I wonder what can the matter be!”
The mistress paused on an upper stair,
For, what did she see below?
But three little kittens, with frightened air,
Standing up in a row!
With six little paws on the step above,
And no mother cat to caress or love!
Through the kitchen door came a cloud of smoke!
The mistress, in great alarm,
To a sense of danger straightway awoke: