"Of course alive! And the old dame, his owner can—"
But here Paula suddenly lunged forward, seizing the wicked youngster by the wrists with a surprising strength for one of her age.
"You'll do nothing of the kind," she cried. "Let him go; do you hear me?"
"Let me alone!" said the young bully as he tried to bite her.
Not being able to accomplish this, he gave her a ferocious kick, which caused Paula to let go with a cry of pain. She now saw that her efforts were useless.
"See here," she said to him, after a few seconds' thought, "If you give me the cat, I'll give you four cents."
"Ah, you haven't got four cents."
"Yes, I have; I have it here in my pocket"
"All right, let me have the money."
"No, no," said Paula, "if I give you my four cents first, I know you will never let me have the cat. Come, give him to me," she said beseechingly; "he's never done you any harm and you have made him suffer so much." But Joseph refused this appeal. With a diabolical grin he raised the cat again to swing it over his head. There was a meow of agony—but it was the last one! In spite of her former lack of success, Paula made one supreme effort to rescue the cat. Somehow the string got loose, the cat escaped, and was soon lost to view.