A Silly Question
"HOW do you come to be white, when all your brothers are tabby, my dear?" Dolly asked her kitten. As she spoke, she took it away from the ball it was playing with, and held it up and looked in its face as Alice did with the Red Queen.
"I'll tell you, if you'll keep it a secret, and not hold me so tight," the kitten answered.
Dolly was not surprised to hear the kitten speak, for she had read her fairy books, as all good children should, and she knew that all creatures answer if one only speaks to them properly. So she held the kitten more comfortably and the tale began.
"You must know, my dear Dolly," the kitten began—and Dolly thought it dreadfully familiar—"you must know that when we were very small we all set out to seek our fortunes."
"Why," interrupted Dolly, "you were all born and brought up in our barn! I used to see you every day."
"Quite so," said the kitten; "we sought our fortune every night, and it turned out to be mice, mostly. Well, one night I was seeking mine, when I came to a hole in the door that I had never noticed before. I crept through it, and found myself in a beautiful large room. It smelt delicious. There was cheese there, and fish, and cream, and mice, and milk. It was the most lovely room you can think of."
"There's no such room——" began Dolly.