Then Snip scraped at the door, and, on being admitted, evinced much delight at the sight of the visitor.
"You are fond of animals," remarked Mrs. Glanville, as Snip promptly accepted an invitation to sit on Tim's knees, where he settled himself comfortably with a flattered expression on his face. "I suppose you keep pets at home, do you not?"
"No," Tim answered, "we have no room for them. Ours is a small house, and we have no garden. Mother had a canary once, but a neighbour's cat came in one day when no one was about and killed it."
"How dreadful!" exclaimed Kitty with a shudder. "What a horrid cat it must have been! I should hate a cat that killed birds!"
"Should you hate Snip if he killed a cat?" asked Bob, laughing.
"I don't think I should ever like him again," Kitty answered seriously; "but Snip wouldn't do it."
"I'm not so sure of that," said Mr. Glanville, "and that is why I make it a rule to scold Snip when I catch him chasing a cat, and I wish you children to do the same."
A short silence followed this remark, during which Kitty and Bob looked somewhat guilty. Kitty, who was engaged in hemming a duster, kept her head bent over her work until her father spoke again.
"I thought perhaps you boys would like a walk before tea," he said, suggestively, "and if so we had better start at once."
"Can't I go too, father?" inquired Kitty eagerly.