Polly stood a moment in the doorway; she could hear the sound of Miss Pomeroy’s voice in some distant part of the house. She tiptoed back into the library. The carpet was so thick and soft that Polly knelt down and rubbed it gently with her little hand; then she put her head down and pressed her cheek against the faded roses.
“It feels like Ebenezer’s fur,” said Polly. “I wonder if Ebenezer will miss me.”
Polly sat still for a moment with wistful eyes, and then hastily scrambled to her feet as the door into the side hall opened partway and Arctura stuck her head in.
“Here,” she said, dropping a struggling heap on the floor, “I thought maybe you’d like to see these two little creatures; I call ’em Snip and Snap, and I’ve had a chase to find ’em for you. There’s nothing they can break in the library, so Miss Hetty lets ’em run wild once in a while. I’ll just shut that other door.”
Arctura marched across the floor and shut the door into the front hall; then she marched back toward her own quarters. “If I were in your place,” she said, looking at the kittens instead of Polly, “I wouldn’t make a practice of sitting on the floor. I don’t know as it’s any harm, really, but a chair looks better for little girls.”
“Yes’m,” said Polly, with scarlet cheeks, as Arctura vanished with a good-humored smile. “I expect she thought I was turning somersaults, maybe,” said Polly to the kittens; “oh, dear!”
But the kittens were quite undisturbed by Arctura’s remarks. As Polly stood still for a moment, they began an acrobatic performance which always gave them keen enjoyment. Snip made a clutch for the hem of Polly’s skirt in front at the same instant that Snap sprang upon her from the rear. They secured a good hold on the pink gingham, and clambered up to Polly’s shoulder as fast as they could go. There they met and shifted positions with considerable scratching of their sharp little claws, and descended, Snap in front and Snip at the back, tumbling around Polly’s feet, and then scampering away from each other sidewise with arched backs and distended tails.
THE KITTENS CLAMBERED TO POLLY’S SHOULDERS
“Oh, you little cunnings!” cried Polly, forgetting all her troubles in a minute. To the window seats flew Snip and Snap, and there they swung back and forth on the stout curtain cords, and made dashes at each other; then they were off to the seat of an old leather-covered chair. Snip mounted to the top of the back and patted Snap on the head with a paw whose claws were politely sheathed, as often as he started to spring to his brother’s side. Over and under chairs and tables they went, and Polly, full of delight, followed them, catching up one or the other whenever she could.