"My keeten? No. I have no keeten. I sell banan', orange, apple! You buy some I give you keetie. Me no want!"
"No, and we don't want it, either," said Mrs. Bunker. "I was hoping it was yours so you could say you had to keep it here to drive the mice away. If Margy thought it was yours she wouldn't want to take it away."
"Ah, I see!" exclaimed the Italian with a smile. "All right, I keep the keeten," and he said the name in a funny way.
"There, Margy!" exclaimed her father. "You see you'll have to leave the kitten here to keep the mice away from the oranges."
"Can't I take it to Cousin Tom's with me?"
"No. And you must put it down quickly, and hurry, or we shall miss the boat."
Margy started to cry, but the Italian, who seemed to understand children, quickly offered her a big, yellow orange. Then Margy let go of the kitten, and the fruit man quickly picked it up and put it down in a little box out of sight.
"She no see—she no want," he whispered to Mrs. Bunker.
"I want an orange!" exclaimed Mun Bun, seeing Margy beginning to eat hers. "I likes oranges!"
"All right, we'll all have some," said Mr. Bunker. It seemed like disappointing the stand-owner to go away without buying some, after all that had gone on at his place of business.