CHAPTER XI
AN ELECTION AND A DEFECTION
It was just a little dismaying to the children at the close of the ball to be suddenly brought face to face with the fact that they were going to spend the night in Purrington. Because there really was not any arrangement for the sort of night which up to this moment Lois and Rob had considered the only kind of night which one could spend. Bedsteads, for instance, had heretofore been as much a part of their idea of night as was the setting of the sun and coming on of darkness; but, though there was plenty of soft bedding and good mattresses, or, rather, beds, of straw and leaves, there was not a bedstead in Purrington. Then, too, there was much to be desired—from the children’s view-point—in the arrangements for bathing. They could not imagine how they were to wash their faces and hands in the same way that the Purrers did—and yet was there any other way? Lois delicately tried her tongue on the knuckle of her left forefinger, and instantly felt sure that she could not manage to bathe in cat fashion.
But the cats who had lived among nice human beings, Bidelia, Madam Laura, and Ban-Ban and Kiku-san, themselves solved the doubts that were filling their guests’ minds by telling them that in the morning they would lead them down to the river Meuse, “where they could wet their faces and hands all they pleased,” said Kiku-san, with a shudder.
The children were to sleep in the city hall, that being the only building in the place large enough to hold them, and Bidelia with her kittens, Madam Laura, Tommy Traddles, ’Clipsy, Wutz-Butz, and, of course, their own dear cats, were to stay with them through the night. After they had lain down in the beds provided for them, Lois and Rob found that they were very comfortable indeed.
Ban-Ban, Tommy Traddles, ’Clipsy, and little Nugget slept around Rob, fitting themselves beautifully and cosily around and into the curves of his body. Of course Kiku-san crept into Lois’s arms, but Madam Laura, Bidelia, and Dolly Varden and Puttel added themselves to her couch, and the little girl fell asleep, supremely happy, for the more cats the merrier Lois was—she never could get enough of their purr and their fur.
Wutz-Butz stayed awake, on guard all night.
The entire party was awakened early by the kittens, who were ready to play before the sun was fairly up. But it did not matter; every one was perfectly rested, and it was to be such a busy day that it was necessary to make it a long one in order to get into it all that must be done.
Bathing in the Meuse proved to be a pleasant experience, and breakfast was delicious eaten under the trees. As soon as it was cleared away, all the cats seated themselves in a circle and waited, washing their paws and faces once in awhile, but very lightly, much as human beings use finger-bowls after meals, and only to occupy the time.
Tommy Traddles came forward at last and addressed Rob and Lois.