Thereupon she gave a shrill whistle, and a moment later a great Maltese pussycat sprang upon the shelf of the doorway at number 1 and sat there for an instant crouched, with its ears pointing into the air and its big yellow eyes gazing steadily at the visitors. Then the pussy leaped lightly to the ground, and standing upon its rear legs before the Queen, he bobbed his head solemnly up and down and said, "Welcome, Queen of Merryland, to the Valley of Pussycats!"
"I thank you, King Felis," responded the Wax Doll sweetly. "But permit me to introduce to you my adopted children, Princess Dot and Prince Tot of Merryland."
The big pussy looked at the children with surprise, but nodded his head politely.
"The Prince and Princess seem like people from the big, outside world," he said, with a wise look; and then he turned to Dot and asked:
"Do you pull the tails of pussycats?"
"Oh, no!" exclaimed the girl, who was just then admiring the beauty of the cat King as well as his ability to speak.
"Or pinch their ears?" he continued.
"Never!" declared Dot.
"I did—once," remarked Tot, composedly. "An' it yelled."
