Mrs. Polly scowled fiercely at her, and then turned to the little tiger-kitten again.
“Well, my dear, and what happened after you became tired of playing?”
“Well,” replied the little kitten, as she kept her eye on one of the house-kittens who was rolling a pebble with her soft paw, “then a little mouse ran by.”
“Oh!” said Mrs. Polly; “and what then, my dear? What did you do when the little mouse ran by?”
“We wanted to catch it, but the gray kitten wouldn’t let us. She said our mother told her not to let us go away.”
“And what did the gray kitten do then?” asked Mrs. Polly quickly.
“She ran after the little mouse and she didn’t come back again, and that’s all,” said the little tiger-kitten.
“Very good indeed, my dear,” answered Mrs. Polly, with an approving nod of her head. “You’ve told a very connected story, and we’ve found out that the gray kitten chased a mouse and has not been seen since.”
The barn-cat was intensely gratified at her kitten’s sagacity, but the only expression she gave to her satisfaction was to wash the little tiger-kitten’s face affectionately. Then she said, after a few moments’ silence,—
“Before we break up, I should like to mention that the collar that Posy gave me has disappeared. It was quite loose for me, and I may have lost it when I was off hunting. I don’t like to accuse anybody wrongly, but it was a very handsome affair, and I dare say created a good deal of jealousy among my acquaintances;” and she looked very hard at the house-cat.