“Have you seen them?” Alice asked.
“Yes, mother let us look at them just once, and we each chose a kitten for ourselves.”
“Do you mean to say she is going to let you keep them all?” Alice asked. “Mother never let us keep but two.”
“We can keep them if you will let us have them,” said Diana. “Of course we know she is your cat, but mother thought maybe your mother wouldn’t want the bother of four kittens.”
“You didn’t ask her what color they are. Let me talk to her,” said Peggy, and she seized the receiver. “It is Peggy talking now. What color are the kittens?”
“Tipsy is black with just a white tip to his tail, and Topsy is black with a white vest and four white paws, and Lady Janet is silvery gray, almost exactly like her mother, and Gretchen is gray and white with a gray chin.”
“And your mother doesn’t mind the bother of four kittens?” said Peggy.
“Mother,” she said, as Mrs. Owen came into the room, “Lady Jane has four children, and Mrs. Carter is going to keep all of them if we’ll let her.”
“We shall want one ourselves so as to keep her contented,” said Alice.
“My dear little girl,” said her mother, “it would be cruel to move Lady Jane until the kittens are big enough to look out for themselves. I have a few things to do besides taking care of her and her family. If the Carters want her and she wants to stay, there is no use in fighting any longer.”