl!”
-
-“I don’t care,” said poor Posy in a very crestfallen manner; “I’d give
-you one of the puppies, Tom.”
-
-“I guess Mr. Dawson will be out of the world long before you’re ready
-to git married, Posy,” said Hannah, who had been listening to the
-conversation between the children; “he must be nigh onto seventy if
-he’s a day. Well, Tom, who do you intend to marry?”
-
-“If I marry for love,” answered Tom, “I shall marry Auntie; but if I
-marry for money, I shall marry Katie Thomas, because her father’s got
-more money than old Mr. Thornton, and he’s got a hundred dollars in the
-bank.”
-
-“Well, I never!” said Hannah; “but I guess I’d better be about my work.
-I wish that lazy Michael would bring me in some wood. He grows worse
-every day. I bet he’s asleep somewhere,--he usually _is_ asleep when
-there’s anything to be done.”
-
-“He’s gone to get Major shod,” said Tom; “I saw him go down the yard
-with him.”
-
-“There he comes!” said Posy, as a man appeared leading a handsome
-chestnut horse up the yard.
-
-“Good-morning, Michael,” called Posy when he was opposite the kitchen
-door.
-
-“Good-morning, Miss,” answered Michael.
-
-“Have you had a nap to-day, Michael?” asked Posy in her sweetest way.
-
-“No, Miss,” answered Michael, as he led the horse into the barn.
-
-“That child does beat anything I ever see,” said Hannah, laughing, as
-she went about her work again.
-
-Suddenly a dreadful noise was heard from the direction of the
-dining-room window,--shrieks as if somebody were in great distress.
-
-“Polly’s got her head caught between the wires,” cried Tom, jumping
-up and running around to the window. Posy quickly dumped the kittens
-into their nest and followed him as fast as she could. As soon as they
-appeared Polly burst into a loud laugh.
-
-“The next time I shan’t believe you, ma’am, you’ve fooled me so many
-times,” said Tom.
-
-“Oh, Tom,” cried Posy, “look, see! see this poor little gray kitten!
-Poor thing, her’s awful thin, and her looks as if her didn’t have any
-home.”
-
-“Why, she’s blind!” said Tom. “Poor kitty, come, I won’t hurt you;”
-and he lifted the little gray kitten very gently, and sat down on the
-piazza step softly stroking it.
-
-“Her isn’t one bit afraid of us,” said Posy, seating herself beside Tom
-and stroking the kitten too. “Her knows we won’t hurt her, don’t her,
-Tom?”
-
-The little gray kitten had heard all about the children, and felt
-perfectly secure with them.
-
-“Her’s purring!” cried Posy joyfully. “I mean to ask Mamma if I can
-keep her.” And off ran Posy to Mamma’s room.
-
-“There’s a poor little gray kitten out doors, Mamma,” said Posy, all
-out of breath from hurrying, “and her’s blind of one eye. Can’t I keep
-her and take care of her? Her looks like her didn’t have any home at
-all.”
-
-“Yes,” said Mamma, “you may ask Hannah to give you a saucer of milk for
-her.”
-
-“Her’s blind of _both_ eyes,” cried Posy, bursting into tears; “but I
-thought you wouldn’t let me keep her if you knew it.”
-
-“Why, my dear little girl,” answered Mamma, drawing Posy to her side,
-“I love to have you kind to animals, and particularly so to those that
-are helpless and can’t take care of themselves. Don’t cry, my darling,
-you shall give this poor little kitten a comfortable home, and make
-her as happy as if she were not blind.”
-
-“But it makes me feel bad to think her can’t see,” said Posy, sobbing.
-
-“Think, my darling, how much more comfortable you can make her than she
-has ever been before; and perhaps it is not so bad as you think,--she
-may not be wholly blind.”
-
-So Mamma put down her sewing, and went with Posy to look at the little
-gray kitten, who all this time had been purring away contentedly in
-Tom’s lap.
-
-“Oh no,” said Mamma, “she isn’t wholly blind, she can see out of one
-eye; and we will bathe her eyes with some warm water and a soft sponge,
-and she will feel as comfortable as possible.”
-
-“I knew how it would be,” said the parrot to the canary, as the kitten
-was carried off to the kitchen to be fed.
-
-“Kind people, every one of them,” answered the canary, hopping about
-for joy. “Hallo! what’s the barn-cat up to? Do look at her!”
-
-The barn-cat was creeping cautiously along the yard, her body almost
-touching the ground and her eyes glowing with eagerness. Sometimes
-she stopped for an instant and swished her tail excitedly, then went
-on again. The canary and Mrs. Polly soon saw what it was that excited
-her so. A little sparrow sat on a stone a few rods off, pluming his
-feathers in a very unconcerned manner. The barn-cat stopped and
-wriggled her body for a final spring, when all at once Mrs. Polly
-screamed out, “Scat! scat!” in so loud a voice and so exactly like a
-human being that the barn-cat stopped in her spring and the sparrow
-flew up into a bush opposite the dining-room window.
-
-Certainly the sparrow was a very rowdy-looking bird. His feathers were
-rumpled and many of them broken, and he had a very independent air
-that was a great contrast to the refined manner of the well-kept canary.
-
-“Who are you, pray?” asked Mrs. Polly, eying the new-comer curiously.
-
-“Can’t you see?” answered the sparrow in a hoarse voice.
-
-“It’s very evident you’re a tramp,” said Mrs. Polly. “What do you want
-here?”
-
-“I didn’t know you’d got a lease of the place, or I wouldn’t have
-come,” answered the sparrow pertly.
-
-“Come now, keep a civil tongue in your head,” said Mrs. Polly. “You’ll
-find it to your advantage. Where do you live?”
-
-“Wherever I can. Sometimes in one place, sometimes in another.”
-
-“That looks bad,” said Mrs. Polly gravely. “Did you ever hear the
-proverb that ‘rolling stones gather no moss’?”
-
-“Now look here, Mrs. Parrot, I haven’t asked anything of you, and I
-ain’t going to. I acknowledge I’m a tramp, if having no home makes a
-bird one. I get my food where I can, but I don’t do anybody any harm.
-If I prefer to live that way, whose business is it but my own?”
-
-“You’ve been fighting, I see,” said Mrs. Polly gravely; “’tisn’t
-respectable.”
-
-“Now look here, ma’am! You’re kept in a cage, and have your food given
-you regular, and don’t have to trouble yourself about where your next
-meal is to come from. I live where I can, pick up my own meals where
-I can find ’em; if I can’t find ’em I go without. I sleep out in all
-kinds of weather, and that makes my feathers rough and my voice hoarse;
-but I want you to understand that I’m just as good a fellow as if I had
-a red tail and a hooked nose.”
-
-“That’s very true,” said the good-natured canary, “I should like to
-make your acquaintance. You go about so much you must see and hear a
-good many things that we don’t.”
-
-“Well, I guess I could tell you a thing or two that would make your
-feathers curl,” answered the stranger.
-
-Just then the children came along with the little gray kitten that had
-been washed and fed, and seated themselves on the steps of the piazza.
-
-“Hallo!” called out the sparrow to the little gray kitten, “how in the
-world did you turn up here?”
-
-“Do you know her?” asked Mrs. Polly.
-
-“Well, I should rather think I did, seeing as I have lived, as you
-might say, in the same family.”
-
-“How is little Nancy?” asked the little gray kitten. “I have worried a
-good deal about that child since I left home. That’s the little girl I
-told you was so kind to me,” she said in explanation to the parrot.
-
-“She’s well,” answered the sparrow, “but I pity the poor thing with
-all my heart. This morning she came out and sat on the door-step, and
-I saw she was crying, and she says to me, ‘Billy’ (she always called
-me Billy), ‘I can’t give you anything to eat this morning because I
-haven’t got anything myself, and I didn’t get any supper last night
-either, Billy, because I couldn’t sell any matches.’ She didn’t know
-I sensed what she was saying, but I did. Look here! You seem pretty
-well off around here. I see the little gray kitten has fallen into good
-hands. Can’t you do something for a poor child that’s half starved and
-abused?”
-
-“Oh, do, Mrs. Polly!” said the little gray kitten. “You were so kind
-to me, do find some way to get that poor little Nancy with these good
-people.”
-
-“Well,” said Mrs. Polly, “I’ll think it over and see what can be done
-about it.”
-
-“How loud this gray kitten does purr,” said Posy. “I guess her’s
-telling us how happy her is to get here, don’t you, Tom?”
-
-[Illustration: “Posy and Tom were seated on the kitchen
-door-step.”--_Page_ 47.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER V.
-
-
-THE next morning Major, the horse, was eagerly eating his breakfast of
-nice fresh oats. He was an easy-tempered fellow, but this morning he
-was greatly annoyed, and with good reason; he was very hungry and must
-share his breakfast with several rats that were bold enough to venture
-into his manger and steal his oats from before his very eyes.
-
-“I do wish my friend the barn-cat would not take the opportunity to go
-out while I am eating,” said Major to himself. “I knew how it would
-be when she told me she must go and see Mrs. Polly about this plan of
-bringing that child Nancy here. ‘When the cat’s away the mice will
-play;’ and what’s more, the rats too. Here, old Graywhisker, you come
-any nearer and I’ll bite off your tail!”
-
-“I’d like to see you do it,” snarled the old rat; and as he spoke he
-showed his long yellow teeth with one of them broken off, which gave
-him a very disagreeable expression. “I’d like to see you stop us from
-eating a few of your oats. You’re too fat already; I heard Mr. Winton
-tell Michael so the other day.”
-
-“I should be loath to tell you what I’ve heard him say about you,”
-answered Major angrily; “you wouldn’t sleep very well nights if I did.”
-
-The old rat forgot his usual caution, and came nearer to Major’s face
-than ever before; and Major, his patience gone, gave a sudden snort
-and pushed them all out of the manger with his nose. Then when he was
-left alone he went on eating his breakfast. After that he found himself
-becoming very sleepy, and shutting his eyes he fell into a doze. As he
-slept the old rat stole quietly out of his hole and looked cautiously
-about.
-
-“Come,” he said to the others, “come out on the barn floor, for I have
-something of importance to say to you, and this is a good time, as
-Major is asleep, and the barn-cat off. Here, you Silvertail, you keep a
-sharp lookout in every direction, and tell me if you see the barn-cat
-coming.”
-
-The young rat addressed, quickly climbed on the window-sill, whence he
-could command a fine view of the entrances to the barn.
-
-“Do you see anything of the barn-cat?” asked the old rat.
-
-“Yes, I see her right in front of the dining-room window; and by the
-way she swishes her tail I know she’s talking pretty fast.”
-
-“Well, let her swish,” answered the old rat; “she’ll find there are
-some people in the world as smart as she is.”
-
-The old rat, Graywhisker, seated himself, and the other rats came
-flocking out of their holes and placed themselves in a circle about
-him. Some of them brought their young families, as they couldn’t trust
-them alone.
-
-“I don’t see any of our friends the mice,” said Graywhisker, looking
-about with his sharp old eyes. “Some of you young fellows run over to
-Mrs. Silverskin, and tell her I want to see her at once; and be quick
-about it too.”
-
-Two young rats started off, and began to climb to the hay-mow, playing
-tag on the way.
-
-“Here, none of your fooling!” called out the old rat sharply, as one of
-them gave a loud squeak.
-
-This squeak awoke Major from his nap, and hearing voices his curiosity
-was aroused. “I guess I’ll keep my ears open, and perhaps I shall hear
-something,” he said to himself; “you can’t trust these rats out of
-your sight.”
-
-So Major made believe asleep, and even gave a snore occasionally to
-mislead the rats; and he did completely mystify them.
-
-Soon the two young rats returned, scampering headlong down from the
-mow, and followed more leisurely by Mrs. Silverskin, who had a very
-timid, gentle air, and who looked very small and refined by the side of
-the great clumsy rats with their bold countenances.
-
-“Now sit still and listen with all your ears,” began old Graywhisker,
-“for I’ve something of importance to say, and our time is short, as
-that arch fiend, the barn-cat, may return at any moment. To cut a long
-matter short, the barn-cat has introduced another cat here. To be
-sure, she’s half blind, and a half-grown kitten, but still she’s to be
-dreaded. Then there’s been a sparrow loafing around here lately, and
-they’re laying a plot this very minute to get a good-for-nothing girl
-here, but we’ll put a stop to that. I hid under the piazza yesterday
-and heard the whole story,--how this girl had fed the lazy sparrow and
-the half-blind kitten (it’s good enough for her, and I wish she was
-blind of both eyes), and how they must think of some way to get this
-poor child among these good people. They’re talking it over now, and
-I’ve set Sharpears to watch and tell me what they’ve said. The barn-cat
-said that if they could arrange matters so that Posy could hear her
-story, she would bring it all about. Posy, indeed! I hate that child!
-She makes a dreadful fuss over all the other animals, but I heard her
-say the other day to the barn-cat, ‘You mustn’t catch the pretty little
-birdies, kitty, but you can catch just as many of the great ugly rats
-as you’ve a mind to.’ I paid her off, though; I stole her piece of cake
-that she laid down on the door-step when she went into the house, and
-she felt awfully about it. It was real fun to see how disappointed she
-was when she came back and found it gone.”
-
-Here Mrs. Silverskin, who had sat meekly listening, spoke in a soft
-little voice,--
-
-“I don’t believe Posy could see any animal suffer. I saw her sprinkle
-some crumbs down in front of a hole one day, and say, ‘These are for
-the little mice to eat.’”
-
-“Oh, yes! you take her part, do you?” said old Graywhisker, fiercely
-glaring at the poor little mouse. “If that is your opinion, you just
-clear out of my barn. I want you to understand that I won’t have any
-hypocrites around these premises.”
-
-“You can’t call me a hypocrite,” said the little mouse meekly; “I
-only said that Posy was a kind-hearted child. I am sure I dislike
-the barn-cat as much as you do, and it gives me great uneasiness to
-think there’s another of that species on the premises if she is half
-blind. I am afraid our children will get careless, thinking she can’t
-see them, and some day venture too near. I am sure I shall never have
-another easy moment;” and Mrs. Silverskin looked more anxious than ever.
-
-“Here comes Sharpears creeping along this way,” called out Silvertail
-from the window.
-
-The whole company looked anxiously in the direction of their private
-entrance, and Sharpears soon appeared at the opening.
-
-“Well,” said old Graywhisker impatiently, “what did you hear?”
-
-“In the first place,” began Sharpears, “Major has been complaining that
-we eat too many of his oats. He says that when the barn-cat’s away we
-bother him so that he can’t take any comfort in his eating.”
-
-“He eats too much,” said Graywhisker; “that’s what’s the matter with
-him. Just hear him snore! He’ll go off in a fit of apoplexy one of
-these days! I wish he would!”
-
-“The barn-cat said she did her best; that she knew the rats and mice
-did take advantage of her absence, but that she was going to train the
-gray kitten to watch while she was away.”
-
-“We’ll fix that gray kitten,” snarled the old rat, bringing his long
-yellow teeth together in a very unpleasant manner.
-
-“After that they had a long talk about how they could bring it about to
-get that child Nancy here that had fed the sparrow and the gray kitten.
-Feeding the kitten, indeed! as if there were not cats enough around
-already! When I came away they were talking about having the sparrow
-entice her here some way or other.”
-
-“Why didn’t you stay and hear it out?” said the old rat savagely. “I
-thought you had more sense.”
-
-“Well, all at once that disagreeable Polly (she’s always minding
-everybody’s business but her own) said, ‘I do believe there’s a rat
-under that piazza.’ I didn’t wait to hear any more, I can tell you, but
-slunk off just as the barn-cat jumped down to find out where the noise
-came from.”
-
-“Here comes the barn-cat!” called out Silvertail from the window; and
-instantly the whole company darted to their holes, as the barn-cat
-appeared at the head of the stairs.
-
-The barn-cat put her nose up in the air and sniffed. “Those rats and
-mice have been about, sure as you live!” she said. “I must teach the
-gray kitten to keep a sharp lookout while I’m away. Hallo!” she called
-to Major, “how are you getting on?”
-
-“All right,” answered Major; “I’ve important news for you. I made
-believe asleep just now, and heard a thing or two. The rats know
-exactly what you’re plotting, for they set a spy to listen to your
-conversation this morning. They know you’re going to try to get that
-girl here, and they’re going to stop it if they can, because she fed
-the little gray kitten.”
-
-“I’d like to see ’em do it,” said the barn-cat.
-
-“They can annoy you, though, in a great many ways,” said Major; “and,
-to tell the truth, I’m afraid they’re going to plot against the gray
-kitten. They all seemed full of spite against her.”
-
-“I’d like to see ’em touch a hair of her head!” exclaimed the barn-cat
-ferociously.
-
-“Here comes that dear child, Posy, with your breakfast,” said Major, as
-Posy appeared, carrying a plate and followed by Tom with a saucer of
-milk.
-
-“Here, kitty,” called Posy; “I’ve brought you some nice milk and some
-critters all cut up fine. Are they _critters_ or fritters?” she asked,
-turning to Tom.
-
-“_Fritters_, of course,” answered Tom. “You do manage to get things
-twisted about, Posy. Papa says you are a real Mrs. Malaprop.”
-
-“Kitty,” said Posy, putting her hand in her pocket and drawing out a
-little package, “I have brought you the beautifulest present you ever
-had in all your life;” and Posy began to undo the paper.
-
-[Illustration: Major and Graywhisker.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VI.
-
-
-POSY undid the package, and took out a pretty collar of red leather
-with a little padlock hanging from it.
-
-“Come, kitty, and have on your new collar,” said Posy. “They say you’re
-not so handsome as the house-cat, so I must make you look as well as I
-can, and you’re dear if you’re not handsome.”
-
-The barn-cat stood very still while Posy fitted on the collar and
-fastened the padlock.
-
-“It’s a little bit loose for you,” said Posy, “but that is better than
-to have it too tight, isn’t it, Tom?”
-
-“See how proud she feels,” said Tom; “she likes to hear the padlock
-rattle when she moves.”
-
-“It is really a very stylish affair,” said the barn-cat to herself,
-“and I must smarten myself up a little. I wonder what the house-cat
-will say now!”
-
-“It’s pretty loose for her,” said Tom; “I’m afraid she’ll lose it off.
-Let’s take it up another notch.”
-
-“No,” said Posy decidedly; “Mamma said if it was too tight it would
-make her uncomf’table.”
-
-“Well, if she loses it, don’t bawl,” answered Tom.
-
-“I shan’t bawl,” said Posy indignantly.
-
-The children gave a look at the kittens, and then went away; and the
-barn-cat ate her breakfast contentedly, stopping occasionally to give
-her head a shake, that she might have the satisfaction of hearing the
-padlock rattle.
-
-That afternoon the barn-cat called the little gray kitten to her, and
-told her she wanted her to keep watch while she went to fulfil a very
-important engagement with Mrs. Polly and the canary.
-
-“Take good care of the kittens, and don’t let the rats annoy Major
-while he is eating. He complains a good deal of them lately.”
-
-The little gray kitten promised to do all she was told; and off hurried
-the barn-cat, having carefully washed herself and smoothed her fur as
-neatly as she could.
-
-While she was making these preparations, she did not see a pair of
-sharp little black eyes watching all her movements from a beam above.
-
-“I know what all this means,” said the owner of the sharp black eyes,
-“but you have to get up pretty early to get the start of an old rat;”
-and he smiled a very vicious smile that displayed his long yellow teeth
-with one of them broken off.
-
-“I guess I’d better go myself,” continued old Graywhisker; “these young
-fellows are too giddy to be trusted, and after all we mustn’t expect
-to find old heads on young shoulders;” and he stroked his gray beard
-with a very satisfied air.
-
-After the barn-cat had gone, he followed cautiously at a distance. He
-knew better than to trust himself under the piazza again; so he wedged
-himself into a space between the house and a large stone, just around
-the corner, where he could hear without being detected. When he was
-comfortably settled, he smiled again to himself to think how wise he
-was.
-
-“Well,” he heard Polly say, “here we are again, except the
-sparrow,--he’s late.”
-
-“Just as likely as not we’ll never see him again,” said the barn-cat.
-“You can’t place any reliance on these tramps. I never did like his
-looks, I must confess.”
-
-“I don’t believe he’s a bad fellow at heart,” said the canary; “he
-seemed very anxious to have that little girl taken care of, and very
-grateful for what she did for him. Bad people are not grateful, you
-know.”
-
-“I wish he would settle down and become steady,” said Mrs. Polly, “but
-I’m afraid there’s no hope of that. Yesterday a friend of his flying
-by stopped and had a few minutes’ chat with me. He says the sparrow
-has a wife and several children, but that he’s away half the time, and
-neglects his family dreadfully, though he’s good enough to them when
-he’s at home. It’s just as I suspected,--he’s lazy and shiftless.”
