The two ladies talked more about the black cat, wondering where she had come from, and all that, and, every once in a while one of them would lean over and pet Blackie.
“I wonder if she will let me hold her in my lap?” said the lady who had come to pay an evening visit to Mrs. Thompson. “I hope she will, for I love cats.”
“Try it,” said Mrs. Thompson. “Blackie seems very nice and gentle.”
The other lady picked Blackie up.
“My! How heavy she is!” she exclaimed.
“Yes, she is a big cat,” spoke Mrs. Thompson.
Blackie was very willing to be held in the lady’s lap, for Arthur and Mabel often petted Blackie that way. The lady stroked Blackie’s fur and rubbed her ears, and, as the cat liked that, she purred.
“This is the nice part of my adventures,” thought Blackie to herself. “I guess I rather like running away after all. But perhaps something else will happen in the morning.
“I won’t go back home, at least not for a day or two, and by then I may have many more things to tell Speckle. Maybe he will not think getting locked in a vacant house much of an adventure. I must have more exciting ones than that to tell about.”
The two ladies talked for some time longer, taking turns patting Blackie, until it was time for the lady visitor to go home.