"Oh my!" said Charlotte, and her bright black eyes looked very sorry.
"Oh my!" said Mary, exactly like her little sister.
Sarah laughed a little bit, and said, "Oh my!" too. "Your dear mamma wouldn't do so, would she?" she asked.
"Oh no!" cried both the children; and then they had to get down, and run to kiss their mother; whose large dark eyes were full of love for her darlings.
"After the poor kittens had wiped their eyes, and blowed their noses, and sighed two or three times, one of them said to the others, "Don't cry any more. Let's get our little pails and fill them with water and borrow a piece of soap from the cook, and wash our mittens."
"'Oh yes! you darling sister, to think of such a nice plan!' cried the other two; and they rolled over on their backs, and flourished all their soft paws in the air together, they were so glad.
"So the three little kittens
Washed their mittens,
And hung them up to dry.
"Then they ran to their mother, who was fast asleep on the rug, with her tail curled round her; but they did not mind that—which I think was not quite polite—for when people and cats are taking a nap, everybody must keep very quiet, and not go near them or make a noise; but our friends, the kittens, did not think, you see: they just went pounce right on top of their mother, and sang out:
"'Oh, mother, dear,
Only see here,
See! open your eye, see! we have washed our mittens.'
"The old cat, for a wonder, did not get angry; instead of that, she smiled a sweet smile, rubbed her chin with her paw, and in a musical, mewing tone of delighted surprise, exclaimed: