“And you’ve been going around, trying to get 164 homes for them?” said Miss Alder approvingly. “Why, I think that is very kind of you. Could you find people who would give them homes?”
Twaddles told her where they had been and what the people had said, and all the time he talked Miss Adler was stroking the kitten which she had taken on her lap. She asked a great many questions and she did not laugh at all. She was most serious, and when she had heard the whole story, she said that she thought they were just as good as they could be.
“Most children wouldn’t go to so much trouble,” she said. “Why, you are friends worth having––and I should like a kitten very much indeed. Why don’t you let me keep this one?”
Twaddles looked uncertainly at Dot.
“It’s the sample,” he said uneasily.
“You mean it was the sample,” Miss Alder corrected. “If you have six kittens promised, you don’t need any more samples; and if you leave this one here with me, why, that will be one delivered and will save you that much extra trouble. Besides, I particularly like tiger cats.”
The twins saw how sensible this was, and they 165 agreed to leave the kitten. Then Miss Alder showed them her pets––she had canaries and goldfish and a white poodle dog who seemed to like the kitten very much, though it humped up its back and spit at him and would have nothing to do with him.
“They’ll be friends in less than a week,” Miss Alder declared comfortably.
The noon whistle reminded Dot and Twaddles that they would be late for lunch and they hurried off, but not before Miss Alder had asked them to come and see her again.
“You’ll want to see how the kitten grows,” she told them.