Soon the barn-cat appeared hurrying along, and the house-cat followed more slowly, for she considered a graceful and dignified carriage of the utmost importance.
“How are you, my dear creature?” said the sparrow to the barn-cat; “I knew you’d pine away while I was gone. I’ve thought of you every minute, too, and couldn’t stay away from you any longer.”
“Don’t make a fool of yourself,” answered the barn-cat crustily.
“Come, let’s proceed to business,” said Mrs. Polly, her quick eye interrupting a very loving glance that the sparrow was bestowing on the barn-cat. “What have you seen and heard about the child Nancy?”
“I’ve both seen and heard her,” answered the sparrow. “She confides all her troubles to me, but she thinks I can’t understand a word she tells me; and when I’ve told her how sorry I am for her and what we’re going to do for her, she often says, ‘What a pretty little song that was, Billy! it seems as if you wanted to comfort me.’”
“Well, how is she getting on?” asked Mrs. Polly.
“Worse than ever. She has to walk very far to sell her matches, to places where she has never been before, and her feet are lame and painful. We must get her away from there as soon as possible.”
“I shouldn’t be surprised if Posy would bring out her sewing soon,” said the house-cat. “I heard Mrs. Winton tell her she didn’t like to have her run about in the hot sun so much,—that she had better take her playthings on the piazza where it was cool; and Posy said, ‘I guess I’d better make a new dress for my dolly, for her’s hardly got a dress after her name.’”
A slight rustling was heard behind the bush where the sparrow was seated, and all quickly turned in that direction. Before the others knew what had happened, the barn-cat was down from the window and in the bush, and the next minute they saw her chasing a large rat across the yard towards the barn. Quickly as he ran, they saw he was old and gray about the mouth; and when he turned and gave a quick look back, they saw he had long yellow teeth with one of them broken off.
“Graywhisker!” they all exclaimed in a breath. “If she can only get him!”