She put her head right down beside him, and kept him crouching for a few minutes. Then she let him go, and he went leaping toward the house while Mona came toward me.
She was grinning almost as badly as Joker does, but there was more sense in her face than there is in his silly one.
“I've found out everything,” she said, sinking on the ground, for she was tired after her long run behind the carriage, “and you need not be uneasy. The secret of the mole-hunt is a very simple one.”
“Can't you tell me, Mona?” I asked anxiously.
“No, Pussy. I promised Joker not to give him away. But you need not worry. These country cats are only going to have a little fun with your sister. They won't hurt her.”
My heart felt very much lighter, and I went in the house and up to the veranda to tell Slyboots.
This was late in the afternoon. After supper Aunt Tabby came quietly creeping out from the house, and asked me if I were going to the lecture.
“Oh, yes,” I said uneasily.
“Perhaps you would like to go along with me,” she said. “I can tell you who the strangers are.”
She was such a quiet, respectable cat that I gladly embraced her offer. It was not yet nearly dark, but she said we had better go early, so we could get a good seat, and see what fun might be going on.