-
-“Well, I confess, that’s just what I thought of him,” said the
-barn-cat. “I never did fancy his looks from the first; but he’s useful
-to us, and we must put up with his failings.”
-
-A slight rustling in a neighboring bush made them all look in that
-direction; and there sat the subject of their conversation, and judging
-from the roguish twinkle in his eyes, he had evidently heard the whole
-conversation.
-
-“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” he said good-naturedly, “but was
-detained on very important business. Hope I see you as well as usual,
-ma’am, and that you haven’t missed me too much,” he said to the
-barn-cat with a sly wink.
-
-The barn-cat thought it more dignified not to answer this familiar
-speech, and looked straight before her.
-
-“Well,” said Mrs. Polly, “let’s make the most of our time now that we
-are all together.”
-
-“First of all,” said the barn-cat, “I want to tell you that yesterday
-we were watched. Old Graywhisker had set a spy to listen to our
-conversation, and he reported every word that was said. However, I’d
-like to see him prevent us from carrying out our plans. I’ll just
-give a look under the piazza before we begin; that’s where he was
-yesterday, and the only place where he could hide.”
-
-Graywhisker kept very still while the barn-cat investigated the piazza,
-and hardly dared breathe; but when she returned to her place again,
-saying, “There’s nobody there now, you may be sure of that,” he smiled
-again, and placing his right paw against his nose waggled it in a very
-exultant manner.
-
-“Now,” said Mrs. Polly, “what we have to do is to decide how we can get
-the child Nancy here. I have a plan of my own that I will mention, and
-I’d like to have you express your opinions freely.”
-
-Meanwhile the sparrow, who was seated on a slender branch opposite
-the window, was amusing himself by standing first on one leg and then
-on the other and having a fine see-saw all by himself. The barn-cat
-watched him eagerly; and his motions were so graceful, and he was so
-plump, that she quite forgot where she was, and sat swishing her tail
-in a very tiger-like manner, and was about to give a spring when Mrs.
-Polly’s keen eyes caught sight of her, and she called out,--
-
-“Hallo there! what are you about?”
-
-The barn-cat was really ashamed to have so forgotten herself, and was
-greatly embarrassed.
-
-“What can you expect of a cat that’s been brought up in a barn?” said
-the house-cat scornfully. “That comes of letting such common people
-associate with those who have been accustomed to good society!”
-
-The barn-cat was not ready as usual with an answer to this taunt from
-her enemy, for she knew she had been guilty of very great rudeness; and
-Mrs. Polly, knowing that although her manners were rough her heart was
-a very good one, kindly went on with her remarks:--
-
-“The plan I have thought of is this: You have all of you seen how often
-Posy sits on the piazza and cuts dolls’ dresses out of bright-colored
-pieces of ribbon and silk. Now there is nothing in the world, I have
-noticed, that pleases a little girl so much as those bright colors,
-and we will take advantage of that. The next time Posy brings out her
-ribbons we must get her out of the way long enough for one of you to
-steal the prettiest one, and then the sparrow can use it to entice the
-child Nancy with.”
-
-“But who is to steal the ribbon?” asked the house-cat.
-
-“I should say the sparrow was the one to do that,” answered Mrs. Polly;
-“he can fly down and pick one out and fly off with it.”
-
-“Very good,” said the sparrow; “but how are you going to make Posy
-leave her ribbons long enough?”
-
-“I’ve called ’em so many times lately,” said Mrs. Polly, “that they
-begin to suspect me; and Tom said the other day that I had fooled him
-so many times that he shouldn’t come again if I called. Let me see--”
-and Mrs. Polly put on her very wisest expression.
-
-“There’s one way we could fix it,” said the sparrow. “Here’s my friend
-the barn-cat; she’s so fond of me she can’t have me near enough.
-Suppose I place myself where Posy can see me, and the barn-cat can make
-believe spring at me just as she did a few minutes ago. The dear thing!
-we know she does it out of affection for me, but Posy will think she’s
-in earnest.”
-
-“A very good plan,” said Mrs. Polly. “Really quite a bright idea,” she
-said in an undertone to the canary, “though it wouldn’t do to tell him
-so, he’s so well satisfied with himself.”
-
-The barn-cat had been very quiet since her attempt to spring at the
-sparrow, but she occasionally scratched her neck with her paw to make
-that fascinating padlock rattle. She did it in a very unconscious
-manner, but she knew all the time that the house-cat was watching
-her out of the corner of _her_ eye, and was secretly jealous of the
-beautiful collar.
-
-“That’s a very pretty collar you have on,” said the canary.
-
-“A present from Posy,” answered the barn-cat.
-
-“Very becoming to your complexion. ‘Neat, but not gaudy,’ as the monkey
-said when they painted his tail sky-blue,” said the sparrow gallantly.
-
-“Humph! red and yellow go well together,” sneered the house-cat. “It
-brings out her _charming_ coloring!” and she gave a taunting laugh.
-
-“Our friend always looks well to me,” said Mrs. Polly politely.
-
-“Well, I guess you’re going to be sick,” said the canary, laughing.
-“To think of your paying anybody a compliment!”
-
-Mrs. Polly was about as much astonished as the others at such an
-unusual occurrence, and gave a short laugh.
-
-“To resume business,” she said. “Now, the first thing to do is for
-the sparrow to fly back to the place where Nancy lives and find out
-what’s going on, and when the best time will be for us to carry out our
-project. _I_ should say ’twould be well to take some time when she’s
-out selling her matches.”
-
-“O. K.,” answered the sparrow. “I’ll tear myself away for a while
-if you think you can spare me long enough, my dear,” he said to the
-barn-cat.
-
-“Get along with you!” said the barn-cat testily.
-
-“Don’t be harsh to a fellow,” answered the sparrow. “You know, my dear
-creature, that you’ll count the hours till I come back!”
-
-“Count the fiddlesticks!” ejaculated the barn-cat, trying to look
-stern, but very much inclined to smile at the fellow’s impudence.
-
-“Give me a piece of your lump of sugar to take to the old lady,” he
-said to the canary; “that will make it all right with her;” and he
-helped himself to the lump that was wedged in between the bars of the
-canary’s cage. “Now I’m off. Ta, ta, my love!” he said to the barn-cat
-as he blew a kiss to her and was off like a shot.
-
-[Illustration: Sparrow, the Tramp.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VII.
-
-
-THE sparrow flew away, holding the lump of sugar tightly in his claw.
-
-“It’s a long time since I was at home,” he said to himself as he flew
-along; “I don’t dare to think how long it is. The old lady’ll be pretty
-hard to bring ’round, I suspect, but she’s a good little thing and will
-make up before long. Let me see--the youngsters must be ’most ready to
-fly by this time. ’Tis a shame, I declare, to neglect my family so.
-Well, I guess I’ll take Mrs. Polly’s advice and settle down.”
-
-He passed over a clear spring in the woods, and lit on the edge to
-drink. As he stooped over to reach the fresh water he caught sight of
-himself reflected in the smooth surface.
-
-“Whew! I do look rather rowdy,” he said. “I think I’ll take a
-dip,--there’s nothing that takes with the female sex like a little
-attention to your personal appearance, and I flatter myself I’m not a
-bad-looking fellow when I’m spruced up. So here goes!” and carefully
-placing the lump of sugar on a stone, he ducked his head into the
-fresh, clear water, and brought it out dripping.
-
-Then he stepped in and splashed the water about with his wings, and
-ducked his head till his feathers were heavy with water. He flew into
-a bush and began pluming them carefully, and he certainly was _not_ a
-bad-looking fellow when he had finished his toilet.
-
-When he had smoothed out all his feathers he flew down to the edge of
-the spring and looked in, and, judging from the little complacent nod
-he gave and the dapper air with which he hopped to the stone where the
-lump of sugar lay, he was evidently satisfied with the picture he saw
-reflected.
-
-“Now for home!” he said; and mounting into the air he circled a few
-times over the spring, and then flew straight to his home, still
-holding the lump of sugar securely in his little claw.
-
-A small unpainted house stood back from the road. The whole place had a
-dilapidated look,--the gate was off the hinges; most of the blinds were
-gone, and those that were left were broken or hanging by one hinge; the
-shingles were off the roof in many places; and panes of glass were gone
-from many of the windows, the holes being filled up with bundles of
-rags.
-
-A shed that looked as if it were ready to tumble down at any moment
-was built on to the back of the house; and a large elm, the only
-pretty thing about the place, spread its drooping branches over the
-moss-grown roof.
-
-To this tree the sparrow made his way, and lighted on a branch before
-a little bird-house which looked as much out of repair as the house
-itself; for it seemed ready to fall apart at any moment, and the bits
-of seaweed and straw and wool of which the nest was made, were hanging
-out of the door in a most untidy manner. In fact, the whole structure
-had an insecure appearance, as if a high wind might topple it over at
-any moment.
-
-A little bright-eyed sparrow stood in the doorway, and three small
-sparrows from the nest inside opened their mouths wide and clamored
-expectantly for something to eat as the sparrow lighted beside them.
-
-“How do you do, my darling?” said the sparrow gayly, as he approached
-his little bright-eyed wife for a kiss.
-
-But instead of answering she turned her back towards him, and
-looked straight before her with what she intended to be a very
-severe expression; but the truth was, her natural expression was so
-good-natured and pleasing that she didn’t succeed so well as she
-thought she did.
-
-“Hasn’t it one little kiss for its husband that’s been away so long?”
-asked the sparrow, trying to get a view of the face she turned away
-from him.
-
-“No, it hasn’t,” answered the little wife shortly, without looking at
-him.
-
-“If you knew how I’ve longed to see you all this time!” said the
-sparrow, with a sigh.
-
-“Then why didn’t you come and see me?” said the bright-eyed sparrow,
-with what she considered a very sarcastic laugh, but which didn’t
-frighten her husband one bit. “I didn’t run away. I’ve been here all
-this time, working hard to feed these three children. It’s mean of you
-to treat me so!”
-
-“So ’tis, so ’tis, my dear,” answered her husband soothingly.
-
-“Then why in the world’s name didn’t you come?”
-
-“Business, my dear, business,” answered the sparrow with a very
-important air; “business before pleasure, you know.”
-
-“A likely story! As if you ever did a day’s work in your life! All my
-friends told me how ’twould be if I married you!”
-
-“Then what made you do it, my love?” said the sparrow in a very sweet
-voice, dropping a kiss on the back of the little head that was turned
-away so persistently.
-
-“Because I was a fool, I suppose,” answered the bright-eyed sparrow; “I
-don’t know any other reason. There was that other one that wanted me to
-have him,--well off and a hard-working fellow. I don’t know why in the
-world I didn’t take him, instead of a vain, lazy, flirting fellow like
-you!”
-
-“I know, my dear, why you didn’t.”
-
-“Why, I should like to know, sir?” she said, turning her bright eyes
-towards him for an instant and then looking away again.
-
-“Because, my darling, you knew that, in spite of his good qualities
-that you respected you loved a good-for-nothing, lazy fellow,
-good-looking enough,” said the sparrow with a conceited little air,
-“but whose only virtue was that he cared more for one look from your
-bright eyes than for all the rest of the world put together;” and he
-lit beside her, and stretching out his neck gave her an affectionate
-kiss.
-
-“Don’t!” said his little wife with a pout; “you don’t mean it, you know
-you don’t.”
-
-“Don’t I, though?” answered her husband. “Come, my dear, it isn’t
-becoming to you to be cross. Be the pretty, happy little thing you are,
-and tell your mean old husband that you’re glad to see him home again.”
-
-The bright-eyed sparrow didn’t _say_ she was glad, but she didn’t turn
-from him as he sat close to her in the doorway of the little house, and
-it was evident she rather liked it, or she would have moved away.
-
-“You haven’t seen the children since they got their new feathers,” she
-said. “You don’t know what a hard time I’ve had finding food for them
-all this time, and they are _such_ big eaters! And the house leaks, and
-sometimes it rocks so I expect every minute it will fall down. It was
-very unkind of you to leave me so long!” and the bright eyes were full
-of tears.
-
-“I won’t again, my dear, ’pon my honor!” said the sparrow. “’Twas too
-bad. Come, let’s make up, and I’ll show you what I’ve brought you.”
-
-He was so good-natured, and looked so handsome and fresh in consequence
-of his bath, that his poor little wife couldn’t resist him any longer,
-and their little bills met in a kiss of peace.
-
-“What do you think of that?” said the sparrow, holding out the lump of
-sugar to her.
-
-“What is it?”
-
-“Taste and see,” he answered, holding it up to her mouth.
-
-“Oh, how delicious!” she exclaimed, biting off a few grains.
-
-“You see your husband does think of you when he’s away on business,”
-said the sparrow tenderly.
-
-“Let us have a bite!” called out the baby sparrows vociferously.
-
-So the mother bird bit off a piece for each one, and then promised them
-they should have the rest the next day.
-
-“They don’t know their own father, the poor dears!” said the little
-mother.
-
-“It’s a shame,” answered the sparrow. “Hallo, young ones!” he said,
-whistling for their entertainment, “when you’re able to fly, your
-dad’ll take you out for an airing occasionally.”
-
-“Where did you get that nice white stuff?” asked the little bright-eyed
-sparrow.
-
-Then the sparrow told all about Posy and Tom, and the parrot and the
-canary, and the house-cat and the barn-cat, and the good luck of the
-little gray kitten, and how they were trying to bring about a change of
-luck for little Nancy, and how the ugly rats were plotting to prevent
-it; and the little bright-eyed sparrow nestled affectionately against
-him, and listened to every word that he uttered with the greatest
-interest.
-
-“How is Nancy getting on?” asked the sparrow as he ended his story.
-
-“Poor child! I pity her with all my heart,” said the bright-eyed
-sparrow. “She never gets anything to eat but she comes out and
-sprinkles some of the crumbs under the tree for us, and then she throws
-some around the door-step of the old shed for the mice.”
-
-“I must have a look at her,” said the sparrow. “Where is she now? do
-you know?”
-
-“She came home about five minutes before you did,” said the little
-bright-eyed sparrow; “and I’m afraid she hasn’t sold any matches
-to-day, she looked so sad.”
-
-Just then the shed-door opened, and a little girl appeared, and seating
-herself under the elm-tree began to sob as if her heart would break.
-
-“Is Posy as big as she is?” whispered the little bright-eyed sparrow,
-“and does she look anything like her?”
-
-“No, indeed,” answered her husband; “Posy is a very little girl, and
-has beautiful yellow hair and red cheeks, and always dances about
-because she is so happy. We _must_ do something for this poor child!”
-
-The child sat with her face buried in her hands, sobbing; and the
-sparrow noticed that her bare feet were cut in many places from walking
-over the sharp stones. They were red and swollen too. He flew down and
-perched on a bush in front of her, for the good-hearted fellow longed
-to comfort her.
-
-“Dear me!” said the little girl, “how my feet do ache!” and she took
-one of them in her hands, and rocked herself backward and forward with
-the pain.
-
-The sparrow gave a cheerful twitter, and the child looked up.
-
-“Why, I do believe it’s Billy come back!” she cried, almost smiling
-through her tears. “Why, you’re a naughty bird to leave your wife and
-babies so long!”
-
-Billy twittered and chirped, and tried hard to tell her how glad he was
-to see her.
-
-“I’ve had a hard time, Billy, since you went away,” she said, “and it’s
-a comfort to have you back again, for it always seemed to me as if you
-understood what I told you, and I’ve nobody in the whole world to love
-me, Billy;” and the tears streamed down her cheeks. “She’s awful cross
-to me, Billy, and often beats me; and when I can’t sell my matches she
-makes me go without anything to eat. A kind lady gave me a piece of
-bread to-day, and I saved some of the crumbs for your little wife to
-give her babies, and I’ll give some to you, too, because you’re the
-only friend I have besides your wife, now that the little gray kitten
-has gone;” and the little girl put a few crumbs on the ground in front
-of the sparrow.
-
-“If I were to eat one of those crumbs I believe it would choke me,” he
-called up to his little wife, who was watching them as she softly sang
-her babies to sleep.
-
-“My feet are very sore, Billy,” went on the child; “for, you see, I
-have to go very far to sell my matches, and I think I should feel
-stronger if I had more to eat. I sometimes think that I can’t stand it
-any longer;” and the poor child began to sob again.
-
-The sparrow felt very sorry for her, and told her what her friends the
-animals were going to do for her, and how happy she would be when she
-found herself in a new home. “If they felt so sorry for the little
-gray kitten, think how they’ll pity you, you poor ill-used child!” he
-said. “And Posy and Tom will play with you, and you’ll have shoes and
-stockings to wear, and plenty to eat, and a nice place to sleep in; so
-don’t cry, little Nancy, for very good times are coming!”
-
-This is what the sparrow said, but the child did not understand the
-words.
-
-“I believe you’re trying to comfort me, you dear thing,” she said,
-“when you sing so cheerfully; and it makes me forget how hungry I am,
-and my feet don’t hurt me so much.”
-
-“The sun has gone down and it’s time to go to bed,” called out the
-little bright-eyed sparrow after the child and the sparrow had talked
-together in this manner for some time. “I always like to have the house
-quiet by sundown.”
-
-“Why, it’s only just the edge of the evening,” answered the sparrow; “I
-guess I’ll call ’round on some of my old friends. I’ll be back in a few
-minutes.”
-
-“I know your tricks,” said his little wife; “you’ll come home by
-daybreak, and then you’ll want to sleep till noon. ‘The early bird
-catches the worm,’ my mother used to say; and true enough it is. It’s
-too bad to have you go off so soon, when I was so glad to have you back
-again! I’ve lots of things to tell you;” and the bright-eyed sparrow’s
-eyes filled with tears of disappointment.
-
-“Well, don’t cry, and I’ll stay at home,” said the sparrow, as he flew
-up to the nest; and nestling close together they talked until their
-voices grew sleepy, and then each little head was tucked under a wing,
-and both were fast asleep.
-
-Then the child arose, and limping went slowly into the house.
-
-[Illustration: “Seating herself under the tree, began to sob as if her
-heart would break.”--_Page_ 96.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER VIII.
-
-
-WHEN the sparrow awoke the next morning he found his little mate had
-been up some time and had given the young sparrows their breakfast; so
-he made a hasty toilet, and then flew off to find something to eat.
-
-He remembered just where the finest worms were to be found, and he ate
-a few and saved two of the largest and fattest for his little wife.
-
-Nancy was coming out of the gate as he flew in, and was starting out
-for her day’s work with her basket of matches on her arm.
-
-“Good-by, dear Billy,” she said, as he lighted on the rickety gate and
-looked at her. “Don’t run away again, I miss you so dreadfully.”
-
-The sparrow laid the worms carefully on the top bar of the gate, but
-kept one eye on them for fear they would crawl away.
-
-“You’ll see me back in a day or two,” he said with a cheerful nod of
-the head, “and it’s a pity you don’t know that your hard days are ’most
-over. Keep up courage, little Nancy, and you’ll soon be as happy as a
-queen.”
-
-“That was a very cheerful little song,” she said. “I see you’re taking
-those great fat worms home to your wife. I suppose she’ll like them as
-well as we do sausages, though.”
-
-“Nancy,” called a sharp voice from the window, “what are you loitering
-there for? Go along, you lazy thing!” and at the words Nancy hurried
-away, and the sparrow caught up his worms and flew home as fast as his
-wings could carry him.
-
-How pleased the little bright-eyed sparrow was with the worms, and how
-lovingly she watched her little mate as she ate them and divided them
-with her little ones! It was so pleasant to have him back again after
-those dreary days!
-
-“I think I’ll move you all over to the place I was telling you about,”
-said the sparrow. “There are plenty of fine building-spots there, and
-this old shanty is in a pretty bad condition. Everything is handy
-there, too, and I don’t consider this a very genteel neighborhood.”
-
-“If we live here much longer, something will have to be done to the
-house; it really isn’t safe in a high wind.”
-
-“Well, as soon as we get this business settled about Nancy, I’ll pick
-out a good situation and build,” answered the sparrow. “Now I’ll be
-off, for there’s no time to lose, as I promised Mrs. Polly I’d be back
-in good season.”
-
-“Do come again as soon as you can,” said the bright-eyed sparrow,
-blowing some dust off his neck; “I shall miss you dreadfully.”
-
-“You’ll see me back just as soon as I can get hold of that piece of
-silk,--perhaps to-morrow. It all depends upon Posy, you know. Good-by,
-my dear;” and he kissed his little wife very affectionately. “Good-by,
-young uns;” and he was off again. As he looked back he saw the little
-bright-eyed sparrow standing in the doorway and looking wistfully after
-him, and he threw her a kiss before he passed out of sight. “She’s a
-dear little thing,” he said to himself, “and I know I’m not half good
-enough for her, but I really won’t stay away so long again. It wasn’t
-very comfortable at home then, I must confess; the babies were little,
-and teasing for food most of the time, and she was so taken up with
-them that she didn’t take much notice of me.”
