“I can’t find the gray kitten anywhere,” she said, looking very much distressed. “I’ve hunted and called, but she doesn’t answer.”
“Perhaps the rats have carried her off,” said Posy, with a troubled air.
“I guess she’s gone to hunt for mice,” suggested Tom, who appeared at that moment. “She won’t run off. Let’s go and play ‘circus’ in the barn-chamber. You bring the house-kittens, Posy, and I’ll get the barn-kittens.”
“You needn’t mew so loud,” said Posy to the house-cat as she took up the kittens. “I won’t hurt your babies, and I’ll bring ’em back all safe. They are going to be teached to play circus.”
The house-cat was not at all afraid to trust her kittens with Posy. What she said was: “I don’t like this way of snatching up my kittens and carrying ’em off to play with those barn-kittens. I expect they’ll get to be just as common as they are, if this isn’t put a stop to.”
The kittens themselves, however, had no such fears, and were delighted at the prospect of a play with the lively barn-kittens; for it was not very entertaining to lie in the box by the kitchen stove, and Hannah always drove them back if they ventured out of it when the children were not there. So when Posy dumped them on the barn-floor by the side of the tiger-kittens, they began to play in earnest.
“Let’s have a tiger-hunt,” said Tom, after watching the kittens at their play; “and the barn-kittens can be the tigers, and the house-kittens can be our hunting-dogs.”
“Oh, splendid!” cried Posy, clapping her hands and jumping up and down.
“First, we’ll make a cave,” said Tom, “because tigers live in caves, you know;” and he began to dig a cave in the side of the hay-mow. Nancy entered into the work with great zest, and soon a fine cave was finished and the tigers were placed in it.
“What fun it would be if they could understand what we said to them!” said Nancy. “I used to think that Billy understood what I told him, he always seemed so sorry when I told him how hungry and tired I was.”