"What horrid creature, my dear?" inquired Constable Nightingale, winking at his comrade.
"The cat! The red cat!"
"A red cat!" exclaimed Constable Nightingale, in a jocular voice; "who ever heard of such a thing? Who ever saw such a thing?"
"Why, I did--and you did, too."
"Not me," said Constable Nightingale, with another wink at Constable Wigg.
"Nor me," said that officer, following the lead.
"Do you mean to tell me you didn't see a cat, and that the cat you sor wasn't red?"
"I saw a cat, yes," said Constable Nightingale, "but not a red 'un--no, not a red un'. What do you say, Wigg?"
"I say as you says, Nightingale."
"There's lobsters, now," said Constable Nightingale; "we know what color they are when they're boiled, but we don't boil cats, that I know of, and if we did they wouldn't turn red. You learned natural history when you was at school, Wigg. What did they say about red cats?"