What might have happened next cannot be told, for at that moment the little girl raised a joyous shout. "Daddy, oh, daddy, come quick! Here, daddy!"
At her eager cry a man hurrying down the road stopped and then ran to the pool.
"Nellie, where have you been, and what's all this?"
"It's my kitty, daddy, they were going to drown her, and this boy and his doggie saved her life."
And with tears and smiles together the child clung to her father and hugged the almost suffocated kitten in her pinafore.
"Jem Whatman, at your cowardly pranks again! How dare you touch the kitten?"
At this moment, as if conscious that able reinforcements had come, Pat let go the mouthful of cloth, and without stopping to reply Jem darted away after his companion, muttering threats as he went.
"You are a brave boy to tackle two bullies at once in that fashion," said the father kindly as he swung the little girl up in his strong arms. "And there's breeding about that terrier of yours, and no mistake!"
Pat was still breathing quickly and wagging his tail excitedly, as if expecting another battle. "You are a stranger to me, and yet I seem to know your face. What is your name?"
Dick almost answered "Lionheart," but stopped just in time. "Richard Hart Crosby."