“Look over in that dark corner, and tell me if you see two yellow balls of fire jumping here and there and everywhere.”
“Yes, I do. And I see nothing but just those two spots. What is more, I am going to get out, for now they are coming straight this way!”
Both man and boy hurried behind the screen and were beginning to tell the people working about the theater what they had seen when cool as you please out walked Button from behind the screen and stood gazing at them.
“Holy Moses, those lights we saw were only the yellow eyes of this cat! But look, Ikey, he is black all over. A black cat has walked across our stage. That means bad luck for us.”
“No, it doesn’t, you superstitious old man! Black cats or white cats can’t bring or take good luck or bad. In this age we don’t believe in such things.”
“Anyhow get him out of here! Get him out of here! For he has driven all our audience away.”
“Well, what do you care, Solomon? They have paid their money. What does it matter whether or not they see the picture? Their money is all you want. But I’ll drive him out for you anyway,” and a book was hurled at Button’s head by a man standing by an open window a few feet away from the cat.
Button dodged the book, then with a long leap went flying over the man’s head and through the open window out into the alley, where by chance he happened to alight on the back of a passing dog. Feeling Button’s claws dig into him, he set up a howl and ran down the alley lickety-split. He passed Billy and Stubby, who stood aside and laughed so heartily at the sight of Button clinging to the dog’s back that they nearly fell over in their merriment. But even as they looked, the dog ducked down and crawled under a fence, scraping Button off. Billy and Stubby ran down the alley where Button stood, too dazed and bruised to move for he had received a hard bump on his head when the dog crawled under the fence.
“For pity’s sake, how did you happen to be playing circus with that dog?” asked Billy.