"Then it's a present, Bob?" asked Kitty.
"Yes. Tom said he would bring it if he had time—you know the Hatches are leaving B-to-morrow. I suppose he hadn't time, so he sent it. Yes, here's the basket it came in." He picked up the basket which Tim had dropped and forgotten, and examined it. "Snip must have given some one a fine scare," he proceeded, chuckling with amusement. "I say, Kitty, it's a jolly little rabbit, isn't it?"
"It's a beauty!" declared Kitty. "I shall keep it combed, and its coat will soon be lovely. How very kind of Tom Hatch to give it to me! I shan't be able to thank him, shall I?"
"Oh, don't let that weigh upon your mind. I thanked him for you, so that's all right," Bob responded carelessly. "I didn't say anything about it to you before because I thought I'd wait and see if Tom really meant to give you the rabbit," he proceeded to explain. "The fact is, he's such a chap for making promises he never carries out. He's been as good as his word in this case, though. I wonder whom he sent with the rabbit."
"I am afraid whoever it was must have been dreadfully frightened by Snip," said cook regretfully. "I'm sure we wouldn't have let him out if we guessed any one had been here. I'll hang up the basket in the scullery, for I suppose it will be fetched by someone to-morrow."
Bob replaced the rabbit in the hutch, remarking upon the pieces of bread which Kitty collected and soaked in milk for her new pet.
The little girl's heart was full of gratitude towards Tom Hatch, who had, as she naturally believed, from all her brother had said, made her this most welcome gift.
"I shall call the dear little thing 'Fluffy,'" she confided to her brother. "I don't think I shall show it to the boy next door, as I feel so certain he had something to do with the death of the other."
Bob merely shrugged his shoulders on hearing this, and made no reply, for he and his sister could not agree upon the point. Kitty was absurdly suspicious, he told himself.
The following afternoon when Tim Shuttleworth—his countenance shining with the recent application of soap and water—rang the front door bell of the Glanvilles' house, his heart beat fast with excitement. He was shown into the dining-room, where the whole family were assembled, and received a cordial welcome from Mr. and Mrs. Glanville. The latter, in particular, greeted him very kindly, and kissed him for his mother's sake, she said—a remark which made him feel a little choky for a minute, as he was deeply attached to his mother, and he had greatly missed her since he had been away from her—and then she introduced him to Kitty and Bob, who shook hands with him and looked as though they had never seen him in their lives before. At first, Tim felt a trifle embarrassed; but, as Mrs. Glanville talked to him and asked him questions, he soon lost all traces of self-consciousness, and found himself chatting quite easily of his own people—his mother and father, and his two brothers and three sisters, all younger than himself.