As Blackie stood on the corner she saw a cat on the porch of a house near by. Blackie knew this cat a little, for once the cat, whose name was Muffins, had come walking in Blackie’s yard.
And, once or twice, Blackie had been as far as this corner herself. So she knew Muffins a little.
“Hello, Blackie!” meowed Muffins. “You’re quite a stranger. I haven’t seen you in some time. Where are you going?”
“I’m running away,” answered Blackie.
“Running away! You surprise me,” cried the other cat. “What is the matter? Did they treat you badly at your home? Didn’t they give you enough to eat?”
“Oh, yes, plenty,” said the black cat. “And they treated me very kindly, too.”
“Then why in the world are you running away?” Muffins wanted to know.
“I want to have some adventures, as Speckle did.”
“What are adventures, and who is Speckle?” asked Muffins.
“Adventures are things that happen to you,” replied Blackie, “and you never can have them happen as long as you are around the house. You have to run away to get them. That’s why I’m running away. And Speckle is the cat who lives next door to me.”