-
-With these thoughts passing through his little brain the sparrow sped
-on till he came in sight of the house where Posy and Tom lived. He flew
-straight to the dining-room window, and found Mrs. Polly and the canary
-delighted to see him back.
-
-“Don’t begin your story till the barn-cat and the house-cat are here,”
-said Mrs. Polly; “they’ll be very anxious to hear it;” and Polly gave
-a shrill whistle in imitation of the noise boys make when they whistle
-through two of their fingers. It was repeated several times, until Mrs.
-Winton called from her chamber window,--
-
-“Don’t make such a frightful noise, Polly; you’ll drive me crazy.”
-
-Soon the barn-cat appeared hurrying along, and the house-cat followed
-more slowly, for she considered a graceful and dignified carriage of
-the utmost importance.
-
-“How are you, my dear creature?” said the sparrow to the barn-cat;
-“I knew you’d pine away while I was gone. I’ve thought of you every
-minute, too, and couldn’t stay away from you any longer.”
-
-“Don’t make a fool of yourself,” answered the barn-cat crustily.
-
-“Come, let’s proceed to business,” said Mrs. Polly, her quick eye
-interrupting a very loving glance that the sparrow was bestowing on the
-barn-cat. “What have you seen and heard about the child Nancy?”
-
-“I’ve both seen and heard her,” answered the sparrow. “She confides all
-her troubles to me, but she thinks I can’t understand a word she tells
-me; and when I’ve told her how sorry I am for her and what we’re going
-to do for her, she often says, ‘What a pretty little song that was,
-Billy! it seems as if you wanted to comfort me.’”
-
-“Well, how is she getting on?” asked Mrs. Polly.
-
-“Worse than ever. She has to walk very far to sell her matches, to
-places where she has never been before, and her feet are lame and
-painful. We must get her away from there as soon as possible.”
-
-“I shouldn’t be surprised if Posy would bring out her sewing soon,”
-said the house-cat. “I heard Mrs. Winton tell her she didn’t like to
-have her run about in the hot sun so much,--that she had better take
-her playthings on the piazza where it was cool; and Posy said, ‘I guess
-I’d better make a new dress for my dolly, for her’s hardly got a dress
-after her name.’”
-
-A slight rustling was heard behind the bush where the sparrow was
-seated, and all quickly turned in that direction. Before the others
-knew what had happened, the barn-cat was down from the window and in
-the bush, and the next minute they saw her chasing a large rat across
-the yard towards the barn. Quickly as he ran, they saw he was old and
-gray about the mouth; and when he turned and gave a quick look back,
-they saw he had long yellow teeth with one of them broken off.
-
-“Graywhisker!” they all exclaimed in a breath. “If she can only get
-him!”
-
-Quick as the barn-cat was, old Graywhisker was quicker, and darted
-into a hole under the barn that was the private entrance of the rats,
-just as the barn-cat reached it. She had the satisfaction of clawing
-the tip of his tail; but it was too slippery for her to hold, and it
-slipped through her claws. She went back to her companions with rather
-a crestfallen air.
-
-“Splendidly done, my dear creature!” said the sparrow; “you almost got
-him.”
-
-“I’ll have him yet,” said the barn-cat as she washed her rumpled fur;
-“to think of his listening again to our conversation!”
-
-“He can’t do any harm, fortunately,” said Mrs. Polly. “All he can do is
-to sneak around and play the spy.”
-
-“I sometimes fear that he may do the little gray kitten some
-mischief,” said the canary; “she is so small and helpless, and Major
-says he has so much spite against her.”
-
-“He wouldn’t _dare_ to touch her,” said the barn-cat fiercely. “I
-wouldn’t sleep a wink till I’d paid him off if he harmed her.”
-
-“Hush!” twittered the sparrow, “the children are coming.”
-
-Posy appeared, dancing along in her usual happy way, with the corners
-of her little white apron held up with one hand and in the other a
-small china doll. When she reached the piazza, she let the corners of
-the apron fall, and out rolled the contents,--bits of bright-colored
-ribbon and silk and lace.
-
-“Now, my dear Miss Pompadour,” said Posy to the china doll, “you sit
-right down here while your mamma makes you a beautiful ball-dress. You
-must be very careful of it, because it’s going to be made of my very
-bestest piece of silk;” and Posy held before the dolly’s eyes a piece
-of red ribbon with figures of gold thread embroidered on it.
-
-“That’s gold, Miss Pompadour,” continued Posy,--“those bright yellow
-spots. I don’t suppose you know it, for you don’t know much, and what
-little you do know you don’t know _for certain_. And I shall make a
-pocket in it, because you’re very apt to lose your handkerchiefs. I
-showed a pocket in one of your dresses to Harry Mason the other day,
-and he said, ‘Ho! that isn’t a pocket! that’s only a rag of a pocket!’
-I told Tom about it, and he said Harry Mason was a very unpolite boy!”
-
-A little twitter in front of her made Posy look up from her work, and
-hopping on the gravelled walk was a little sparrow. He didn’t seem
-to be at all afraid of her, and hopped about and twittered in a very
-cheerful way.
-
-Then came the barn-cat stealing softly towards the little sparrow. She
-would take a few steps, and then sit down and pretend she didn’t see
-him. He evidently didn’t see her, for instead of flying away he hopped
-about as confidently as if there were no such thing as a cat in the
-world.
-
-The barn-cat came nearer still, and crouched in the way she always did
-before she sprang, and Posy couldn’t bear it any longer.
-
-“Go away, you naughty kitty!” cried Posy, dropping her work; and
-running towards the barn-cat she caught her up in her arms.
-
-“You mustn’t catch the dear little birdies; I’ve told you so a great
-many times,” said Posy, walking towards the barn with her. “You go and
-stay with your babies, and try to catch some of the ugly old rats.
-Michael says they eat up Major’s oats, and he’s going to buy a trap and
-catch ’em in it;” and Posy put the barn-cat inside the barn-door, and
-then went back to her work.
-
-She didn’t see a pair of small bright eyes shining in a hole around
-the corner of the barn, nor see the ugly face with gray whiskers they
-belonged to; nor did she hear him say with a vicious smile, “Catch ’em
-in a trap, will he? I guess he’ll find out that it isn’t so easy to
-catch an old rat as he thinks. Look out, my dear Posy! you may hear
-from the ugly rats in a way you don’t like.”
-
-Posy went back to her work on the piazza; but the sparrow had flown
-away, and Posy hunted in vain for her little piece of red ribbon with
-the gold figures embroidered on it.
-
-“Where has that ribbon gone?” said Posy, anxiously pulling over the
-little heap of bright-colored silks. “Dear me! the very beautifulest
-piece I had, and I was going to make a ball-dress for Miss Pompadour
-out of it. How disappointed her will be!” and Posy was almost ready to
-cry with disappointment herself.
-
-All this time the sparrow had the piece of red ribbon safe in his
-little claw, and was flying away with it to the old swallow’s nest
-under the eaves of the piazza where he had slept of late.
-
-[Illustration: “Posy appeared, dancing along.”--_Page_ 110.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER IX.
-
-
-THE little sparrow went to bed early that night, that he might be up by
-daybreak the next morning and start on his expedition to Nancy before
-the family were stirring.
-
-Pleasant dreams of the happiness awaiting the forlorn child passed
-through his little brain, and he took his head from under his wing as
-the first faint streak of daylight appeared in the east.
-
-This morning he omitted his usual cheerful twitter, there was no time
-for that; so he jumped up and looked around for the little piece of red
-ribbon with the gold figures on it. Where was it? He was certain he
-had placed it carefully in the nest, for it was the last thing he saw
-before he went to sleep.
-
-“What in the world has become of that ribbon?” he said aloud. “I am
-sure I put it on this side of the nest, where it couldn’t possibly blow
-away;” and he pecked apart the lining of the nest and peeped everywhere
-in vain.
-
-“It couldn’t possibly have blown away, but I’ll look everywhere;” and
-he carefully examined the ground under the nest and the trees and
-bushes,--everywhere where it was possible for a ribbon to lodge.
-
-By this time the sun was up and Hannah had come downstairs. As soon as
-she opened the dining-room window to air the room, the sparrow flew
-straight to Mrs. Polly, about as anxious-looking a bird as you would
-wish to see.
-
-“Here’s a pretty fix,” he began; “the ribbon’s gone!”
-
-“Gone!” exclaimed Mrs. Polly, “gone where?”
-
-“I wish I knew,” answered the sparrow shortly.
-
-“Explain yourself, please,” said Mrs. Polly; “it’s all Greek to me.”
-
-“Well, I went to bed last night in good season, so as to be up early
-this morning and start before anybody was stirring. Well, when I woke
-and was just going to start, no ribbon was to be found.”
-
-“Careless fellow!” said Mrs. Polly, rubbing her nose with vexation;
-“why couldn’t you put it where it would be safe?”
-
-“I did. I looked at it the last thing before I went to sleep.”
-
-“It probably blew away.”
-
-“It couldn’t blow away; it was in the bottom of the nest, and besides
-I’ve hunted everywhere and it’s not to be found.”
-
-“Then there’s only one way to account for it,” said Mrs. Polly, with a
-decided nod.
-
-“What’s that?”
-
-“Thieves!” answered Mrs. Polly shortly.
-
-“Whew!” whistled the sparrow; “then I suppose it’s a hopeless case.”
-
-“I don’t see why,” said Mrs. Polly shrewdly.
-
-“How are we going to find them out? Nobody saw ’em come in the night.”
-
-Mrs. Polly put her head on one side with a very knowing look, and
-cleared her throat gravely.
-
-“We’ll track them,” she said. “Whoever it was must have left some
-signs behind them. I am tied down here and must trust to you to make
-investigations; but if you act according to my directions, I don’t
-doubt but that we’ll get to the bottom of the matter before long.”
-
-“All right,” answered the sparrow; “just say what you want done, and
-I’m your man.”
-
-“The first thing to do,” said Mrs. Polly, “is to examine carefully the
-premises. Look on the ground for footprints, and then closely examine
-the pillar that leads up to the nest, to see if the thieves came that
-way.”
-
-“Why, what other way could they come, pray?”
-
-“They could fly, couldn’t they?”
-
-The sparrow looked rather ashamed of his slowness of comprehension and
-made no reply; but then he wasn’t expected to be as shrewd as Mrs.
-Polly with her many years of experience.
-
-“The sooner you begin the better,” said Mrs. Polly; “and come back and
-report to me when you are through.”
-
-The sparrow flew off and lighted on the ground under the nest. A
-flower-bed stood there, and he made a careful examination. Not a leaf
-was out of place that he could see, and not a plant disturbed in any
-way.
-
-Then he pushed the branches carefully aside and examined the ground.
-
-“Aha!” said the sparrow, with a satisfied little nod; “I begin to smell
-a mice. Somebody’s been here, that’s certain; but whether these tracks
-were made by a bird or a chicken or--” and he brought his bright little
-eyes nearer the ground. Yes, he was pretty sure now. The soft earth
-was marked by the traces of little feet, but so close together that he
-couldn’t make out the exact form; but just beyond were several larger
-ones, and he thought he knew to whose feet they belonged. “I guess I
-know whose foot that shoe will fit,” he said to himself.
-
-Next he looked up towards the nest. A nasturtium vine was trained
-against the pillar, and pieces of twine formed a trellis for it to
-cling to. The sparrow ran his eye carefully over it. “I thought so,” he
-said to himself; “’twas he.”
-
-The delicate leaves of the plant were broken in several places, and
-hanging to the stem; and in one place the stem itself was torn away
-from the twine as if too heavy a strain had been brought to bear on it.
-
-The sparrow had seen enough to satisfy himself, and flew back to Mrs.
-Polly.
-
-“Well?” she asked inquiringly.
-
-“Well,” answered the sparrow, “I guess I’ve as good as caught the
-fellow.”
-
-“Tell me what you found, and I’ll draw my own conclusions,” said Mrs.
-Polly, putting her head on one side with the knowing expression she
-always assumed when listening to a story.
-
-“In the first place, the flowers were not broken, not a leaf harmed.
-That shows that whoever it was, was small enough to walk under ’em.”
-
-“Very good,” said Mrs. Polly, with an encouraging nod; “go on.”
-
-“Then I found a lot of tracks, but they were so close together that I
-couldn’t make out what kind of animal they belonged to; but a little
-farther off I saw some bigger ones, and I’ll be shot if they don’t
-belong to Graywhisker. Then I found the nasturtium vine broken in
-several places, and it is evident the old fellow got up that way. I
-sleep pretty sound when my head’s under my wing, and he might carry off
-the whole nest without waking me.”
-
-“You’ve done well,” said Mrs. Polly, with an approving smile, “very
-well for an inexperienced hand. Now I’ll give you _my_ opinion;” and
-she looked so wise, and was evidently so perfectly satisfied with her
-own shrewdness, that the young sparrow felt greatly flattered to be
-praised by so distinguished a person.
-
-“You are right in concluding that Graywhisker was there,” said Mrs.
-Polly, “but you’re wrong in thinking he climbed up the nasturtium vine.”
-
-“You don’t think he did, then?” asked the sparrow.
-
-“Not a bit of it,” answered Mrs. Polly decidedly.
-
-“Who did, then?”
-
-“Not Graywhisker, you may depend on that; he has too old a head. He
-laid his plans and superintended the affair, but you wouldn’t catch
-him trusting his precious old neck on that delicate vine. Besides, in
-case the thief were caught he would want to keep his own neck safe.
-No, indeed,” continued Mrs. Polly, shaking her head sagely; “not he,
-indeed!”
-
-“Who did go up the vine, then?” asked the sparrow, very much impressed
-by Mrs. Polly’s wisdom.
-
-“That I’m not prepared to say,” answered Mrs. Polly, with a shrug of
-her shoulders; “perhaps he sent one of the young rats, but I rather
-incline to the opinion that it was a mouse; even a young rat would be
-too heavy, and then young rats are stupid. Yes, I’m pretty sure ’twas a
-mouse.”
-
-“What’s to be done next?” asked the sparrow.
-
-“You young fellows are always in too much of a hurry,” said Mrs. Polly;
-“we must wait and see what turns up next. ‘Murder will out,’ you know;
-and if we keep our ears and eyes open, we shall get some clew to the
-thief.”
-
-“And meanwhile that poor child Nancy will have to go on with her hard
-life. She said she sometimes felt as if she couldn’t bear it any
-longer,” said the sparrow in a despondent tone.
-
-“Make the best of it, my friend,” answered Mrs. Polly. “We’ll do the
-best we can for her. In the mean time don’t talk about the matter; for
-if Graywhisker finds out we suspect him, he’ll be on his guard and we
-shan’t find a clew to the missing ribbon.”
-
-“Well, I suppose the only thing to do is to wait patiently,” said the
-sparrow, with a sigh.
-
-Before long, the barn-cat, and the house-cat, and the little gray
-kitten, and Major, all knew of the theft of the red ribbon with the
-gold figures on it, and they grieved sadly over the disappointment.
-They all took Mrs. Polly’s advice not to talk about it, and
-Graywhisker’s name was not mentioned among them.
-
-“How quiet the birds are to-day!” said Tom to Posy that afternoon; “I
-haven’t heard the canary sing once to-day.”
-
-“That’s so!” said Mrs. Polly dryly.
-
-The children burst out laughing.
-
-“Do you feel sick to-day, Mrs. Polly?” asked Posy.
-
-Mrs. Polly gave a loud sneeze for answer.
-
-“I guess you’ve got cold, ma’am,” said Posy.
-
-Just then Michael drove down the yard on his way to the depot to meet
-Mr. Winton; and when the carriage was opposite the dining-room window,
-Major called out to Mrs. Polly,--
-
-“I’ve got something very important to tell you. Send the barn-cat or
-the sparrow to my stall when I get back. You’d better send the sparrow,
-he can get so near me I don’t have to holla.”
-
-“What a loud neigh Major did give, Tom!” said Posy. “I guess, by the
-way he looked at the dining-room window, he wanted a lump of sugar.”
-
-[Illustration: “‘What a loud neigh Major did give, Tom!’ said
-Posy.”--_Page_ 126.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER X.
-
-
-SERENE as Mrs. Polly’s temperament was, and although she gave the
-sparrow such good advice, she found it very hard to keep patient
-herself until the sparrow appeared.
-
-She felt certain that the important news Major had to communicate
-related to the lost ribbon, and she was almost bursting with curiosity
-to know what it was. It would not do to call the sparrow, for old
-Graywhisker had sharper ears than he had; so the only thing to be done
-was to control her impatience until the sparrow appeared. What if he
-didn’t come back until after the barn was closed for the night?
-
-It was a horrible thought, and it made her break out into a cold
-perspiration, for he was a queer fellow and his movements could never
-be relied on. Just as likely as not he might take it into his head to
-make another visit to his family, or go off with some friend and not
-come back again before midnight.
-
-“There he is,” whispered the canary suddenly; “I can see him swinging
-on the top of that laburnum-tree. I know him by the way he bobs his
-head, and twitches his tail.”
-
-Mrs. Polly looked in the direction indicated by the canary; and
-there he was, swinging on a slender branch of the laburnum-tree as
-unconcernedly as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
-
-“Flirting with that little wren,” said Mrs. Polly indignantly. “It
-doesn’t look well for a family man. I _did_ hope he was going to settle
-down, but I see he’s a hopeless case.”
-
-“He’s good-hearted,” said the canary.
-
-“Yes, his heart’s good enough,” answered Mrs. Polly; “but you can’t
-rely on him. There’s no knowing what he’ll take it into his head to do
-next.”
-
-Just then the sparrow looked in the direction of the dining-room
-window; and as Mrs. Polly caught his eye she beckoned to him. He
-returned the signal, but went on saying a few last words; and from his
-gallant manner and the coquettish air with which the wren listened to
-him, it was very evident he wouldn’t have cared to have the little
-bright-eyed sparrow happen by just then.
-
-“Hopeless!” said Mrs. Polly to herself, as he came flying towards her
-with a pleasant smile, evidently caused by his parting words with the
-wren; “little does he care who stole the ribbon if he can only have a
-good time!” and she received him rather crustily.
-
-“Hope I haven’t kept you waiting too long,” said the sparrow
-cheerfully; “didn’t see you till just now.”
-
-“No, I observed you didn’t,” answered Mrs. Polly in a severe tone.
-
-“Met my cousin the wren, and didn’t like to pass without speaking to
-her a minute.”
-
-“Oh, indeed!” said Mrs. Polly dryly.
-
-“Anything up?” asked the sparrow.
-
-“Yes,” answered Mrs. Polly; “Major wants you to go around to his stall
-after he comes home from the depot,--he has something important to say,
-and you can get nearer to him than the barn-cat can.”
-
-“All right,” said the sparrow, “I’ll be on hand.”
-
-“I hope you won’t meet any more of your _cousins_,” said Mrs. Polly
-sarcastically; “because you know it might interfere with your
-engagement with Major.”
-
-“Don’t worry,” said the sparrow, “I’ll be there;” and off he flew and
-perched himself on one of the topmost boughs of the great elm that hung
-over the gate.
-
-“Good-natured fellow,” said Mrs. Polly to herself, as she watched his
-graceful motions, “but I don’t believe he’ll ever amount to anything.”
-
-The sparrow sat balancing himself on the bough of the great elm until
-he saw Major appear and until Michael had unharnessed him and led him
-into his stall. Then he flew in through the little window above the
-stall, and lighted on the edge of the manger close to Major’s face.
-
-“We’ve chosen a good time,” whispered Major, “while Michael is getting
-my supper and spreading down my bedding for the night; the rats keep
-out of the way while he is around. Come a little bit nearer, if you
-please, so that I can whisper in your ear.”
-
-The little sparrow came as near as he could, and Major put his big
-mouth close to his little ear as he sat perched on the edge of the
-manger. How small he did look, to be sure, by the side of the great
-horse; but he was a bright little fellow if he was small.
-
-“Last night,” whispered Major, “I didn’t sleep very well. I think I
-must have eaten too much supper. Some time in the night I heard voices
-over my head, and I can tell you I listened with all my ears. One of
-the voices I knew well enough,--it was old Graywhisker’s; and the
-other was so timid and weak I was quite sure it belonged to little
-Mrs. Silverskin, and I soon found I was right. They often go in and
-out at night, because they know the barn-cat is likely to be asleep;
-but I suspected from their whispering that some mischief was up, and I
-listened.
-
-“‘I’m afraid the vine will break,’ said Mrs. Silverskin; ‘I don’t dare
-venture on it.’
-
-“‘Nonsense!’ answered the old fellow; ‘it will hold fast enough.’
-
-“But the little mouse protested she was afraid, and then I heard her
-say, ‘I don’t like to steal Posy’s ribbon, she thinks so much of it.’
