Mr. Morris was the owner of the store and he had a desk in a small private office far back from the counters. Twaddles marched down the aisle and Dot after him. They found Mr. Morris reading a newspaper and looking as though he might not be very busy. He smiled when he saw them.
“Hello!” he said, “what brings you calling?”
“Don’t you want a nice kitten, Mr. Morris?” asked Twaddles persuasively. “It will grow 158 up and catch mice and rats, and it won’t need much to eat. If Minnie is dead, you really need a cat, don’t you?”
Well, it took several minutes to make the grocery man understand what they were trying to do, and then he laughed and they had to wait till he wiped his eyes and could speak plainly. But, after all this, Mr. Morris said he would be very glad to take the kitten and it could live in the store and would be sure of a comfortable home.
“But we can’t leave this one––it’s a sample,” Dot explained earnestly. “We’ll bring you your kitten this afternoon––it will be just like this one, only a different color.”
“Are you sure it will be as good a mouser and as sweet-tempered and as pretty?” demanded Mr. Morris. “I wouldn’t want to be disappointed.”
The twins assured him that all the kittens were lovely and that gave him another thought. He wanted to know how many there were.
“Seven,” said Twaddles, “and Mother said seven are too many to keep.” 159
“I agree with your mother,” Mr. Morris said. “And I believe, if you go to see my sister, Mrs. Tracy, that she will be glad to take a kitten; she’s expecting her little grandson to come for a visit next week and she would be glad to have a pet ready for him. You know where Mrs. Tracy lives, don’t you? Over on Hammond Square?”
Twaddles and Dot knew, and they hurried over to Hammond Square eagerly. Sure enough, Mrs. Tracy was glad to have a kitten, and like her brother, she wanted to keep the “sample.” But when matters were explained to her and she understood that she could have her kitten that afternoon, she was quite satisfied.