"There! Didn't I tell you they would hit themselves?" said Bella.
Just then Nellie let out a cry and the cats laughed so they nearly fell off the limb for Kittie in her endeavor to throw high enough had whirled half way around and as she turned the apple flew out of her hand before she was ready and it hit Nellie squarely in the back.
"Let's not try to hit them any more," proposed Nellie wisely.
"I know what we can do. We'll go to the orchard and get the long ladder they are using to pick the cherries, and we'll put it up against the tree and then climb up after them."
"All right. Let's do!" again agreed Nellie.
Away ran the girls to the orchard and in about ten minutes the cats saw them tugging away at a long ladder. At last they reached the tree and after many mishaps succeeded in standing it up against the trunk. But what was their disappointment to find that it only reached half way up the tall tree and came nowhere near the limb on which the cats sat.
"I have it!" cried Nellie. "Let's get the hose and turn it on them. That will bring them down in a jiffy!"
Off ran the girls once again, the hose was brought and adjusted and the water turned on. But another disappointment awaited them. The force was not sufficient to throw the water far enough to reach the cats.
"Drat those cats!" exclaimed Kittie. "I am getting so mad I just must lay hands on them or explode!"
"I guess you will have to blow up then, or fly up to reach them," said Nellie. "The saucy things! Just see how they sit there and purr with contentment! Yes, I know they are laughing at us all the time!"