-
-“‘Very well, ma’am,’ said old Graywhisker; ‘you just pack up and leave
-these premises before to-morrow night, or you’ll be sorry.’
-
-“‘Oh, don’t turn me out of doors!’ said the poor little creature; ‘my
-babies are so young they’ll die if you do.’
-
-“‘So much the better!’ snarled the old fellow.”
-
-“The old villain!” said the sparrow.
-
-“Well, the end of the matter was that Mrs. Silverskin promised to do
-as he wished, provided he would not turn her out of doors; and you may
-be sure the ribbon’s safe in old Graywhisker’s hole, where it’ll stay
-in all probability, for I don’t know anybody bold enough to venture in
-after it.”
-
-The sparrow was silent a moment, and was about to speak when Major
-interrupted him.
-
-“Now you must go, for Michael is through, and will close up for the
-night before he leaves. Tell Mrs. Polly what I’ve told you. Perhaps she
-can think of some way out of this scrape; I’m sure I can’t.”
-
-The sparrow flew off at once to acquaint Mrs. Polly with the news; but
-for the first time since his acquaintance with her Mrs. Polly did not
-prove equal to the emergency. She gave a deep sigh, and shook her head
-several times in a very despondent manner.
-
-“Can’t you think of some way to get back that ribbon?” asked the
-sparrow. “Posy feels so badly about it that I’m sorry I didn’t take
-another one instead. I was a fool. Any other bright one would have done
-as well.”
-
-“The ribbon is in Graywhisker’s hole, and there it will remain,” said
-Mrs. Polly gloomily.
-
-“It seems to me,” said the canary, who had been listening with great
-interest to the story told by the sparrow, “that it might be got out.”
-
-“Pray give us the benefit of your wisdom,” said Mrs. Polly in a
-sarcastic tone. “To be sure, I’ve only lived in the world about fifty
-times as long as you have, but I’m not too proud to learn from anybody.”
-
-“Send somebody in for it when Graywhisker is away from home,” answered
-the canary.
-
-“Who, pray?” asked Mrs. Polly in the same sarcastic tone; and she
-muttered something to herself that sounded very like “You fool!”
-
-“Perhaps Mrs. Silverskin would be willing to go for it. She’s very
-fond of Posy, you know, and the sparrow tells us that she objected to
-stealing the ribbon on that account.”
-
-“Absurd!” exclaimed Mrs. Polly in a contemptuous tone. “Why, she’s
-afraid of her own shadow! I can assure you it would take a good deal of
-courage to venture into any rat’s hole, let alone old Graywhisker’s!
-Why, where do you think she’d be if he came back and found her there?”
-
-“I suppose it would be a pretty dangerous undertaking,” said the canary
-meekly.
-
-“I _suppose_ it would too!” sneered the parrot. “No, that’s out of the
-question; so that settles the matter.”
-
-“I don’t know about that,” said the sparrow dryly.
-
-“What do you mean?” asked Mrs. Polly sharply. “Don’t speak in riddles.”
-
-“I mean what I say,” answered the sparrow, boldly returning Mrs.
-Polly’s glance. “I said I didn’t know about that. I’m not so sure that
-nobody will dare venture into Graywhisker’s hole.”
-
-“Who will, pray?” said Mrs. Polly.
-
-“_I_ will,” answered the sparrow firmly. “I’ll go into Graywhisker’s
-hole and get that ribbon back if it’s there.”
-
-Mrs. Polly and the canary stared at the little sparrow in astonishment
-too great for words.
-
-[Illustration: The Sparrow consults Miss Polly]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XI.
-
-
-“DO you know what you are saying?” said Mrs. Polly, when she had
-recovered from her astonishment sufficiently to speak.
-
-“I shouldn’t wonder if I did,” answered the sparrow carelessly.
-
-“Have you considered well the danger?” asked Mrs. Polly gravely.
-
-“Oh, bother the danger!” exclaimed the sparrow impatiently. “Suppose
-the old villain does come home and eat me up? Well, there’ll only be
-one sparrow less in the world.”
-
-“But you’re a family man. What will become of your wife and children if
-you are killed?”
-
-“My wife and children are pretty well used to taking care of
-themselves, and they’ll be as well off without me as with me. There’s a
-great advantage in the vagabond life I’ve led; and being of no use in
-the world you won’t be missed, and that’s a comfort;” and the sparrow
-laughed recklessly.
-
-“Don’t talk so,” said Mrs. Polly; “you know you don’t mean it.”
-
-“Perhaps I don’t,” said the sparrow carelessly.
-
-“You’ve got on your blue spectacles to-day, I guess,” said Mrs. Polly,
-“and you like to make yourself out worse than you are.”
-
-“I’m sure _we_ should miss you very much,” said the canary. “We have
-so little variety to our lives, shut up here in these cages, that it’s
-very pleasant to have you coming and going, and bringing us news from
-the busy world. Why, we should never have known about little Nancy if
-it hadn’t been for you; and you are the one who is to bring her here,
-and now you are about to venture into Graywhisker’s hole and find the
-ribbon. Why, you’re the bravest fellow I know! Don’t say you’re of no
-use in the world when you can do so much!”
-
-“You’re very kind,” said the sparrow,--and his voice was somewhat
-husky, and his eyes looked a little moist,--“to say such pleasant
-things to a fellow. I don’t think I ever had anybody say such pleasant
-things to me before. I declare I believe I’ve got a cold coming on;”
-and the sparrow made a great effort to clear his throat.
-
-“If you persist in doing this reckless thing--” began Mrs. Polly.
-
-“I _do_ persist,” said the sparrow decidedly.
-
-“You must take the opportunity when Graywhisker is away from home,”
-continued Mrs. Polly. “I don’t know much about his habits myself, but
-Major can tell you when he is likely to be out. Then let the barn-cat
-watch at the entrance of the hole, and you’re safe from him provided
-you don’t come to harm in the hole.”
-
-Mrs. Polly put her head on one side with a meditative air, and the
-others were silent, for they knew she was considering deeply about the
-matter. After a few minutes’ silence she spoke.
-
-“I’ll tell you what seems to me to be a good plan,” she said to the
-sparrow. “You see the barn-cat and whisper to her to take her kittens
-out for an airing in front of the barn. Graywhisker will be sure to see
-them, and conclude that it’s safe for him to leave home, for he never
-goes out while she is in the barn. You watch from a distance, and when
-he is gone you give the barn-cat a sign and let her leave her kittens
-with the little gray kitten while you slip into the hole and she sits
-at the entrance. Do you understand?”
-
-“Yes, I understand that it wouldn’t make much difference to the
-barn-cat whether she ate _me_ or Graywhisker; on the whole, I’m
-inclined to think she’d give me the preference. No, I thank you, I’d
-rather meet Graywhisker in the hole than have the barn-cat watch the
-entrance while I’m in.”
-
-“Well, I don’t know but that you’re right,” answered Mrs. Polly; “then
-we’ll leave it this way. You wait for an opportunity when Graywhisker
-is away and the barn-cat too, and then you slip in and get the ribbon.
-Major will point out his hole to you.”
-
-“All right,” answered the sparrow cheerfully. “I’ll take advantage of
-the first opportunity;” and he flew off to the top of a tall pear-tree
-that commanded a view of the barn and yard. The parrot saw him sit
-quietly there for some time, his little head bobbing about in a very
-wide-awake manner, and then suddenly fly down and dart into the window
-above Major’s stall. She knew the desired opportunity had come, and
-both she and the canary felt great anxiety as to the result of such a
-bold undertaking.
-
-Just then Tom and Posy came out and seated themselves on the steps of
-the piazza to eat their lunch.
-
-“Can’t you tell me a story, Tom?” asked Posy; “I’ve told you ever so
-many nice ones.”
-
-“Well,” said Tom, “let me see--”
-
-“I’d rather hear about animals,” said Posy.
-
-“Well then, I guess I’ll tell you about a hedgehog.”
-
-“Oh dear!” said Posy, with a disappointed air; “well, go on, Tom.”
-
-“Once there was a hedgehog,” began Tom, “who lived in a little hole in
-the woods.”
-
-“What?” asked Posy quickly.
-
-“You mustn’t interrupt me, Posy,” said Tom. “I said there was once a
-hedgehog who lived in a little hole in the woods.”
-
-“But it _couldn’t_, you know,” said Posy, with a perplexed expression.
-
-“He could and he did,” continued Tom decidedly; “and one day he started
-out for a walk--”
-
-“Why, Tom,” said Posy earnestly, “how could a hedgehog take a walk? A
-hedgehog is a kind of _barrel_, you know.”
-
-“You mean hogshead,” said Tom; “what a little goosie you are, Posy!
-But no matter,” he continued, as Posy’s cheeks flushed at her mistake;
-“the hedgehog started out for a walk one morning, and before he’d gone
-very far he met an old fox who lived in a ledge of rocks near by.
-‘Good-morning, sir,’ said Mr. Fox, ‘this is a fine morning to be out’--”
-
-“Tom,” said Posy suddenly, “I do believe the barn-cat is going to
-bring her kittens out. Do look at her!”
-
-The barn-cat sat in the doorway of the barn, and moved her tail gently
-backward and forward, occasionally uttering a low “meaw” in a very
-coaxing tone and looking behind her. Soon a little head appeared, and
-then another, and two tiger-kittens began to play with her tail. Then
-the barn-cat stepped down from the doorway into the yard, and went
-through the same performance again. The tiger-kittens came to the edge
-of the step and looked cautiously over. The barn-cat pretended not to
-see them, but kept her tail gently moving.
-
-Then the tiger-kittens put first one paw over the edge of the step,
-and then another, and all at once they tumbled over into the yard.
-Then what a play they did have! They lay on their sides and kicked
-against their mother, and then they made believe frightened and
-galloped sideways up to her, with their backs arched and as fierce an
-expression as their mild little eyes were capable of producing.
-
-“See the old cat make believe she doesn’t see ’em, and yet she watches
-them out of the corner of her eye all the time,” said Tom.
-
-Then the barn-cat began to wash herself, and the kittens did the same;
-but they didn’t do it in a very thorough manner, for their little paws
-didn’t touch their faces half of the time.
-
-Then the barn-cat took up one of her hind legs and washed it, and the
-kittens tried to do the same; but they were such little round balls
-they kept losing their balance, and tumbled over every time they lifted
-up their short hind legs.
-
-Soon the barn-cat went into the barn, leaving her kittens at play in
-the yard.
-
-“That’s strange,” said Tom, “to leave her kittens; she’s usually so
-careful of them.”
-
-In a few minutes the gray kitten came out and seated herself near the
-tiger-kittens.
-
-“I really believe,” said Posy, “that the barn-cat sent the gray kitten
-out to take care of her babies while she was out hunting.”
-
-When the barn-cat entered the barn, she called the gray kitten to her
-and told her she would like to have her take charge of the kittens
-while she watched for a while at Graywhisker’s hole, as she hadn’t seen
-him leave the barn for a long time.
-
-The gray kitten, delighted to be of service to her kind friend,
-hurried down to the yard, and the barn-cat took her station beside
-Graywhisker’s hole. Meanwhile the sparrow had learned from Major where
-Graywhisker’s hole was situated, and was already some distance in, when
-the barn-cat took her position outside.
-
-“Dark as a pocket,” said the sparrow to himself as he cautiously groped
-his way.
-
-“Perhaps I shall see better when I’m used to the darkness,” he said
-hopefully; and he went on slowly, putting one foot carefully before the
-other. Suddenly he lost his footing and fell down several inches, but
-he landed on his feet and was not hurt.
-
-“All right,” said the sparrow, and looked about him. A little ray of
-light shone in through a crevice of the wall, and he was able to see
-faintly. This was evidently Graywhisker’s dwelling; and the long dark
-place he went through first, the passage-way leading to it. As his eyes
-became accustomed to the dim light he began to distinguish objects.
-
-“Whew! how close!” said the sparrow, as he took a long breath.
-
-All the old rat’s treasures were evidently collected here. Crusts of
-bread, rinds of cheese, scraps of bacon, were lying around; and bits
-of rags and twine were collected in a corner, and evidently served as
-Graywhisker’s bed.
-
-“You’ll have to make your bed over to-night, my friend,” said the
-sparrow, rumpling the bed over and scattering the rags all over the
-floor. “Hallo! what’s this?” he said, as he came upon a smooth round
-object.
-
-“I declare, if it isn’t a hen’s egg! The old thief! I wonder how he
-managed to get it in here without breaking it! I guess I’ll save him
-the trouble of breaking it;” and he pecked at it until he had made
-a hole large enough for the inside of the egg to run out. He gave a
-mischievous laugh as he saw the liquid oozing out, and then continued
-his search.
-
-“Whew!” he said again; “it’s getting rather stifling here, I must hurry
-up. Where in the world can that ribbon be?” and he looked carefully
-around in every direction. “Hooray!” he exclaimed, as he caught sight
-of a little piece of red silk hanging from a nail over his head.
-“Thought he’d got it hid away safely, didn’t he?” and in a twinkling he
-had hopped up and caught the ribbon securely in his beak.
-
-“Now for a little fresh air,” said the sparrow; “I couldn’t stand it
-much longer.”
-
-He looked around for the entrance to the passage-way. There were three
-holes just alike; which was the right one? He stood perplexed. “What a
-fool I was,” he said to himself, “not to take more notice! This is a
-pretty fix! Well, here goes! I’ll try each one, and one of them _must_
-lead out.” So he hopped up to the hole nearest him and boldly entered.
-It was utterly dark, and he felt his way for a time in silence; but the
-sparrow, who lived out in the pure air, was not accustomed to the close
-and musty atmosphere of an old rat-hole, and he began to feel faint and
-a little bewildered. What if he shouldn’t be able to find his way at
-all? But he was a brave little fellow, and he thrust the thought aside.
-“I _will_ get out, I _won’t_ give up,” he said resolutely. “This hole
-_must_ lead somewhere;” and he pushed bravely on.
-
-“Seems to me I’ve gone far enough to take me out; I don’t understand
-it. My strength won’t hold out to go back and try another entrance.”
-He thought of the bright-eyed sparrow and his three little ones, and
-he determined to hold out, for they had never seemed so dear to him as
-they did now that the hope of seeing them again appeared so small. With
-a great effort he kept on, holding the bit of ribbon in his beak. Soon
-he turned a sharp corner, and with joy he beheld a ray of light in the
-distance. The long dark passage led into the main passage-way, and he
-was safe.
-
-Just as he was about to emerge into the daylight a faint rustle met
-his quick ears, and with horror he beheld the barn-cat seated at the
-entrance.
-
-There was nothing to be done but to wait patiently and see what would
-happen next. The air that came in through the entrance of the hole
-relieved the dreadful faintness that had so oppressed him; so he sat
-holding the ribbon securely in his beak, but with his brave little
-heart beating pretty rapidly.
-
-All at once a sudden noise startled him, and peeping cautiously out he
-saw the barn-cat chasing Graywhisker across the barn-floor. Quick as a
-flash the sparrow was out and had flown in safety to the window-sill,
-when Graywhisker disappeared into a hole in the wall, and the barn-cat
-returned with a crestfallen air to her kittens.
-
-[Illustration: Tramp on a Branch]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XII.
-
-
-THE sparrow flew at once to acquaint Mrs. Polly and the canary with
-the result of his expedition. They were both greatly relieved to see
-him safely back, and rejoiced at his success. Then after a short rest
-and a worm or two for lunch, he flew merrily off to find little Nancy,
-carrying the piece of red ribbon safely in his claw.
-
-It was some time before he succeeded in finding her, with her box of
-matches on her arm, going about from house to house.
-
-He lighted on a fence beside her, and flaunted the red ribbon with the
-gold figures on it in a very enticing manner.
-
-“Why, Billy,” exclaimed the child, “how did you get here? What a
-beautiful ribbon! I wish you would give it to me! It would make a
-lovely dress for that little china doll that hasn’t got any legs and
-arms, that a little girl gave me one day.”
-
-Billy waited until the child was almost up to him, and then flew away,
-holding the red ribbon securely in his claw.
-
-“I know you want to put it in your nest, Billy,” continued the child;
-“but any rag would do just as well for you, and I never saw such a
-_beautiful_ piece of ribbon in all my life.”
-
-But Billy flew on and lighted again on a stone in front of little Nancy.
-
-The child tore off a piece of her dress, that was in such an untidy
-condition that the little piece of calico would not be missed, and
-approached the sparrow cautiously, saying,--
-
-“I will give you this piece off my dress, Billy, to put in your nest,
-if you will give me that beautiful ribbon. This will do better for
-you, because it’s bigger. Now, _do_ give it to me, and I’ll give you
-and your little mate ever so many crumbs from the next piece of bread I
-get.”
-
-The sparrow again waited till the child had almost reached him, and
-then flew away as before.
-
-“Oh, dear me!” she exclaimed sadly; “I did want it so much!” and she
-turned to go back with a weary air.
-
-Then the sparrow came towards her and dropped the ribbon on the ground.
-The child ran to pick it up; but just as she stooped to seize it, the
-sparrow caught it up in his beak and flew off with it.
-
-“I shall follow him,” said the child to herself, “till I get that
-ribbon. I know he’ll drop it again, for he’s a very careless fellow.”
-
-So the two went on, the sparrow occasionally dropping the ribbon and
-then seizing it again as the child was about to put her hand on it.
-
-Meanwhile Posy and Tom were out in the yard, or rather seated on the
-step of the kitchen door, watching the barn-kittens playing. The gray
-kitten played too, but more gently than the tiger-kittens.
-
-“I’m going to bring out the house-kittens,” said Posy; “they ought to
-have a good time too.”
-
-The house-cat was lying in the box beside her kittens when Posy came
-for them.
-
-“I’m going to let your kitties play with the barn-kitties,” said Posy
-in explanation to the house-cat, who looked rather startled at such a
-sudden interruption; “they ought to be out in the fresh air instead of
-sleeping in this hot kitchen. You needn’t meaw so, for I shan’t hurt
-them.”
-
-What the house-cat said was this,--
-
-“I don’t want my kittens playing with those rough barn-kittens; it will
-spoil their manners.” But Posy didn’t understand her; and it wouldn’t
-have made any difference if she had, for she was very fond of the
-barn-cat and approved highly of the way she brought up her family. So
-Posy carried out the kittens, followed closely by the house-cat.
-
-Posy put the kittens on the ground beside the little tiger-kittens, and
-then went back to her seat on the door-step beside Tom to watch them
-play.
-
-The little tiger-kittens stood still a minute and watched the
-new-comers curiously. Then they flew at each other, and clawed
-each other, and rolled over together. The barn-cat looked on, very
-proud of her children’s strength; but the house-cat had a very
-scornful expression on her countenance, as she scowled at the little
-tiger-kittens.
-
-“Come back at once!” she called to her little Maltese kittens. “I don’t
-wish you to associate with those common barn-kittens.”
-
-“Oh, do let us stay; it’s _such_ fun!” they answered piteously.
-
-“Let ’em have a little frolic; it’ll do ’em good,” said the barn-cat.
-“They’ll get sick lying in that hot kitchen.”
-
-“I’m very particular about their manners,” said the house-cat; “I don’t
-want them to learn common ways.”
-
-“My kittens won’t teach ’em anything to hurt their manners,” answered
-the barn-cat; “let ’em stay and have a good time. Come, my dears,” she
-said to the little Maltese kittens in a motherly tone, “you play just
-as much as you want to.”
-
-The house-cat looked anxiously around. None of her stylish
-acquaintances were in sight, and it _did_ seem a pity to cheat her
-darlings out of a romp in this fresh air; so she didn’t say they
-_shouldn’t_ stay, and the kittens interpreted her silence as a consent.
-So they grew very cheerful, and watched the tiger-kittens chase each
-other and claw and roll over, till at last they became bold, and one
-of them went up to one of the tiger-kittens and gave him a gentle tap
-with his paw, exactly as Posy often did to Tom when she called out
-“Tag!”
-
-Then the tiger-kitten turned and chased him, and how the little Maltese
-kitten did run! He dodged almost as well as the tiger-kittens did,
-and the tiger-kitten had to try with all his might till he caught the
-Maltese kitten, and then they both rolled over together and kicked and
-clawed, just as if the Maltese kitten had played “tag” every day of his
-life.
-
-“Very well indeed, my dear!” said the barn-cat, with an approving nod;
-“try it once more, and you needn’t be afraid to put out your claws a
-little farther. My kittens don’t mind a few scratches, I can tell you;
-and look here, my dear, when you run up to them, crouch a little, this
-way, and wriggle your body before you spring, and don’t be afraid of
-hurting them when you knock them over. Try it again, my dear; you’ll do
-it better next time.”
