“And that the Captain had a habit of creeping along hedges after dark,” I put in.
Michael’s straight mouth twitched a little, but he quickly regained his solemnity. “Well,” he began, “it’s quite a long story. Goes back to the winter before last.”
“Adam must have been something of a kitten then,” Eve suggested.
Michael nodded. “It was about Christmas time, I think, that Captain Trout bought this little house and settled down here with his invalid wife.”
“Why, I didn’t know——” I began, but Eve whispered, “Hush!”
“They got this kitten—a kitten, that is,” he went on. “It came to them on Christmas Day and Mrs. Trout made a big fuss over it. They called it Caliph.”
“What a flight of fancy!” I murmured.
“That’s what they named it,” said Michael stolidly.
“Well, go on.”
“Some time in February, one cold night when the thermometer was below zero, the cat disappeared.”