The officers made a rush for the passageway.
CHAPTER XVII
SETTING A TRAP
The sounds increased in loudness. There seemed to be a struggle going on in the hall, which was dark, and Mr. Newton, hearing the scuffle, thought perhaps he might get a burglar story after all.
“I’ve got him!” cried one of the policemen.
The words were followed by a long drawn-out and plaintive howl.
“Here’s the burglar!” exclaimed another bluecoat, as he and his companions entered the dining-room, where the woman had lighted the gas.
The officer held up a big cat, whose head was fast inside a milk pitcher. The animal, in search of a drink, had stuck its nose into the receptacle, and had been caught. In its efforts to free itself it had thumped the pitcher over the floor, producing the sounds which had alarmed the woman.
“Why, it’s my Teddy!” the woman exclaimed. “I wonder how I will ever get the pitcher off.”
“I’ll show you,” replied a bluecoat. With a blow of his club he broke the pitcher without hurting the cat, which, as soon as it was released, ran, and hid under the table.
“I’m sure I’m much obliged to all of you,” the woman said. “I was sure I was going to be murdered by a burglar.”