-
-The little Maltese kitten did try it again, and succeeded so well that
-the house-cat, although she tried not to look interested, couldn’t
-resist a smile of pride. Then the other Maltese kitten tried it, and
-did it so well that the barn-cat praised her for it.
-
-“Now, my dears,” said the barn-cat, “I’m going to teach you how to
-catch mice.”
-
-She looked around and picked out a little green apple that would roll
-easily.
-
-“Now play that was a mouse sitting still; show me how you would catch
-it. You begin first,” she said to one of her kittens, “because you’ve
-already had a lesson in it.”
-
-So the tiger-kitten crept cautiously towards the apple, swishing her
-little tail the way her mother had taught her; and when she came
-within the proper distance she stopped and wriggled her body from side
-to side, and then gave a great spring and seized the apple with her
-little front paws; but the tiger-kitten was so excited from playing
-“tag,” that she forgot she was playing “mouse,” and batted the apple
-with her little paws and set it rolling, and then chased it and caught
-it, and lay on her back and clawed it with all her four paws.
-
-“I’m ashamed of you,” said the barn-cat severely; “now put it down and
-do it over again properly; and mind, no fooling this time!”
-
-So the little tiger-kitten did it over again, and really did it very
-well; and then the Maltese kittens tried it, and the barn-cat was very
-much pleased with them. “Now,” said the barn-cat, “we’ll make believe
-’tis a mouse running. See how well you can do that!” and she gave the
-apple a push with her paw, and all the four kittens set off at once
-after it, and rolled over one another and clawed and kicked just as
-they had done when they played “tag.”
-
-The barn-cat couldn’t help smiling to herself, but she took care that
-the kittens didn’t see her smile, and then she made each one do it
-alone, and gave them very good advice about hiding behind corners and
-then suddenly springing out.
-
-The children had been watching this play with the greatest interest,
-and often laughed aloud, when all at once Posy exclaimed,--
-
-“Why, there is a little girl without any shoes and stockings on, and
-her’s got a basket on her arm. What do you suppose her wants, Tom?”
-
-The little barefooted girl was Nancy, whom the sparrow had succeeded in
-enticing by means of the red ribbon with gold figures on it. She had
-stood watching the kittens play for some minutes before Posy saw her.
-
-“She’s got something to sell, I guess,” said Tom.
-
-Just then Hannah came to the door, and the children told her about the
-little girl.
-
-“Go away!” said Hannah; “we don’t want to buy anything.”
-
-The child came a step nearer and said timidly,--
-
-“Will you please to buy some matches, ma’am?”
-
-“No,” said Hannah shortly; “we don’t want any pedlers ’round here.”
-
-The child sighed and turned away.
-
-“Hannah,” said Posy, with her cheeks very red, “that’s a poor little
-girl, and Mamma always buys things of poor little girls.”
-
-“Your mamma’s got plenty of matches,” said Hannah in the same cross
-tone. “She wants a chance to steal something; that’s what she wants.”
-
-“You’re a very unkind girl, Hannah,” said Posy angrily. “I know Mamma
-will buy some matches; won’t her, Tom?”
-
-“Yes,” said Tom decidedly. “She tells us to be good to poor people; and
-this little girl hasn’t got any shoes and stockings, and her feet look
-awful sore.”
-
-“Mamma!” screamed Posy, running under the window of Mamma’s room.
-
-“What is it, dear?” asked Mamma, coming to the window.
-
-“There’s a awful poor little girl here, Mamma,” said Posy eagerly; “and
-her hasn’t got any shoes and stockings, and her has matches to sell.
-_Do_ buy some, Mamma; her looks so tired, and sad;” and Posy was very
-near crying.
-
-“Tell her to wait a minute,” said Mamma, “and I’ll come down.”
-
-So Posy and Tom ran after the little girl and brought her back just as
-Mamma appeared at the kitchen door.
-
-“Come in, little girl,” said Mamma kindly, “and sit down. You look
-tired.”
-
-The child did indeed look tired, and seated herself wearily; but the
-instant she touched the chair her head fell forward on her breast, and
-she would have fallen to the floor if Hannah had not caught her in time.
-
-“Bring her into the dining-room where it is cool,” said Mrs. Winton,
-“and lay her on the sofa.”
-
-So Hannah, whose heart was a good deal kinder than her tongue, picked
-up the forlorn child and gently placed her on the sofa in the cool
-dining-room.
-
-[Illustration: “So Posy and Tom ran after the little girl and brought
-her back.”--_Page_ 164.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIII.
-
-
-TOM and Posy watched little Nancy with distressed countenances as she
-lay on the lounge so still and white.
-
-“Don’t be frightened,” said Mrs. Winton, as she caught sight of their
-faces, that were almost as pale as the little match-girl’s; “she has
-only fainted and will be well again in a few minutes.”
-
-So Mrs. Winton bathed the child’s forehead with cold water, and Hannah
-fanned her with a palm-leaf fan.
-
-“Tom,” said Mamma, “I wish you would bring me a pitcher of cold water
-fresh from the pump.” But there was no answer, and Mamma looked around.
-Both of the children were gone. Just as the little match-girl opened
-her eyes Tom appeared carrying a pillow, and Posy brought up the rear
-with a bottle of cologne in one hand and all the playthings she could
-carry under the other arm.
-
-“I thought the little girl would like to have my pillow under her
-head,” said Tom, handing it to Mamma.
-
-“It was very thoughtful,” answered Mamma.
-
-“And Posy brought the bottle of German cologne she got on her
-birthday,” added Tom, as Posy stood shyly behind him; “she’s been
-keeping it for you when you have a headache, but she says she wants the
-little girl to have it because she didn’t believe she ever had any nice
-German cologne before.”
-
-Posy felt paid for the little sacrifice she had made when Mamma smiled
-at her. Meanwhile Nancy was sitting up, looking around her with a
-bewildered air.
-
-“She probably ate something that hurt her,” said Hannah; “there’s no
-telling what these kind of people eat. A good dose of thoroughwort
-would fetch her out of this.”
-
-“What did you have for your breakfast, my dear?” asked Mrs. Winton
-kindly.
-
-“I didn’t have any breakfast,” answered the child.
-
-“What did you eat for your supper last night?” asked Mrs. Winton.
-
-“I didn’t have any supper, either,” said the little match-girl.
-
-“How happened it, my child?” asked Mrs. Winton, with a serious face.
-
-“I couldn’t sell any matches, so she didn’t give me anything to eat.
-She said I didn’t earn my salt.”
-
-“Who is _she_?”
-
-“The woman where I live,” answered the child.
-
-“Is she your relative?” asked Mrs. Winton.
-
-“I don’t know,” answered the child.
-
-“Hannah,” said Mrs. Winton, “bring me a bowl of bread and milk. It is
-as I suspected; the child is half starved.”
-
-Posy came around to Mamma’s side, and leaned against her in what Hannah
-called “Posy’s coaxing way.”
-
-“Don’t send her back to that horrid woman, will you, Mamma?” she
-whispered.
-
-“I will look after her, my darling, you may be sure,” said Mamma.
-
-“But you _will_ let her stay, won’t you, Mamma?” repeated Posy.
-
-“I will let her stay till she feels well again, and then I will find
-out about her,” answered Mamma soothingly. “Don’t be troubled, Posy;
-I love my own little children too well not to try to make all other
-children happy.”
-
-Posy looked greatly relieved.
-
-Tom had been silently watching the little match-girl, and listening
-eagerly to what Mamma said to Posy. He put his hand in his pocket and
-pulled out his new top and looked lovingly at it.
-
-“She can have my new top if she wants it,” he said to Mamma.
-
-“I am glad you thought of it, my dear, but I don’t think little girls
-care much for tops,” said Mamma.
-
-An expression of relief came over Tom’s face; for the new top was very
-dear to him, and he had saved the money for it, cent by cent.
-
-“Do you think she would like to have Miss Pompadour?” asked Posy.
-
-“We will see that she has playthings,” said Mamma; “but first of all
-she needs food, and here comes Hannah with the bread and milk.”
-
-The poor child ate greedily, the children looking on with intense
-satisfaction.
-
-That afternoon Major was harnessed to the carryall; and Mr. Winton,
-with Tom and Posy, and little Nancy for a guide, set out for Nancy’s
-old home. A ride was an unknown and undreamed-of treat to the neglected
-child, and the kindness with which she was received almost overpowered
-her.
-
-Although Nancy had lived such a joyless life, her powers of observation
-were unusually acute; and the stories she related to Posy, who sat
-beside her on the back seat, were so very novel and interesting that
-Tom forgot to ask to drive, and listened as intently as Posy did.
-She told them about Billy, and the bright-eyed sparrow, and the baby
-sparrows, and the little blind gray kitten; and in this way the time
-passed so very quickly that they reached their destination before the
-children had heard half enough.
-
-Mr. Winton went into the house and left the children in the carriage.
-
-Nancy pointed out the little house where the bright-eyed sparrow
-lived; and there she was at the door of the house.
-
-“She’s going to teach the young birds how to fly,” said Nancy; and the
-children watched with great interest.
-
-First the mother bird hopped down to the branch below, and the little
-sparrows came to the door of the house and looked down. Their mother
-gave a little call, but they only stretched their necks farther out
-and looked timidly down, as if the distance seemed to them very great.
-The mother bird called again, louder and more decidedly. Then they
-fluttered their little wings and hopped up and down, but dared not
-venture out of their nest. The mother bird, evidently thinking that a
-little discipline was required, hopped back and gave each one a little
-peck, and actually drove them out of the nest. Then she showed them how
-to fly. She flew around in short circles, and then back again. Soon one
-of the little sparrows grew bold, and flew a very little way and then
-came back; but he seemed very proud of what he had done and tried it
-over again many times. Then, encouraged by his example, the other two
-ventured out; and they too grew quite brave, and flew better every time
-they tried.
-
-By this time the door of the house opened, and Mr. Winton appeared,
-followed by a woman, at sight of whom little Nancy shrank back in the
-carriage and looked frightened.
-
-“Don’t be afraid,” said Tom; “if she comes here I’ll give her a good
-hit and send her off howling.”
-
-“No, indeed,” said Posy; “we shan’t let her touch you.”
-
-“If you take the child you take her for good and all. I ain’t a going
-to take her back when you’ve got sick of your bargain,” they heard the
-woman say, as she held the door open with one hand.
-
-“I take her for good and all,” answered Mr. Winton, as he turned from
-the door and came towards the carriage.
-
-“Nancy,” he said, when they had driven a few minutes in silence, “how
-should you like to stay with us?”
-
-“Oh!” cried Posy, clapping her hands and jumping up and down with joy,
-“I thought it would end so, you dear, good, kind Papa!” and Posy threw
-her arms around Papa’s neck, and hugged him till she knocked off his
-hat and nearly fell out of the carriage herself.
-
-“I should like it very much indeed,” said Nancy, with a gleam of
-happiness in her dark eyes.
-
-So little Nancy went to her new home, and a cot-bed was put in Hannah’s
-room for her.
-
-“Hannah’s awful cross,” said Tom to Nancy.
-
-“But her’s good, Tom,” said Posy.
-
-“‘Her bark’s worse than her bite,’ Papa says.”
-
-Meanwhile old Graywhisker was almost beside himself with rage at
-the overthrow of his hopes. When he escaped from the barn-cat, he
-disappeared down the private entrance to the barn and remained there
-quietly until he was sure the barn-cat was out of the way. Then he
-crept cautiously out and ran to his own hole.
-
-When he emerged from the long, dark passage-way into his living-room,
-imagine the confusion that met his eyes! His bed torn to pieces
-and scattered all around, and his precious hen’s egg that he had
-transported with so much care and difficulty, broken! He gave a quick
-glance up at the nail where he had hung the red ribbon with the gold
-figures on it. It was empty.
-
-“Gone!” he shrieked. “Stolen! but I’ll be revenged! This will be the
-dearest piece of mischief you ever did, my dear barn-cat! I’d give a
-good deal to know who was the cat’s paw this time;” and his shrewd old
-eyes peered keenly about for some traces left by the thief. “Aha!” he
-said, with an ugly grin that showed the broken tooth in front; and he
-sat on his haunches and held up a little gray feather. “It was you, was
-it, my dear little cock-sparrow? The barn-cat sent you in, did she, to
-get the chestnuts out of the fire for her? I wonder, my dear friends,
-if before very long you’ll wish you had left the little ribbon alone!
-The old rat will be one too many for you, my dear creatures, I am
-afraid!”
-
-In this way Graywhisker gave vent to his rage and disappointment, and
-sat a long time considering how to take his revenge. Then he decided
-to hold a midnight meeting in his house, where there was no danger of
-being disturbed; and the meeting was very fully attended, and the
-result kept strictly private.
-
-The next afternoon the little gray kitten was seated in front of the
-barn washing herself, when her attention was attracted by a little
-mouse that ran in front of her. The gray kitten could not see very
-well, and she seldom succeeded in catching anything; but this little
-mouse ran so very near that she couldn’t help seeing it, and she
-quickly ran after it.
-
-The mouse ran into the barn and up the stairs, followed very closely by
-the gray kitten, and then disappeared into a large hole under the mow.
-The gray kitten was not very large herself, and the hole was so big
-that she followed the little mouse in. There was a much smaller hole
-at the other end; and out of that the mouse ran, but it was too small
-for the gray kitten to follow and she turned to go back. What was her
-surprise and terror to find the entrance closed up with a pile of hay,
-and that she was a prisoner!
-
-“I understand now,” said the poor little gray kitten to herself, “why
-that mouse ran so near me. It was done to get me into this trap, and
-that Graywhisker was at the bottom of it.”
-
-[Illustration: “The poor child ate greedily.”--_Page_ 170.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIV.
-
-
-GREAT was the excitement among the animals when they learned that the
-little gray kitten was missing.
-
-“She never in this world went off of her own accord,” said the barn-cat
-to Mrs. Polly; “she always stayed at home and took care of my kittens
-while I was out hunting. Something has happened to her. We shall never
-see the dear little thing again, you may be sure;” and the barn-cat
-gave a deep sigh.
-
-“Don’t be so discouraged,” said the canary hopefully; “all of our plans
-have gone well so far, and I know this will. It’s always darkest before
-daylight, you know.”
-
-“What do you propose to do about it, pray?” asked the barn-cat in an
-irritable tone. “It’s all very well to say ‘Don’t be discouraged,’ but
-what is to be done? Sitting here and talking about it won’t bring the
-gray kitten back. Come, let’s have your ideas on the subject. I’m not
-too old to learn, if I _have_ brought up half a dozen families.”
-
-“I don’t pretend to know myself the best course to pursue,” answered
-the canary good-naturedly, “and I shouldn’t presume to dictate to you
-who have had so much more experience than I have. I only meant to say
-that Mrs. Polly, who has the wisest head of any of us, could probably
-advise us what to do.”
-
-Mrs. Polly gave a satisfied “Ahem!” for it always put her in a good
-humor to be looked up to.
-
-“That’s a good idea,” said the barn-cat, appeased by the canary’s
-good-nature. “Come, Mrs. Polly, I hope you will give us your views on
-the subject; I know you have been thinking it over.”
-
-“Well,” said Mrs. Polly in an impressive manner, “I have been
-considering the case, and have come to the conclusion that the only way
-to accomplish anything is to investigate the case in a thorough manner.
-Call the animals together, and I will interview them, and discover, if
-possible, if they can throw any light on this painful affair.”
-
-“Capital!” exclaimed the barn-cat, “I will attend to it at once. If
-you’ve no objection, ma’am, I should like to bring my kittens; they are
-old enough to begin to learn how such matters are conducted, and I like
-to have them get all the information they can.”
-
-“Very sensible indeed,” answered Mrs. Polly; “bring them by all means,
-and tell the house-cat to bring hers. Please notify the sparrow also of
-the meeting; and as Major can’t be present you will have to take his
-affidavit. That is,” explained Mrs. Polly, seeing a puzzled look on the
-barn-cat’s face, “he must tell you what he knows about the matter, and
-you can report it to me.”
-
-“That’s very easy,” answered the barn-cat. “Finding the sparrow won’t
-be quite so easy. He’s never around when he’s wanted.”
-
-“Yes, he is, my darling,” answered a voice from the flowering currant;
-“he can’t tear himself away from you long;” and there sat the sparrow,
-swinging on a slender branch, and looking as impudent and careless as
-ever.
-
-“Well, you _are_ here when you’re wanted for once in your life,” said
-the barn-cat. “See if you can keep still in one place till we’re ready
-for the meeting;” and off went the barn-cat on her errand.
-
-In a short time the house-cat appeared with her kittens nicely
-washed, and looking as pretty and fresh as possible, and soon after
-the barn-cat appeared with _her_ kittens. She had had time to wash
-them carefully, as Major was out and she could not have the desired
-interview with him. Their little tiger-skins were glossy, and they
-looked as if it were hard work for them to walk sedately behind their
-mother.
-
-The house-cat was seated with her kittens beside her, and the barn-cat
-took up her position at a distance and placed her kittens where she
-could keep an eye on them. While she was making their toilets she had
-given them so many instructions in regard to their behavior, that they
-presented a very demure appearance, although their little bright eyes
-danced about in such a very animated way that it seemed probable that
-it wouldn’t be a very difficult task to make them forget their dignity.
-
-Mrs. Polly looked as wise as half a dozen judges put together, wigs
-and all. She looked silently around on the little group collected about
-her and then gave a little cough, as was usual when she had something
-of importance to say.
-
-“I suppose you all understand why this meeting was called,” she began.
-“The little gray kitten, of whom we are all so fond, is missing, and
-we are trying to discover some traces of her. Now, to proceed in a
-systematic manner, the first point to find out is, who saw her last,
-and where?”
-
-There was a moment’s silence, and then one of the little house-kittens
-said,--
-
-“I think old Graywhisker has eaten the gray kitten up.”
-
-“What makes you think so?” asked Mrs. Polly quickly.
-
-“Because he’s got such long, sharp teeth. My mother says he’d eat me up
-quicker than a wink if he caught me,” answered the house-kitten.
-
-“When did you see the gray kitten last, my dear?” asked Mrs. Polly.
-
-“Not for a very long time,” replied the little house-kitten. “My mother
-says she’s common, and doesn’t like to have us play with her.”
-
-“Then, if you’ve no information to give on the subject,” said Mrs.
-Polly severely, “don’t give it. You must learn to be seen and not
-heard.”
-
-The little house-kitten was somewhat abashed at this reproof; but
-her embarrassment did not last long, for her sister, the other
-house-kitten, who was tired of sitting still so long, moved her tail
-backward and forward in such a very enticing manner that she couldn’t
-resist the temptation of springing at it and clawing it.
-
-The house-cat was rather ashamed of her want of discipline,
-particularly as the barn-kittens sat all this time in a dignified
-manner, with their small tails straight out behind them; and more
-especially as the barn-cat’s face wore a very self-satisfied smile, as
-if she were enjoying the house-cat’s discomfiture.
-
-“If you don’t sit still I shall take you home at once,” she said to the
-house-kittens when she had restored order and placed them where she
-could reach them in case of a second disturbance.
-
-“Now that order is restored,” said Mrs. Polly, “we will proceed to
-business. When did _you_ see the gray kitten last?” she asked the
-sparrow.
-
-“I haven’t seen her for the last two days,” answered the sparrow. “She
-isn’t so attached to me as my friend the barn-cat here, and doesn’t
-follow me up so closely.”
-
-“Don’t joke at such a serious moment,” said the barn-cat crossly.
-
-“It’s as easy to laugh as to cry,” answered the sparrow, “and a good
-deal pleasanter.”
-
-“Our friend the sparrow did us such a good turn in recovering the
-stolen ribbon,” said Mrs. Polly, “that we mustn’t be too hard on his
-peculiarities. We all know that if his manner is sometimes frivolous,
-he has proved to us that he has a warm heart and is devoted to our
-service.”
-
-“His heart’s warm enough and he is brave enough too,” said the
-barn-cat, who had a strong sense of justice; “but I _do_ wish he was a
-little steadier in his ways.”
-
-“We must take people as we find them,” answered Mrs. Polly. “Now, Mrs.
-Barn-cat, when did _you_ see the gray kitten last?”
-
-“I left her yesterday afternoon to watch my kittens while I was out,
-and when I came back she was gone. That’s all I know about it.”
-
-The little tiger-kittens had listened to every word that had been said,
-and had a very important air, as if they could tell something if they
-were asked. Mrs. Polly’s keen eyes noticed this, and she said to one of
-them,--
-
-“Now, my dear, I want you to tell me just what happened while your
-mother was away yesterday afternoon. Don’t be afraid to speak out.”
-
-The kitten evidently was _not_ afraid to speak out, and began in a
-clear voice,--
-
-“We had a fine play, and the gray kitten couldn’t catch us because we
-dodged so. We caught her every time.”
