"It's quiet now. It'll not mind me lookin'. I want to see if it's got very dirty."
William weakened.
"I'll have a look at it this time," he said, "then p'raps it won't get loose all over the place!"
Cautiously he opened the basket lid. Over his face came a look of horror. It faded, leaving it grim and scornful.
"Oh, yes, you did it," he said, with heavy sarcasm. "You did it pretty neatly, as you said you did. Oh, yes, I din't help much. Oh, yes, you caught it."
He opened the basket wider. A friendly tabby, with a broken ear, regarded them and gave a tentative purr.
"Oh, yes, you caught it all right, but you caught the wrong one!"
Ginger looked at it, aghast, speechless. Then he pulled himself together.
"Well, we'll have to pretend that it's the one."
"Oh, yes," said William. "She'll believe it's a valu'ble white cat, in a highly nervous state, won't she? Oh, yes, she's quite likely to believe that!"