"He was just going to do it when a bright thought struck him, 'If I let you stay,' he said crossly, 'you must catch all the mice that eat my seeds!'
"Whether puss would have promised I do not know; but the gardener probably knew she would be willing to try, and so, with another sour look, he gave the box a push, and went out and slammed the door.
"Pussy felt very relieved, though a little shaken in her spirits. 'My dear kitties,' she said, 'you have had a narrow escape. Who would have thought he would have come in! He has not been in here, to my knowledge, for at least a month; but then certainly I am not always at his heels. However, here we are, and now to make the best of it. He has shut the door, too, so we must catch mice or starve.' Pussy raised her eyes to the roof, and to her relief perceived that there were apertures under the rafters where she could creep out if her prison got too strait for her.
"Some little time passed on. Pussy found plenty of mice, but she had not been accustomed to such close confinement. And one evening as it was getting dusk, she whispered to her kitties, 'Now, my dears, if you'll be very still and not quarrel, I'll take a turn up the garden, I think.'
"'Oh, mother,' said No. 1, who was affectionate, 'shall you be sure to come back!'
"'Oh, mother,' said No. 2, who was greedy, 'shall you be able to bring us something nice!'
"'Oh, mother,' said No. 3, who was daring, 'how I wish I could go with you!'
"'Yes, yes, my dears,' said pussy hurriedly; 'but if you ask so many questions, I shall never get away.'
"With these words she proceeded to jump on a sack of potatoes that stood near, and from thence to a shelf under the ceiling, where she came to a pause. Her kittens watched her anxiously with beating hearts. Where would she get next? She went peeping about at the different holes under the rafters, but did not seem to make up her mind to go through any of them.
"Now you must know—what I am not sure that the kittens yet knew—that cats have long whiskers, which in a wonderful way are made to grow out just as far as the widest part of their bodies, and pussy could feel if these were touched, and if they were, she did not venture to push her body into the hole.