-
-“What’s that to do with the subject, I should like to know?” asked the
-house-cat severely, for she remembered how her kitten had been snubbed;
-“and anybody could see with half an eye that my kitten is much smarter
-than that stupid-looking thing,” she added to herself.
-
-“Please don’t confuse the witness,” said Mrs. Polly to the house-cat.
-“Very well, my dear,” she continued, turning to the little
-tiger-kitten; “what happened next?”
-
-“We played till we got tired, and that’s all,” answered the little
-tiger-kitten.
-
-“I thought so,” exclaimed the house-cat triumphantly.
-
-Mrs. Polly scowled fiercely at her, and then turned to the little
-tiger-kitten again.
-
-“Well, my dear, and what happened after you became tired of playing?”
-
-“Well,” replied the little kitten, as she kept her eye on one of the
-house-kittens who was rolling a pebble with her soft paw, “then a
-little mouse ran by.”
-
-“Oh!” said Mrs. Polly; “and what then, my dear? What did you do when
-the little mouse ran by?”
-
-“We wanted to catch it, but the gray kitten wouldn’t let us. She said
-our mother told her not to let us go away.”
-
-“And what did the gray kitten do then?” asked Mrs. Polly quickly.
-
-“She ran after the little mouse and she didn’t come back again, and
-that’s all,” said the little tiger-kitten.
-
-“Very good indeed, my dear,” answered Mrs. Polly, with an approving nod
-of her head. “You’ve told a very connected story, and we’ve found out
-that the gray kitten chased a mouse and has not been seen since.”
-
-The barn-cat was intensely gratified at her kitten’s sagacity, but the
-only expression she gave to her satisfaction was to wash the little
-tiger-kitten’s face affectionately. Then she said, after a few moments’
-silence,--
-
-“Before we break up, I should like to mention that the collar that
-Posy gave me has disappeared. It was quite loose for me, and I _may_
-have lost it when I was off hunting. I don’t like to accuse anybody
-wrongly, but it was a very handsome affair, and I dare say created a
-good deal of jealousy among my acquaintances;” and she looked very hard
-at the house-cat.
-
-“If you mean _me_,” said the house-cat, with a toss of her head, “let
-me tell you that _I_ haven’t stolen your old collar. _I_ don’t need
-collars to make me look respectable, thank goodness!”
-
-“Very true,” answered the barn-cat; “it would take more than _collars_
-to make some people look respectable.”
-
-“Oh, come, come,” said Mrs. Polly, “don’t get personal! I have no doubt
-that old Graywhisker knows where that collar is, just as well as he
-knows where the gray kitten is.”
-
-“You don’t mean it!” exclaimed the sparrow.
-
-“Yes, I do,” said Mrs. Polly decidedly. “I believe that Graywhisker
-sent that mouse to entice the half-blind gray kitten, and that he’s
-got her safely hidden somewhere, for he wouldn’t dare really to let her
-come to any harm.”
-
-“How can we find her?” asked the barn-cat.
-
-“All of you keep your ears open and perhaps you’ll pick up some news.
-If we find out where she is, the children can probably rescue her.
-They’ll soon notice that she is missing and hunt for her.”
-
-[Illustration: The Barn Cat and her Kittens.]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XV.
-
-
-“WE’RE going to play ‘circus’ in the barn this afternoon,” said Posy at
-dinner, “and we’re going to have the kittens for the animals.”
-
-“Nancy plays circus first-class,” said Tom; “she isn’t such a scare-cat
-as most girls are.”
-
-“Where did she learn anything about the circus?” asked Papa. “I don’t
-believe she ever saw anything but the tents.”
-
-“Yes,” answered Posy eagerly; “her says when the circus was here once
-her skun the fence and peeked through a hole under the tent and her saw
-the horses’ feet.”
-
-“Poor child!” said Papa, “the next time the circus comes she shan’t
-‘skin’ the fence, but shall go with you and see the whole performance.”
-
-“Hannah,” said Posy after dinner, “have you seen anything of the
-barn-cat’s collar? Her has lost it.”
-
-“No,” answered Hannah, “I haven’t seen it, and what’s more I don’t
-expect to. I guess it won’t be the last thing that you’ll find missing.
-You’d better look after your things a little sharper, for I don’t trust
-that Nancy too fur.”
-
-“Nancy is a good little girl, Hannah. Her doesn’t steal. It’s very mean
-to say such things,” said Posy angrily.
-
-“Well, it won’t do no harm to keep your things locked up,” replied
-Hannah.
-
-Nancy came in from the barn, where she had been to feed the kittens.
-
-“I can’t find the gray kitten anywhere,” she said, looking very much
-distressed. “I’ve hunted and called, but she doesn’t answer.”
-
-“Perhaps the rats have carried her off,” said Posy, with a troubled air.
-
-“I guess she’s gone to hunt for mice,” suggested Tom, who appeared at
-that moment. “She won’t run off. Let’s go and play ‘circus’ in the
-barn-chamber. You bring the house-kittens, Posy, and I’ll get the
-barn-kittens.”
-
-“You needn’t mew so loud,” said Posy to the house-cat as she took up
-the kittens. “I won’t hurt your babies, and I’ll bring ’em back all
-safe. They are going to be teached to play circus.”
-
-The house-cat was not at all afraid to trust her kittens with Posy.
-What she said was: “I don’t like this way of snatching up my kittens
-and carrying ’em off to play with those barn-kittens. I expect they’ll
-get to be just as common as they are, if this isn’t put a stop to.”
-
-The kittens themselves, however, had no such fears, and were delighted
-at the prospect of a play with the lively barn-kittens; for it was not
-very entertaining to lie in the box by the kitchen stove, and Hannah
-always drove them back if they ventured out of it when the children
-were not there. So when Posy dumped them on the barn-floor by the side
-of the tiger-kittens, they began to play in earnest.
-
-“Let’s have a tiger-hunt,” said Tom, after watching the kittens
-at their play; “and the barn-kittens can be the tigers, and the
-house-kittens can be our hunting-dogs.”
-
-“Oh, splendid!” cried Posy, clapping her hands and jumping up and down.
-
-“First, we’ll make a cave,” said Tom, “because tigers live in caves,
-you know;” and he began to dig a cave in the side of the hay-mow.
-Nancy entered into the work with great zest, and soon a fine cave was
-finished and the tigers were placed in it.
-
-“What fun it would be if they could understand what we said to them!”
-said Nancy. “I used to think that Billy understood what I told him, he
-always seemed so sorry when I told him how hungry and tired I was.”
-
-“Mamma says that animals know more than we think they do,” said Tom.
-
-It really did seem as if the tiger-kittens knew what was expected of
-them; for they stayed quite still in the cave, crouching down in the
-dark, and the little house-kittens sat down and looked up at Tom while
-he explained the game, just as if they understood every word he said.
-
-“Now,” said Tom, “we’ll be the hunters and we’ll go out hunting for
-tigers, and the dogs will run about searching for game, and then we’ll
-discover the cave and send ’em in to drive the tigers out.”
-
-“I should think really and truly tigers would eat the dogs up,” said
-Nancy, who had a very practical mind.
-
-Tom looked somewhat crestfallen at this view of the question, but Posy
-said,--
-
-“We’ll _play_ these were good, kind tigers, and didn’t hurt anybody,
-won’t we?”
-
-So it was agreed that these tigers were exceptional tigers, and the
-hunting-party started out in search of game.
-
-“Dear me!” cried Posy suddenly, “I saw a great ugly rat run across
-there.”
-
-“It couldn’t have been a rat,” said Tom. “They don’t dare to come out
-here; they’re afraid of the barn-cat.”
-
-“It _was_ a rat,” persisted Posy; “I know it was. It had a great long
-tail, and it had long yellow teeth, and one of them was broken off. I
-do wish the barn-cat were here.”
-
-“No matter,” said Nancy, who was eager to continue the tiger-hunt;
-“he’s gone now, and I don’t believe he’ll come back.”
-
-So the hunting-party started once more, and the dogs kept ahead, just
-exactly as if they had understood what Tom said about the game; and
-soon they came to the cave, and went up to it and looked in.
-
-“Hush!” said Tom, “the dogs have scented game;” and the party stood
-still.
-
-“Go in and drive ’em out!” said Tom to the dogs; and in they went, and
-soon out came the tigers followed by the dogs. The tigers ran a short
-distance and then turned and faced the dogs, and the dogs pounced
-on them, and they rolled over and over till the children laughed so
-heartily they were obliged to sit down.
-
-Soon one of the tigers jumped up and ran off, and one of the dogs
-chased him into a corner, and then the tiger did something very
-unexpected. All at once he stopped and put his head on one side as if
-he were listening to something, and then he gave a little mew, and both
-he and the hunting-dog began pulling the hay away with their claws.
-
-“They hear a mouse, I do believe,” said Tom.
-
-“They wouldn’t dig the hay away like that for a mouse,” said Nancy;
-“they’d sit still and watch till it came out.”
-
-“What can it be?” said the children, looking at each other in surprise,
-for the other two kittens had joined them, and all four were evidently
-in a state of great excitement.
-
-“Let’s help ’em,” said Nancy; and she at once began pulling the hay
-away in large handfuls. Soon she heard a faint “meaw!” from beneath the
-hay, and she kept on digging till at last out walked the little gray
-kitten!
-
-“You dear thing!” cried Posy, catching her up in her arms and hugging
-her. “How did you get in there? Her must have some milk right straight
-off, Nancy.”
-
-Tom and Nancy followed Posy into the kitchen; and the barn-cat, who had
-just returned from a hunting expedition of her own, followed too, and
-jumped on the window-sill of the kitchen that she might see what went
-on without being driven away by the house-cat or Hannah.
-
-The little gray kitten was soon drinking her saucer of milk
-contentedly, while the children stood around as happy as she herself
-was; but not one of them was more gratified than the barn-cat, who was
-so fond of her little _protégé_.
-
-“Why, where has my necklace gone,” said Posy suddenly, putting her hand
-up to her neck,--“my pretty amber necklace that Uncle Tom gave me?”
-
-“You must have dropped it in the barn while we were playing,” said
-Nancy; “I’ll run back and look.”
-
-After a few minutes Nancy came back, walking slowly and with a
-disappointed expression on her face. “I’ve looked everywhere,” she
-said, “but I can’t find it.”
-
-“I didn’t suppose you would find it,” said Hannah dryly. “I guess
-you’ve seen the last of your necklace, Posy; it’s gone to find the
-cat’s collar, I guess. Come,” she continued, turning to Nancy, “you
-just understand that this won’t do here.”
-
-“I don’t know what you mean,” stammered poor Nancy, looking pale and
-frightened.
-
-“Yes, you do understand well enough,” said Hannah. “You just hand over
-that necklace and that cat’s collar, or there’ll be trouble, I can tell
-you.”
-
-“I don’t know where they are,” said Nancy, trembling. “I haven’t
-touched them. The necklace was on Posy’s neck when we were playing in
-the barn.”
-
-“Yes, I know that,” answered Hannah; “and you may as well own up first
-as last. Come, hand it over;” and she laid her hand on Nancy’s shoulder
-and gave her a shake.
-
-“Indeed I don’t know where it is,” cried Nancy, bursting into tears;
-“_do_ believe me!”
-
-“She _didn’t_ steal it,” said Tom stoutly; “I know she didn’t! Here,
-you just let her alone, old Hannah!”
-
-“Hannah,” said Posy, stamping her little foot, “you’re a bad, bad
-girl, and I don’t love you one bit!” and Posy too burst into tears of
-excitement.
-
-“We’ll see who is the bad one before long,” said Hannah calmly.
-
-“You ought to be ashamed of yourself,” said Tom fiercely, and almost
-ready to cry with Nancy and Posy.
-
-“Why, what’s all this?” said Mamma, coming into the kitchen. “What has
-happened?” and she looked in surprise from one to the other of the
-excited group.
-
-“Posy’s necklace has disappeared, and I said I thought Nancy took it,
-and I say so now,” said Hannah decidedly.
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVI.
-
-
-“NANCY _didn’t_ steal my necklace, I _know_ her didn’t,” said Posy.
-
-“Of course she didn’t,” said Tom; “it must have dropped off while we
-were playing tiger.”
-
-“Then why isn’t it there?” asked Hannah triumphantly; “it couldn’t have
-run away by itself, I suppose.”
-
-“Why do you accuse Nancy of taking it, Hannah?” asked Mrs. Winton.
-
-“Because it isn’t the first thing that has disappeared since she came
-here. My silver thimble is missing too. I had it yesterday when I was
-sitting in the porch sewing.”
-
-“But it is very wrong to accuse anybody unless you have proof of his
-guilt,” said Mrs. Winton.
-
-“Oh, do _please_ believe me, ma’am!” said Nancy, with the tears running
-down her cheeks and a most distressed look in her face. “How could I be
-so mean as to steal from people who have been so kind to me,--and from
-dear little Posy too! Oh, do _please_ believe me!”
-
-“I _will_ believe you, Nancy,” said Mrs. Winton kindly. “Now stop
-crying, and remember that we will be your friends as long as you are a
-good little girl. Run out to play, children, and perhaps you will find
-the necklace.”
-
-So Nancy dried her tears and was tenderly conducted out of doors by Tom
-and Posy on either side; and they proved such good comforters that in a
-short time she was laughing heartily.
-
-“Now, Hannah,” said Mrs. Winton, when the children were gone, “I want
-you to give up the thought that Nancy is a thief. She is a poor,
-neglected child, and I should think that all your sympathies would go
-out towards her.”
-
-“I don’t believe in her honesty,” replied Hannah, unmoved. “I made up
-my mind she was a thief the first time I sot eyes on her.”
-
-“First impressions are not to be trusted,” said Mrs. Winton. “I
-shall believe the child honest until I have reason to doubt her, and
-certainly there has been nothing to prove her guilt yet.”
-
-Hannah didn’t dare say more, but she secretly resolved to watch the
-child closely.
-
-The barn-cat, sitting on the window-sill, had heard the whole
-conversation, and so had the little gray kitten; and the barn-cat
-reported it faithfully to Mrs. Polly, who was greatly troubled by it.
-“I’ll think it over and see if I can find any way to prove Nancy’s
-innocence,” she said. “‘Give a dog a bad name and it will stick to
-him,’ is a very true saying, and we must clear this poor child’s
-reputation, or by-and-by others besides Hannah will begin to suspect
-her. Yes, I’ll think the matter over carefully and see what can be
-done. The sparrow moves his family over here to-day, and I am very glad
-of it. I am in hopes he will turn over a new leaf and stay at home more
-in the future.”
-
-“Seeing is believing,” said the barn-cat dryly; “I haven’t much hope of
-him myself.”
-
-It was true that the sparrow was about to move. Mrs. Polly’s sharp
-eyes had discovered a deserted swallow’s nest just under the roof of
-the piazza, in a position where she could watch what went on; and
-she proposed that he should put it in order for his family. The plan
-pleased the sparrow, and he at once set to work to build. He brought
-bits of straw and twine and hair, in fact anything he could find, and
-put it inside the swallow’s nest. He was a careless fellow, and didn’t
-spend any more time than was necessary over the building; but when it
-was finished it was quite a nice little house,--a great improvement,
-certainly, on the house in the elm-tree that his family now occupied.
-
-The next day the sparrow appeared, escorting his bright-eyed wife and
-her three little ones, now fine strong young birds; and they seemed
-much pleased with their new quarters.
-
-“That bright-eyed Mrs. Sparrow is a nice little thing,” said Mrs. Polly
-to herself, “much too nice to be neglected by that scamp of a husband
-of hers. I’ll keep a sharp lookout, and set matters straight if he goes
-on in the old way.”
-
-The sparrow was very attentive to his family the first day, and brought
-the finest worms and insects he could find for them to eat, and busied
-himself for their comfort in many ways, and the bright-eyed sparrow
-looked very happy; but when twilight came on the sparrow became a
-little restless and nervous, as if he had something on his mind. Mrs.
-Polly’s shrewd eyes noticed all this, and she said to herself,--
-
-“It’s just as I thought; but I _did_ think he’d have sense enough to
-stay at home the first night. It’s much worse than I thought.”
-
-“Good-night, my dear,” said the sparrow, coming up to his bright-eyed
-wife and giving her a hasty kiss; “I’ll be in as early as I can.”
-
-“You don’t mean to say you’re going to leave me the very first night
-after we’ve been separated so long, and in a strange place too?” said
-the bright-eyed sparrow indignantly.
-
-“Only for a short time, my dear. It’s an engagement I made some time
-ago. Very sorry, upon my honor; but I must keep my word!”
-
-“How _can_ you treat me so?” said the bright-eyed sparrow. “You ought
-to be ashamed of yourself. I’ll go back to-morrow, and never live with
-you any more!”
-
-The sparrow considered a moment. He _was_ a good-natured fellow in
-spite of his roving propensities. He looked at the bright-eyed sparrow;
-she was crying, and he couldn’t leave her feeling so unhappy. He went
-up to her and said in a very tender tone,--
-
-“See here, my dear! don’t you know that you’re going to work the wrong
-way? I am the easiest fellow to manage you ever saw if you know how to
-take me.”
-
-“I wish I knew the way to take you,” answered the bright-eyed sparrow;
-“I’d take it fast enough. _I_ manage _you_, indeed!” and she gave a
-scornful little laugh.
-
-“Did you ever hear that you could catch more flies with molasses than
-with vinegar?” said the sparrow. “Well, my dear, I am willing to be
-caught with molasses, but clip my pinions if you’ll catch _me_ with
-vinegar! Come, my dear,” he said very gently and putting his little
-head close to hers, “if you want me to stay at home tell me that you
-care a little for me, and make me feel good, instead of telling me what
-a worthless fellow I am.”
-
-“Will you really and truly stay?” said the bright-eyed sparrow, smiling
-through her tears.
-
-“Really and truly,” answered the sparrow tenderly.
-
-“Then I’ll think you are the dearest and best husband in the whole
-world,” answered the bright-eyed sparrow; and she reached up her little
-beak and gave him a hearty kiss.
-
-“That’s as it should be,” said Mrs. Polly to herself, with her nod of
-satisfaction, “but it won’t last long. He’ll be trying it over again
-soon, and they’ll not always make up so easy. I _do_ wish he had firmer
-principles!”
-
-Mrs. Polly was right. It _was_ not very long before there was trouble
-again in the sparrow’s household. One afternoon the bright-eyed sparrow
-looked very anxious. She flew backward and forward, and perched on the
-top of the tallest trees and looked about in every direction, and then
-she flew home again and peered out of her little house with a very
-distressed expression.
-
-“I know what it all means,” said Mrs. Polly; “that scamp of a husband
-of hers is off again. I must give him a talking to. He ought to set a
-better example to his young family.”
-
-“Good-evening, my dear,” she called to the bright-eyed sparrow, who was
-just then looking out of her house; “hasn’t your husband come home
-yet? He ought to be in by this time.”
-
-“Oh! he’ll come soon, I dare say,” answered the bright-eyed sparrow
-cheerfully; “he’s probably been detained by business.”
-
-“Don’t feel anxious, my dear,” said Mrs. Polly; “nothing will happen to
-him.”
-
-“Oh, I’m not at all anxious,” said the bright-eyed sparrow, with a
-great attempt at cheerfulness; but her voice was not as hopeful as her
-words, and it had a sad tone that quite touched Mrs. Polly.
-
-“He’s been away all day long,” whispered the canary to Mrs. Polly; “I
-saw him go off early this morning, and if she sees him before to-morrow
-morning it’s more than I think she will.”
-
-“I declare it is too bad, too bad!” said Mrs. Polly, shaking her head
-gravely.
-
-The canary was right. Just before daybreak the next morning they heard
-the sparrow come home; and although the dining-room window was closed,
-they knew from the sounds that reached them that the sparrows had a
-quarrel. Mrs. Polly waited until the sparrow was awake,--for he slept
-late after his dissipation, and it was afternoon before he was fully
-awake,--and then she called to them that she had something to say to
-them.
-
-Both of the birds flew down and seated themselves on the
-flowering-currant bush before the dining-room window, where Mrs. Polly
-could converse easily with them.
-
-[Illustration: “Why do you accuse Nancy of taking it?”--_Page 204._]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVII.
-
-
-MRS. POLLY looked seriously from the sparrow, who sat pluming his
-ruffled feathers, to his little wife, who looked as fresh and
-bright-eyed as ever.
-
-“I want to have a little talk with you,” began Mrs. Polly in a serious
-tone, “and I take it that this is as good a time as any.”
-
-“Delighted, I’m sure,” said the sparrow indifferently, as he continued
-his toilet.
-
-“I’ve noticed,” said Mrs. Polly severely, for she was not pleased with
-the sparrow’s frivolous manner, “that you neglect your family a good
-deal. I’ve seen more than you are aware of.”
