“That I’m not prepared to say,” answered Mrs. Polly, with a shrug of her shoulders; “perhaps he sent one of the young rats, but I rather incline to the opinion that it was a mouse; even a young rat would be too heavy, and then young rats are stupid. Yes, I’m pretty sure ’twas a mouse.”
“What’s to be done next?” asked the sparrow.
“You young fellows are always in too much of a hurry,” said Mrs. Polly; “we must wait and see what turns up next. ‘Murder will out,’ you know; and if we keep our ears and eyes open, we shall get some clew to the thief.”
“And meanwhile that poor child Nancy will have to go on with her hard life. She said she sometimes felt as if she couldn’t bear it any longer,” said the sparrow in a despondent tone.
“Make the best of it, my friend,” answered Mrs. Polly. “We’ll do the best we can for her. In the mean time don’t talk about the matter; for if Graywhisker finds out we suspect him, he’ll be on his guard and we shan’t find a clew to the missing ribbon.”
“Well, I suppose the only thing to do is to wait patiently,” said the sparrow, with a sigh.
Before long, the barn-cat, and the house-cat, and the little gray kitten, and Major, all knew of the theft of the red ribbon with the gold figures on it, and they grieved sadly over the disappointment. They all took Mrs. Polly’s advice not to talk about it, and Graywhisker’s name was not mentioned among them.
“How quiet the birds are to-day!” said Tom to Posy that afternoon; “I haven’t heard the canary sing once to-day.”
“That’s so!” said Mrs. Polly dryly.
The children burst out laughing.