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.
Sparrow, the Tramp.