-
-“Flattered, I’m sure, by the attention,” replied the sparrow, carefully
-picking out a particularly rough feather and drawing his beak through
-it.
-
-“My friend,” said Mrs. Polly in the same serious tone, “you won’t deter
-me from doing my duty by such frivolous remarks. I have lived in the
-world long enough to see many generations of sparrows come and go, and
-I shall _not_ see a young couple beginning life start out on such a
-mistaken course as you have chosen, without making an attempt to set
-them right. Pray, what were you married for, I should like to know?”
-
-The sparrow considered a moment and then said waggishly,--
-
-“Give it up.”
-
-“I can tell you,” answered Mrs. Polly. “You saw that pretty bright-eyed
-sparrow, and you made her think there never was such a handsome,
-wonderful fellow as you were, and you married her without a thought of
-the future. It never occurred to you that you must take care of her
-and protect her. She has done her part, and has been a faithful mother
-to your children; but how have you done yours? Flying around here and
-there, flirting with this one and rollicking with that one. I know your
-ways. Your family would have starved long ago if it had not been for
-your little wife there.”
-
-“He has been a very good husband indeed,” said the bright-eyed sparrow
-warmly. “I have nothing to complain of.”
-
-“It is very loving of you to defend your husband, my dear, but he
-doesn’t really deserve it. I saw you, last evening, looking out for him
-so anxiously, and I heard him, too, come home this morning just before
-daybreak, and I knew you had words about it. You make up, I know, and
-are very affectionate until the next outbreak occurs; but you may take
-my word for it that every quarrel you have weakens the love you bear
-each other, and by-and-by there will be no makings up, and a feeling of
-bitterness will take the place of the love you now have for each other.”
-
-Both her listeners were silent, as Mrs. Polly paused for a moment and
-looked seriously at them; then she continued,--
-
-“I have seen many young couples begin as you have begun and grow apart
-from each other; but I take too much interest in you, my friends, to
-see you go wrong without a word of warning. Think of your young family
-and the responsibility of setting a good example to them; their young
-eyes are keener than you think they are.”
-
-The sparrow had thrown aside his indifferent manner, and listened
-attentively to the last part of Mrs. Polly’s remarks; and as she
-concluded, he hopped on the bough beside the bright-eyed sparrow and
-nestled affectionately against her.
-
-“You are right,” he said; “I am a worthless vagabond, and don’t
-deserve such a good little wife as I’ve got; but with all your wisdom,
-Mrs. Polly, haven’t you learned that you can’t teach an old dog new
-tricks?”
-
-“Nonsense!” said Mrs. Polly decidedly; “the idea of a bright young
-fellow like you talking in that style! You’ve got sense enough, and
-you’re good-hearted and brave; now don’t throw away all those good
-qualities, but use them to make of yourself a useful member of society.”
-
-“I’ll be shot if I don’t try,” said the sparrow, with an affectionate
-glance at the bright-eyed sparrow; and judging from the manner in which
-she nestled against him, it was very evident to Mrs. Polly that there
-was plenty of love left.
-
-Meanwhile Graywhisker sat in his hole, laying plans for the future.
-
-“It’s provoking,” he said to himself, “that they found the gray
-kitten so soon. However, I caused them some trouble, and it couldn’t
-have been very pleasant for her to be penned up over night in the
-hay without food; there’s some comfort in that. Then I’ve got Posy’s
-amber necklace all safe. She didn’t think the ‘great ugly rat’ that
-frightened her so when she was playing in the barn knew enough to pick
-it up when it dropped off. Well, that’s encouraging too; and then
-Hannah’s thimble,--here it is, safe and sound, and here it will stay;
-and then, my dear Mrs. Barn-cat, here’s your fine collar that you were
-so fond of. You were in such an excited state of mind when you lost
-it off that you didn’t know it had gone. Here it is, and here it will
-remain too. I should like to see you venture in here again, my fine
-young cock-sparrow; you wouldn’t get off quite so easily the next time,
-I can tell you. I shan’t go out again without leaving somebody here on
-guard. Hallo! who’s that?” he exclaimed, as his quick ears caught a
-faint sound. “Oh, I know your light step, Mrs. Silverskin; come in.”
-
-Mrs. Silverskin appeared in her usual timid manner. “I have heard
-something I thought you would be pleased to know,” she said in her
-little weak voice. “I was hiding behind the kitchen door yesterday,
-where I picked up a few crumbs the children had dropped from their
-lunch, and I heard Hannah tell Mrs. Winton that Nancy was a thief, and
-had stolen Posy’s amber necklace and Hannah’s silver thimble and the
-cat’s collar.”
-
-“Good!” exclaimed Graywhisker, with a disagreeable chuckle that
-displayed his broken front tooth very unpleasantly; “nothing could be
-better! and what did Mrs. Winton say?”
-
-“She said she didn’t believe it,--that she should believe her innocent
-until she had proof of her guilt.”
-
-“She _shall_ have proof of it,” said the old rat maliciously, “and
-before long too.”
-
-“How so?” asked Mrs. Silverskin.
-
-“It’s easy enough to bring that about,” replied Graywhisker. “Don’t you
-see that if Hannah’s thimble is hidden among Nancy’s things it will be
-sufficient proof of her guilt?”
-
-“But who will put it there?” asked Mrs. Silverskin, who had a secret
-misgiving that the task would fall upon her.
-
-“You!” said Graywhisker; “haven’t I done favors enough for you?”
-
-“I came very near being caught by the house-cat when I stole Hannah’s
-thimble,” said poor Mrs. Silverskin, “and I am afraid to go there so
-often.”
-
-“Very well, Madam, then you can take the consequences,” replied
-Graywhisker fiercely.
-
-“I suppose I must,” answered the little mouse sadly; “but if anything
-happens to me I hope you will see that my family are provided for.”
-
-“You need have no fears for them,” answered Graywhisker. “To-night,
-when all is still, you take the thimble and hide it among some of
-Nancy’s things in her chamber. Hannah will find it before long, and
-then we’ll see how long they will believe Nancy innocent.”
-
-A little later the sparrow was flying by Major, who was hitched to a
-post in the yard, ready to go to the depot for Mr. Winton, when he
-neighed to him to stop.
-
-“Come here a minute and sit near me while I tell you something very
-important,” he said.
-
-The sparrow did as he was bid, and perched on top of the post, close to
-Major’s nose.
-
-“A little while ago, while I was taking my after-dinner nap,” began
-Major, “I heard voices, and I can tell you my ears were wide open. I
-soon discovered that the speakers were Mrs. Silverskin and a friend of
-hers. Mrs. Silverskin said, ‘I am all of a tremble, for I’ve just had
-an interview with Graywhisker, and he insists on my taking Hannah’s
-silver thimble and putting it among Nancy’s things, to make them think
-she stole it.’
-
-“‘Well, what is there to tremble about?’ said the other mouse; ‘I don’t
-see anything alarming in that.’
-
-“‘Just think of the danger I run in passing the house-cat,’ said Mrs.
-Silverskin; ‘she very nearly caught me the other day when I stole the
-thimble.’
-
-“‘She isn’t half so bad as the barn-cat,’ said the other mouse.
-
-“‘I know she isn’t quite so quick, but she’s too quick to suit me.’
-
-“‘I wouldn’t go, then; tell Graywhisker to go himself.’
-
-“‘Dear me! you don’t know him as well as I do. I _must_ go!’
-
-“‘Well, then, why need you go through the kitchen at all?’
-
-“‘How in the world can I get into the chamber without? I can’t climb up
-the side of the house,’ said Mrs. Silverskin.
-
-“‘Don’t you know the way through the shed? You just go through the
-shed, and up the stairs that lead to the loft above, where they keep
-stores, and you’ll find a little hole down at the right-hand corner
-that leads into the chamber. I helped gnaw it one night, and I know all
-about it. I’ve bitten off pieces of Hannah’s tallow candle more than
-once.’
-
-“‘It’s a great relief to know that,’ said Mrs. Silverskin; ‘thank you
-for the information.’”
-
-“And I thank her for the information too,” said the sparrow. “I can’t
-attend to it myself,” he added, with an air of importance, “because
-I’m a family man and don’t like to be knocking around nights; but our
-friend the house-cat will be on hand, I’ve no doubt. The sooner I
-inform her of the matter the better;” and he flew off in search of the
-house-cat.
-
-[Illustration: “The sparrow perched on the top of the post.”--_Page
-223._]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XVIII.
-
-
-THAT night when Hannah was ready to go to bed, the house-cat was
-nowhere to be found. She didn’t like to go to bed and lock her out, for
-she feared she might come home during the night and make a disturbance;
-and, moreover, she didn’t fancy the thought of getting up after she had
-gone to bed, to let her in.
-
-Hannah went to the door and called, but there was no answer; and after
-going about the garden, calling “Puss, puss,” her patience gave out
-and she went back to the kitchen. “Stay out, then, if you want to; you
-won’t catch me getting up to let you in, if you yawl all night,” she
-said, as she shut and bolted the door.
-
-The house-kittens might have given her some information on the subject,
-if she could have understood their language,--for their mother had
-told them, early in the evening, not to be alarmed if she were out all
-night, as she had very important business to attend to; but Hannah only
-thought they were mewing for their mother, when they tried to make her
-understand. So Hannah went up to bed, where Nancy was already sound
-asleep in her little cot-bed and happily unconscious of the deep plot
-laid for her by the evil-minded old rat.
-
-“You look innocent enough,” said Hannah, as her eyes fell on the
-sleeping child, who was smiling in her sleep at some pleasant dream;
-“but I don’t trust you,--appearances are too suspicious.”
-
-Soon Hannah too was fast asleep, and the house silent.
-
-Then, when everything was quiet, old Graywhisker, with Hannah’s
-silver thimble in his mouth, came softly out of his hole and looked
-cautiously around to see if the barn-cat were in sight. Not a sound was
-to be heard, and he crept slyly along till he came to a hole in the
-corner of the barn farthest from the barn-cat’s nest; for he didn’t
-dare trust the private entrance any more, and had made this new exit
-with the help of some of the younger rats.
-
-When he found himself out of doors he looked anxiously about. Yes,
-there was Mrs. Silverskin, just where she had agreed to be; and he went
-towards her.
-
-“Here is the thimble, and mind you don’t lose it!” he said, as he
-dropped it noiselessly on the ground in front of the little mouse. “Be
-sure you put it among Nancy’s things, where Hannah will be likely to
-see it.”
-
-“I will do my best,” said Mrs. Silverskin softly.
-
-“You are quite sure you understand the way through the shed?” asked
-Graywhisker.
-
-“Quite sure,” answered the little mouse; “I don’t see how I could
-possibly miss it.”
-
-“Well, then, all is quiet now, and the sooner you are off the better.”
-
-Mrs. Silverskin took up the thimble and started on her expedition, and
-the old rat returned to his hole to await her return.
-
-When the little mouse came to the shed-door, she stopped and looked
-cautiously around. Not a sound was to be heard, and she crept through
-a little hole under the door and entered the shed. Everything was very
-still,--not even a mouse was stirring besides herself,--and she soon
-came to the stairs that led to the loft above.
-
-A ray of moonlight fell across the stairs, and little Mrs. Silverskin
-stopped a minute to rest and laid the silver thimble down. It shone
-very prettily in the moonlight, and she looked at it longingly.
-
-“How my children would like it for a plaything!” she said to herself;
-“it seems a shame they can’t have it. It is too bad to make them think
-that poor child is a thief. She has a very good heart. I heard them
-say she used to save crumbs for the mice when she didn’t have enough
-to eat herself. Posy, too,--she is such a dear child, I hate to make
-her so unhappy. I believe I will keep it for my babies, and make old
-Graywhisker think I put it in Nancy’s room. But then if he should ever
-find out the truth it would be the end of me; and he’d be sure to find
-it out, for he knows everything. The barn-cat came near getting him the
-other day,--I’m sure I wish she had. Dear me! what was that noise?”
-
-Little Mrs. Silverskin trembled like a leaf; but all was still again,
-and she concluded it was only something that fell down in the loft
-above. So, when she was quite sure everything was quiet again, she
-took up the thimble and went on very cautiously.
-
-She reached the head of the stairs and found herself in the loft,
-and over there in the corner was the hole just as her friend had
-described it to her. “If I wasn’t sure the house-cat was locked up in
-the kitchen, I should think she was somewhere about,” said little Mrs.
-Silverskin to herself, “for I feel cold shivers down my spine just as
-I always do when she or the barn-cat is about; but I’m only nervous, I
-guess.”
-
-So the little mouse went on her way, and had nearly reached the hole,
-when suddenly from behind a barrel darted the house-cat, her large
-yellow eyes glaring fiercely in the moonlight.
-
-The poor little mouse gave a squeak of terror, and dropping the silver
-thimble ran swiftly for her life, closely followed by the house-cat.
-One pause or misstep and all would have been over with Mrs. Silverskin;
-and thinking of her babies at home who were waiting for her, she ran
-as she never ran before, dreading every moment to feel the house-cat’s
-cruel claws; but she reached the hole under the shed-door in safety,
-and had just time to whisk her tail in after her when the house-cat’s
-claws were at the entrance.
-
-How her little heart did beat when she reached the barn; and how much
-faster still it beat when she remembered that she had left Hannah’s
-silver thimble behind, and must give an account of herself to old
-Graywhisker! Yes, there was the old rat peering out of his hole, and
-she couldn’t pass without his seeing her. His sharp old eyes soon spied
-her out, and he called to her to stop.
-
-“Well,” he said, eying her sharply as she stood trembling before him,
-“how did you get along? Come, don’t keep me waiting here all night!”
-
-“I got along very well,” said the little mouse, “until I reached the
-loft, and I was almost up to the hole in the corner when all at once
-out sprang the house-cat and I had to run for dear life. I never had
-such a narrow escape in my life.”
-
-“And the thimble!” exclaimed the old rat in a fierce tone; “where is
-the thimble?”
-
-“I dropped it in my fright,” said the little mouse in a shaking voice.
-“I couldn’t run with it in my mouth; the house-cat would surely have
-caught me if I had.”
-
-“What!” squeaked the old rat. “You lost the thimble, did you?” and he
-sprang so suddenly at the poor little mouse that she gave a loud squeal
-of terror,--so loud that the barn-cat awoke from one of her light
-cat-naps and quickly started up. As she appeared, both Graywhisker and
-Mrs. Silverskin ran.
-
-“I believe I’m more afraid of Graywhisker than I am even of the
-barn-cat,” said the little mouse to herself, as she reached her hole
-above the mow in safety. “Dear me, what a fearful night this has been!
-To be almost caught by the house-cat, pounced on by Graywhisker, and
-then chased by the barn-cat! Graywhisker is certainly the worst of the
-three! What _will_ he do to me for losing the thimble? I shan’t dare to
-stir out of my house till the affair has blown over.”
-
-The next morning the house-kittens were busily playing.
-
-“What has got into those kittens? They act as if they were crazy,” said
-Hannah, when she had nearly fallen over them for the fifth time before
-breakfast. “Here, you run out of doors and play there,” she continued,
-driving them out; “I don’t care to break my neck just yet!” So out the
-kittens went, and the same performance was gone through with there.
-
-“What can those kittens have to play with, do you suppose?” said
-Nancy, as the children came in from the garden to breakfast; “they are
-rolling something that shines;” and they ran up to examine it more
-closely.
-
-“It is Hannah’s silver thimble, I do believe!” exclaimed Tom, as he
-picked up the shining plaything.
-
-“Oh, I’m so glad!” cried Nancy joyfully; “now she won’t think I stole
-it.”
-
-“I shall show it to her right off this very minute,” said Posy,
-snatching the thimble out of Tom’s hand and running into the kitchen
-with it in a very earnest manner.
-
-“Hannah,” she said, holding up the thimble, “here is your silver
-thimble,--the house-kittens had it to play with, and Nancy didn’t steal
-it, there now!”
-
-Hannah put the thimble in her pocket without a word; but this didn’t
-satisfy Posy, who liked to see justice done, and always felt
-distressed if people were not harmonious in their relations to each
-other.
-
-“_Now_ you know her isn’t a thief, don’t you, Hannah?” said Posy in her
-most winning tones.
-
-“I suppose she didn’t take the thimble,” replied Hannah; “but the
-necklace and the cat’s collar haven’t turned up yet.”
-
-“Hannah!” cried Posy indignantly, “I think you are a very mean girl,
-and I shan’t ever come and help you cook any more!”
-
-“Oh, do!” said Hannah, trying to look very serious; “however shall I
-get along with my cooking if you don’t help me?”
-
-“No,” replied Posy decidedly, “I shan’t ever help you make cookies or
-anything else; see if I do!”
-
-[Illustration: Mrs. Silverskin drops the thimble.--_Page 232._]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XIX.
-
-
-THE next morning Mr. and Mrs. Winton were talking earnestly together in
-the dining-room, and Mrs. Polly was listening with all her might, for
-the conversation turned on a subject that interested her greatly. At
-a very important stage of the conversation the door opened, and Posy
-entered.
-
-Mrs. Polly was greatly annoyed at the interruption, and at once called
-“Posy,” in a voice so like Tom’s that for a moment Posy thought it
-really was Tom’s voice; the second time Polly called, Posy detected the
-deception.
-
-“I know your voice, Mrs. Polly,” said Posy, “you can’t fool me quite so
-easy;” and the large peanuts in Polly’s cage looked so very inviting
-that she couldn’t resist the temptation of fishing one out, Mrs.
-Polly’s sharp eyes watching her fingers and trying to give them a nip,
-although she wouldn’t have had the heart to hurt Posy in spite of her
-annoyance.
-
-“What do you want, Posy?” asked Mamma, who had stopped talking as soon
-as the little girl appeared.
-
-“Miss Pompadour is going to be married,” said Posy, “and her wants a
-nice handkerchief with pretty lace on it.”
-
-Mamma agreed to let her have the handkerchief provided she would return
-it, and told Posy where she could find it; but Posy still lingered,
-much to Mrs. Polly’s vexation, for the interesting conversation that
-Posy had interrupted would not be resumed as long as she remained in
-the room.
-
-“Her wants a fan too,” said Posy.
-
-“A fan?” said Mamma. “Oh no, she doesn’t need a fan.”
-
-“Yes, her does,” persisted Posy, “her’s to be married, you know, and
-her must have a fan to blush on.”
-
-“‘To blush on’?” asked Mamma. “Why, what _do_ you mean, Posy?”
-
-“Why, don’t you ’member ‘Jenny blushed behind her fan’? Peoples always
-does, Tom says.”
-
-“If Tom says so it must be so,” said Papa. “I think Mamma can let you
-have a fan for such an important occasion, Posy.”
-
-“You are a dear, kind Papa,” said Posy, hugging him; “and if you’ll
-give me a dollar I’ll buy you such a _beautiful_ birthday present! I
-may as well tell you what it is, for you’ll forget all about it before
-the time comes.”
-
-“Don’t tell me,” said Papa, “I like to be surprised; but you shall have
-the dollar when the time comes if you’ll run off now, for Mamma has
-something to say to me.”
-
-So off ran Posy for the handkerchief and fan, and when they were alone
-again Mrs. Winton continued:--
-
-“As I was telling you, you don’t know how unhappy I feel about Nancy.
-Hannah insists that she took Posy’s necklace--”
-
-“Rats!” called out Polly in a loud tone, “rats!”
-
-“Be quiet, Polly,” said Mrs. Winton.--“I don’t think it right to
-suspect the child without proof; but I must say that it looks very
-suspicious, and then, too, when Posy missed the necklace she offered to
-run back to the barn and look for it; but she felt so badly when Hannah
-accused her, that I pitied her and didn’t believe she could have taken
-it.”
-
-“Rats!” called Polly again.
-
-“She doesn’t look like a dishonest child,” said Mr. Winton; “but the
-poor thing has been so neglected and abused that it wouldn’t be
-strange if the temptation were too great for her sometimes. We must be
-on the lookout, for if she is really dishonest this will not be the
-last of her thefts.”
-
-“The children are very fond of her, and she certainly does seem devoted
-to them, especially Posy. I must say it makes me very uneasy to think
-my innocent children may be influenced by her to do something wrong.”
-
-“I don’t believe it,” said Mr. Winton, “I don’t believe she will injure
-either of them; but I would watch her closely, and if you have reason
-to suspect her again, investigate the matter thoroughly, for the poor
-child has never had any care and you may perhaps be the means of saving
-her.”
-
-“Then Hannah says,” resumed Mrs. Winton, “that she misses a good deal
-from the stores in the loft over the shed,--sugar and raisins and such
-things,--and she is sure Nancy takes them.”
-
-“Rats! rats!” screamed Mrs. Polly again, so loudly that Mr. Winton
-exclaimed,--
-
-“What a nuisance that bird is when she screams so! I wonder if she does
-see a rat! She sticks to it so persistently I shouldn’t wonder;” and he
-rose and looked out of the window. There were no signs of rats there,
-however; the only living creatures he saw were the little sparrows who
-had a nest under the eaves of the piazza.
