"Nope!" answered the colored boy. "I runned 'cause I wanted to git away from Sam Brown an' his crowd. Dey was gwine to take mah cat away from me!"
"Yo' cat?" cried Jeff's mother. "Where'd yo' git a cat?"
Jeff wiggled and twisted as he reached his hand inside his blouse and pulled out the China Cat.
"Dere she am!" he cried, holding her up. "Dere's mah pussy! I done got her at de fire, an' de p'liceman didn't see me!"
For a moment there was silence in the dingy basement tenement where Jeff lived. His brothers and sisters, all smaller than he, crowded up around him as he held the China Cat high in the air.
"Ain't she jess boo'ful!" murmured one little black girl.
"Kin she wiggle her haid, like I done see a Donkey shake his haid in de toy shop?" asked one of Jeff's brothers.
"Lemme hab her!" pleaded the littlest black girl of all.
"No, suh!" declared Jeff. "Dis am mah white pussy, dat I done took outen de fire an' de p'liceman didn't see me, an' I's gwine to keep her, I is!"
He held the China Cat higher above his head.