-
-“Well, I must go,” he said, as he came back from the window. “Major
-will think that I have forgotten he is waiting harnessed;” and soon
-Mrs. Polly and the canary were the only occupants of the dining-room.
-
-“Provoking!” exclaimed Mrs. Polly. “I do think human beings are the
-stupidest things! Here I told them, as plainly as could be, that
-the rats stole Posy’s necklace and the sugar and raisins, and they
-couldn’t understand! Talk about animals not being as intelligent as
-human beings! Why can’t they understand us as well as we can them, I
-should like to know!”
-
-“It does seem strange they didn’t know what you meant,” said the
-canary; “I am sure you spoke plainly enough.”
-
-“I can’t understand,” said Mrs. Polly in an irritable tone, “how they
-can be so stupid. Here they know that the rats steal Major’s oats, and
-that it is the habit of rats to steal anything that attracts their
-attention, and yet it never occurs to them that they are the ones that
-take the sugar and raisins! If the barn-cat and the house-cat were not
-so jealous of each other and didn’t quarrel all the time, they might
-catch old Graywhisker, for he is the one that makes all the trouble;
-but no, they can’t work together, and while one is at one end of the
-hole, he slips out of the other. If they could only agree together for
-one to watch at each end, they’d catch him fast enough.”
-
-“There’ll be trouble as long as he lives,” sighed the canary. “Posy
-said Michael was going to set a trap for him.”
-
-“Much good that will do,” replied Mrs. Polly scornfully; “he’s too old
-a head to walk into a trap.”
-
-All this time the barn-cat and the house-cat had been devoting all
-their energies to catching Graywhisker. It was very seldom that either
-one or the other was not in the way when he attempted to venture out;
-and the barn-cat set the gray kitten and the little tiger-kittens to
-watch when she could not.
-
-The gray kitten had grown stronger than she was when she first came to
-live there, and the young tiger-kittens considered themselves a match
-even for Graywhisker. As for poor little Mrs. Silverskin, she dared not
-venture out at all in these troubled times; for, between her fear of
-Graywhisker and the cats, times were hard indeed.
-
-Old Graywhisker felt that his case was becoming desperate. He sat
-in his house and looked around on his once well-filled larder. Not
-a crust, or rind of cheese or pork, was left. His last crumb was
-gone, and where was he to get more? It was now several days since he
-had dared venture out, and it was evident the cats were bent on his
-destruction, for there was now never a time when one of them was not
-about. He knew he must make a bold move and try to escape from the cats
-or else die of starvation.
-
-“You’ll never catch Graywhisker there,” said the barn-cat to the
-house-cat, who was watching the hole outside the barn. “He comes out by
-half a dozen different ways.”
-
-“Then why don’t you catch him yourself? If you know so much better than
-anybody else, I should think it would be easy enough,” retorted the
-house-cat angrily.
-
-“I intend to catch him,” replied the barn-cat; “he’ll soon be starved
-out and _have_ to leave his hole.”
-
-“And I intend to catch him too,” said the house-cat.
-
-“Between you both you’ll lose him,” said the sparrow to himself, who,
-perched on a pear-tree, had overheard the conversation.
-
-Meanwhile Graywhisker grew more and more hungry. He searched his house
-over and over again, hoping that he might have overlooked a crust, but
-he could find nothing. Then his eyes fell on the barn-cat’s collar,
-and he gave the ugly grin that displayed the broken front tooth so
-unpleasantly. “If I can’t make you ornamental I can at least make you
-useful, my dear Mrs. Barn-cat,” he said. “Leather is not as much to
-my taste as pork or cheese or sugar, but it is better than nothing;
-so here goes!” and taking the pretty red collar between his forepaws,
-he bit out a large piece. “Not much flavor,” he continued; “but if you
-think of a nice bit of toasted cheese or a delicate piece of pork rind
-while it’s going down, it isn’t so bad.”
-
-Soon nothing remained of the gay little collar that had been the
-barn-cat’s pride, but the plate on which to engrave the name and the
-padlock that used to tinkle so musically; but after the leather was
-eaten up, Graywhisker became desperate indeed!
-
-“If I could get hold of one of those tiger-kittens, wouldn’t it be a
-treat?” he exclaimed, with a horrible grimace. “I _will_ venture out,
-cost what it may. I don’t know as it would be any worse to be caught
-by the cats than to die here slowly by inches. Oh, if I could only get
-hold of one of those young rats or Mrs. Silverskin! I’d make them
-bring me something to eat,--they are so much lighter than I am they can
-slip along more easily.”
-
-The barn-cat sat behind a post in the barn, where she could hear and
-see without being seen, and the house-cat was watching a hole outside
-with great perseverance.
-
-“He can’t come out without one of us seeing him,” said the barn-cat to
-herself; “I am sure of that. One thing is certain; he can’t stand it
-much longer. He _must_ venture out soon for food, and then--”
-
-Yes, she was right; he was coming out at last,--that was his long
-gray nose looking out of his hole, and those his small sharp eyes.
-Hardly daring to breathe, the barn-cat watched every motion. He looked
-anxiously around in every direction, and then stole softly along. The
-barn-cat did not stir until he was directly opposite the post where
-she was concealed, and then gave a sudden spring, and her sharp claws
-were fastened in his back, and the old thief and plotter was a prisoner!
-
-[Illustration: Posy takes a peanut from Mrs. Polly’s cage.--_Page
-239._]
-
-
-
-
-CHAPTER XX.
-
-
-“COME to the barn, the three of yees, till ye see the big rat the
-barn-cat is after catching,” said Michael to the children the next
-morning; and off they started, in such a hurry that poor little Posy
-tripped over a stone and scraped the skin off her chubby little hands.
-
-“Be a brave girl and don’t cry,” said Tom encouragingly, looking at
-Posy’s face, that was distorted from the effort she made to keep from
-crying.
-
-“No,” said Posy, swallowing very hard and winking back the tears; “I
-don’t cry at trifles, do I, Tom? Some girls would cry, wouldn’t they,
-Tom? The tears might come into my eyes just a little bit, you know,
-but I wouldn’t cry;” and two great tears rolled down Posy’s cheeks as
-she spoke.
-
-Nancy and Tom wiped the little hands very tenderly, and Tom’s praise
-of her fortitude made the smarting much easier to bear; and in a few
-minutes the three children were on their way to the barn again.
-
-On the barn-floor lay a large rat, gray around the nose from age, and
-nearly as large as the barn-cat herself, who sat near by.
-
-“He’s an old fellow,” said Michael; “ye can see that by the gray beard
-of him.”
-
-“Look at his long yellow teeth,” said Tom, stooping to examine the rat
-more closely, “and one of them is broken off. I guess ’twas done in a
-fight, don’t you, Michael?”
-
-“It’s as like as not,” answered Michael.
-
-“How pleased the cats seem to be!” said Posy, looking from the
-barn-cat, who watched the dead rat with so much satisfaction, to
-the gray kitten, who looked on from behind her, and the house-cat,
-who appeared at the door and looked in with great interest. The
-tiger-kittens came too, and were so curious they couldn’t see all
-they wanted to without going up to the rat and smelling around him,
-till their mother gave a little “meaw” and drove them back. Then the
-house-kittens came too, and peeped around the corner.
-
-“I’m glad he’s out of the way, even if I didn’t catch him myself,” said
-the house-cat.
-
-The barn-cat was of too generous a disposition to boast of her victory.
-“It doesn’t make any difference who caught him, now that he _is_
-caught. What I want to see next is, these boards ripped up and the old
-fellow’s nest examined; for I am certain my collar and Posy’s necklace
-will be found there.”
-
-“I wonder they don’t think of it,” said the house-cat; “but human
-beings are so stupid I declare I’ve no patience with them.”
-
-“The cats mew just as if they were talking it over,” said Tom.
-
-“I shouldn’t wonder if they were,” said Posy; “I wish we knew what they
-were saying.”
-
-“I wish you did,” said the house-cat, “but that would be expecting too
-much of you.”
-
-The sparrow, too, had heard the news, and perched on the window to get
-a look at the notorious Graywhisker who had caused so much mischief.
-
-“I should have been in a pretty fix if that old fellow had come home
-and found me in his house that time,” he said to himself; “one thing
-is certain, I shouldn’t be sitting here now if he had. Hallo, my dear!
-you came to get a sight of the old villain, did you?” he said to the
-bright-eyed sparrow who lit beside him.
-
-“I do believe those sparrows have come to see the rat too,” said Nancy.
-
-Major, also, had turned around in his box-stall and faced the little
-group assembled around the dead rat, and appeared to take great
-interest in the event.
-
-“Now, the only thing left to do is to tear up those boards and bring
-the old fellow’s nest to light,” neighed Major.
-
-“I guess Major is saying he’s glad the old rat won’t be able to steal
-any more of his oats, don’t you, Tom?” said Posy, going up to the
-gentle horse and stroking his soft nose.
-
-“It’s more likely he’s after asking yees for the apples ye have in the
-hands of yees,” answered Michael.
-
-Major gave him as scornful a look as his mild eyes were capable of
-giving, and then rubbed his nose affectionately against the little
-hand that stroked him, in order to show his appreciation of the
-sympathy she had with his feelings.
-
-“Papa,” cried Tom and Posy together, as Mr. Winton came out of the
-house, “do come and see this awful big rat the barn-cat caught last
-night.”
-
-“He was an old stager, and no mistake,” said Papa, looking at him. “I
-want you, Michael, to take up these boards and destroy all the old
-nests. I don’t doubt there are a good many of them.”
-
-The barn-cat was so delighted that she completely forgot her dignity,
-and catching sight of the tiger-kittens and house-kittens at play in
-the yard, raced up to them and chased them around till they thought she
-had suddenly lost her wits.
-
-“Well, I declare,” said the house-cat, who was too well bred to forget
-_her_ dignity in such a manner, “I thought you had a fit.”
-
-“It did me good,” said the barn-cat; “I had to do something or I should
-have exploded with joy.”
-
-That afternoon, Michael, armed with a crowbar and hammer, went out to
-the barn, followed by the children, who seated themselves comfortably
-on the oat-box, where they could obtain a good view of Michael as he
-tore up the boards of the floor.
-
-Placing the crowbar under one of the planks, he gradually pried it up
-and laid it on one side. The children peeped curiously in, but to their
-great disappointment nothing was to be seen.
-
-“It’s here where they’ve been,” said Michael; “I see the tracks of ’em.”
-
-Then another plank was pried up and laid aside, and Michael looked down
-and carefully examined the ground. “It’s here where the old villain
-lived, I’ll be bound,” he exclaimed.
-
-Down jumped the children from the oat-box and stood beside Michael.
-
-“There’s his nest,” cried Tom excitedly,--“that bunch of rags and twine
-in the corner.”
-
-“It’s right ye are,” replied Michael.
-
-“What’s that yellow thing there under that rag?” asked Tom.
-
-Michael stooped and picked up the object that had attracted Tom’s
-attention.
-
-“My amber necklace,” shrieked Posy joyfully. “Oh, I’m so glad! Now they
-won’t say you took it any more, Nancy;” and snatching the necklace from
-Michael’s hand, she darted out of the barn, calling “Mamma” so loudly
-that Mrs. Winton was at the door almost as soon as Posy was.
-
-“My amber necklace,” cried Posy, waving it frantically over her head.
-“It was in the old rat’s nest. Come and see where he lived.”
-
-Mrs. Winton followed Posy to the barn, and looked into what had once
-been Graywhisker’s home.
-
-“It was right there, under that old rag,” cried Tom; “I saw it first.”
-
-“What is that little thing shining there?” asked Mrs. Winton, pointing
-to a bright spot.
-
-Michael picked it up and handed it to her.
-
-“Why, it must be the padlock to the barn-cat’s collar!” exclaimed Mrs.
-Winton. “What a thief the old fellow was! I know now where the sugar
-and raisins must have gone. Tell Hannah to come here a minute, Tom.”
-
-Tom was off like a shot and soon returned, bringing Hannah, who looked
-greatly astonished at the unusual message.
-
-“Hannah,” said Mrs. Winton, holding up the amber necklace, “Posy’s
-necklace has been found in this old rat-hole, and also what is left of
-the barn-cat’s collar. You see your suspicions were unfounded. The
-thief who has caused so much mischief is now dead, and I think you will
-find that your stores in the loft will not disappear as fast as they
-used to.”
-
-Hannah was silent, and her face flushed.
-
-“You do believe, _now_, that Nancy isn’t a thief, don’t you, Hannah?”
-said Posy earnestly.
-
-“Yes,” said Hannah slowly, for it cost her a great effort to
-acknowledge she had made a mistake; “I see I was mistaken, and I am
-sorry. I can’t say no more than that, as I know.”
-
-“Hannah,” said Posy, with her sweetest smile, “I _don’t_ think you are
-a mean girl, and I _will_ help you cook whenever you want me to.”
-
-“Then I’m all right,” answered Hannah cheerfully.
-
-It would be hard to tell how happy Nancy was at the favorable turn
-affairs had taken; and if such a thing were possible, the animals, who
-had been the means of bringing it to pass, were even happier than she
-was. Mrs. Polly was so excited that for several days she talked the
-family almost to death, and the canary sang till it seemed as if his
-little throat would burst.
-
-The sparrow settled down into quite a model husband and father, and
-very seldom relapsed into his old habits. He and the little bright-eyed
-sparrow continued to be very fond of each other, and brought up many
-broods of young sparrows,--some of them lively young fellows like their
-father and as fond of keeping late hours as he used to be, and others
-as bright-eyed and domestic as the bright-eyed sparrow herself.
-
-The barn-cat and the house-cat continued to disagree in their ideas of
-education, but their kittens associated together with great amiability
-and did not share the jealousies of their mothers.
-
-Little Nancy never left the kind friends who had befriended her, and
-was so devoted to Posy and made her so happy that a new nurse never
-appeared, and the children became more attached to her every day, if
-such a thing were possible.
-
-[Illustration: The Sparrow’s House.]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration: Publisher’s Logo]
-
-
-
-
-Mrs. Wesselhoeft’s Stories.
-
-[Illustration: “YOU DEAR OLD FROWZLE,” CRIED MARGETTA, SITTING UP IN
-BED, “HOW GLAD I AM TO SEE YOU!”]
-
-_Frowzle the Runaway._
-
-A fable for Children. By LILY F. WESSELHOEFT, author of “Sparrow,
-the Tramp,” “Flipwing, the Spy,” etc. With illustrations by Jessie
-McDermott. Square 12mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.
-
-_Sold by all booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, on receipt of price, by
-the publishers_,
-
-LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, Boston.
-
-
-
-
-OLD ROUGH THE MISER.
-
-
-By LILY F. WESSELHOEFT, author of “Sparrow the Tramp,” “Flipwing
-the Spy,” “The Winds, the Woods, and the Wanderer.” With twenty-one
-illustrations by J. F. Goodridge. Square 16mo, cloth, $1.25.
-
-[Illustration: OLD ROUGH THE MISER.]
-
-Mrs. Wesselhoeft’s “Fable Stories” are proving themselves more and more
-acceptable to the children. “Old Rough” is a decided acquisition to the
-series.
-
-_Sold by all Booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, by the publishers_,
-
-  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,
-  BOSTON.
-
-
-
-
-_MRS. WESSELHOEFT’S STORIES._
-
-[Illustration: In the Woods]
-
-_THE WINDS, THE WOODS, AND THE WANDERER._
-
-A Fable for Children. By LILY F. WESSELHOEFT, author of “Sparrow, the
-Tramp,” and “Flipwing, the Spy.” With illustrations. 16mo, cloth.
-Price, $1.25.
-
-  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, Boston.
-
-
-
-
-FLIPWING, THE SPY.
-
-A Story for Children.
-
-BY LILY F. WESSELHOEFT,
-
-_Author of “Sparrow, the Tramp,” “The Winds, the Woods, and the
-Wanderer,” etc._
-
-[Illustration: Boy in the Window]
-
-The story represents the action of certain animals, the characters of
-depicted in accordance with their natures and the exigencies of the
-story. The object is to cultivate the love of animal nature, which
-most children feel, and especially for such creatures as bats, toads
-and others, which children are often improperly taught to regard with
-disgust. The human characters introduced talk and act naturally, and
-this book will be found very entertaining to young people.
-
-  _16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25._
-
-  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, Boston.
-
-
-
-
-THE LITTLE LADY OF THE HORSE.
-
-[Illustration: A Girl and Her Horse]
-
-BY EVELYN RAYMOND. With 21 Illustrations by FRANK T. MERRILL. Small
-4to, cloth. Price, $1.50.
-
-_Sold everywhere. Mailed, post-paid, on receipt of price, by the
-Publishers_,
-
-  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,
-  BOSTON.
-
-
-
-
-  =FATHER GANDER’S MELODIES FOR MOTHER GOOSE’S GRAND-CHILDREN.= By
-  ADELAIDE F. SAMUELS. Illustrated by Lillian Trask Harlow. Small 4to.
- Cloth. $1.25.
-
-[Illustration: Boy with Flower]
-
-_Sold everywhere. Mailed, post-paid, on receipt of price, by the
-Publishers_,
-
-  LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY,
-  BOSTON.
-
-
-
-
-JOLLY GOOD STORIES.
-
-BY
-
-MARY P. WELLS SMITH.
-
-
-=Jolly Good Times To-Day.= With illustrations by JESSIE McDERMOTT.
-16mo. Cloth. Price, $1.25.
-
-  A sensible book, and it is sensible because it is merry and
-  natural.--_New York Times._
-
-  A complete description of the happy every-day life of American
-  children of the present day.--_Christian Register._
-
-  Natural, every-day children.--_Churchman._
-
-  One of the jolliest, most natural, and readable books we have read for
-  many a day.--_Boston Times._
-
-  A most charming book for children, whose scene is laid in our very
-  midst, is Mrs. Mary P. Wells Smith’s “Jolly Good Times To-Day.” The
-  writer, Mrs. Fayette Smith, of Avondale, has been very successful in
-  her books for young people but this is the first instance where she
-  has drawn upon her own beautiful neighborhood for materials. Apart
-  from the interest felt in a description of people in our midst, the
-  book is charming in its fresh, simple presentation of child-life. Mrs.
-  Smith has the power of entering directly into the personality of her
-  characters, and, as a result, they are real people. The book is full
-  of local references that will interest Cincinnatians, and this fact,
-  with its excellence as a story, should make it very popular with our
-  young folk.--_Cincinnati Tribune._
-
-  The book is rightly named, and is the fifth in a series of volumes
-  bearing similar title. It is brimming from cover to cover with
-  healthy, hearty, child’s companionship and wholesomely jolly times.
-  It is the story of children whose lives are put in pleasant places,
-  where the modern possessions of our day contribute freely to the
-  general happiness; where the comradeship of elders gives no undue
-  sense of parental authority, but, rather, a friendly sharing of mutual
-  guiding; where liberal instincts and thoughtful living create an
-  atmosphere of growth and of personal privilege, wherein young lives
-  may unconsciously expand toward a noble future.--_Unity._
-
-  “Jolly Good Times To-Day,” by Mary P. Wells Smith, is a very
-  pretty and natural story of child-life. The author evidently
-  understands children, and sympathizes with them in their joys and
-  griefs. She knows, too, how to entertain them in a bright, sensible
-  way.--_Christian Intelligencer._
-
-_Sold by all Booksellers. Mailed, post-paid, by the Publishers_,
-
-LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, Boston.
-
-
-
-
-VOYAGE OF THE LIBERDADE.
-
-BY CAPTAIN JOSHUA SLOCUM.
-
-_Illustrated. 4to, Cloth. Price, $1.00._
-
-
-[Illustration: The Liberdade Under Sail]
-
-The “Voyage of the Liberdade” reads like a romance, but is,
-nevertheless, the faithful account of a marvellous experience in the
-career of that indomitable Yankee tar--Capt. Joshua Slocum. How the
-wonderful little boat, containing the author and his family, made a
-journey of 5,000 miles in the face of perils calculated to terrify many
-of the hardiest is told without any attempt at rhetorical garnish, yet
-with a clearness that gives it a permanent literary value.
-
-_Sold everywhere. Mailed, post-paid, on receipt of price, by the
-Publishers_,
-
-LITTLE, BROWN, AND COMPANY, Boston.
-
-
-
-
-TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
-
-On page 201, diging has been changed to digging.
-
-On page 209, look-out has been changed to lookout.
-
-On page 225, puting has been changed to putting.
-
-The name of the old rat was typeset as Gray Whisker, Gray-whisker and
-Graywhisker; these names have been regularized to Graywhisker across
-this ebook.
-
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-typeset.
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