ONE Monday morning, Mrs. Dunne, who had come down to fetch the linen for washing, sent Mary into the breakfast-room to ask if she might speak to the young ladies; and as grandmamma allowed, Alice and Beatrice went to speak to her.
Mrs. Dunne had a small basket in her hand, which she held out to little Beatrice, saying, ‘My little Bessie has sent you a kitten, miss; for cook tells me that there is no cat in the house, and I hope that you will take this.’
Beatrice took the basket and lifted the lid, and she and Alice saw such a pretty little kitten lying curled up, half asleep. It was as white as snow, and had a blue ribbon round its neck. The kitten got up and stood in the basket ready to jump out; but Beatrice in her delight seized it, and was going to run away with it, when Alice said—
‘Wait, Beatrice, let me take it; you will frighten this dear little kitten.’
‘But I want to show it to grandmamma,’ said the little girl, turning back very unwillingly; ‘let me take it, please Alice.’
‘You may, only do not squeeze it,’ said Alice.
Mrs. Dunne put the kitten nicely into Beatrice’s arms, and Beatrice stroked the kitten, and the little creature began to purr and to rub its nose against Beatrice’s hand.
‘Thank you, Mrs. Dunne,’ said Alice, ‘please thank little Bessie, and tell her it is the prettiest kitten in the world.’ And Beatrice said ‘Thank you’ too, and then both children went back to their grandmother to show her the kitten. Grandmamma admired it very much, and told Mary to bring some milk in a saucer for the kitten, and she did so. The kitten seemed very hungry, for it lapped the milk up in a very short time.
‘I hope that pussy will not hurt the love-birds or your parrot,’ said grandmamma; ‘for cats like to eat birds.’
‘Pussy must not eat our birds,’ said Alice, ‘or else we will send her back again.’
‘But can we not teach the kitten not to go near the cages?’ said Beatrice. ‘The love-birds hang too high for her, I think; and if she goes to the parrot, he will peck Miss Pussy so hard with his sharp beak that she will not go near him again.’
‘I am glad that we have a cat at last,’ said grandmamma; ‘for there are several mice in my storeroom, and yesterday I saw one in the dining-room, eating some of the seed Bobby had dropped on the carpet.’
‘Mary says that there are mice in her pantry too, and cook told Mrs. Dunne that we wanted a cat very much in the house,’ said Alice.
‘Then it is a very good thing that we have this cat,’ said Beatrice. ‘What name shall we call the kitten, grandmamma?’
‘As I hope that she will catch all our mice, shall we call her Mouser?’
‘Oh yes, grandmamma. Mouser is such a pretty name for her;’ and Beatrice ran to her kitten, and called her ‘Mouser’ several times.
The kitten was sent into the kitchen during the children’s lessons; but as soon as these were over, Alice and Beatrice asked leave to go and fetch it, and after they had played with the cat some time, grandmamma told them they must go out for a walk.
Alice and Beatrice kissed their dear little puss, and bade her good-bye, and went out with Mary for their walk; and on their return, Mary went to her dinner, and the little girls played with Mouser up and down the gravel walk.
Alice, meanwhile, was running her hoop down some of the sloping walks, and liked especially to make her hoop hop down the stone steps of each of the different terraces. Alice was able to keep her hoop from falling, although she made it jump down every step; and she was very proud of doing this.
Wolf, the great dog, was chasing round and round the garden, now barking at some sparrows, and now at Alice’s hoop; then Alice and Wolf had a race together, and when they both came to the gravel walk where Beatrice was playing with her kitten, Wolf gave a growl, and was going up to the cat, which was in Beatrice’s arms; but Pussy was quicker than Wolf, for with one leap she sprang up a tree close by, and was in the branches in a minute.
Beatrice gave a cry of fear, for Wolf had startled her by coming up so suddenly; and then his attack on her dear little kitten made her quite afraid, and, half crying, Beatrice began to scold Wolf, and to call him a very naughty dog.
Alice soon came up, and took hold of Wolf by the collar, for he was barking and jumping up at the tree where the kitten had taken shelter; but Wolf would not attend to Alice; and Beatrice was more frightened about her little cat, and began to cry. Grandmamma had heard the noise, and came running to help the children, and was soon able to make Wolf leave the tree. As soon as the dog was gone away, grandmamma went to the tree, and lifted down the trembling kitten, who seemed glad to take refuge in her arms.
Alice had called Wolf away; and little Beatrice followed grandmamma through the open window into the house, and was very glad to have her little Mouser safe indoors again.
‘We must teach Wolf to be kind to pussy,’ said grandmamma to Beatrice, giving her the kitten to take upstairs.
‘Please do, grandmamma,’ replied Beatrice, ready to cry again; and she ran upstairs to take off her things, and to tell Mary all that had happened.
Grandmamma went back to Alice, who was standing quietly on the gravel walk with her hoop in one hand and holding Wolf by the collar with the other.
‘You are a brave little girl,’ said grandmamma, ‘and have kept Wolf in good order.’
Grandmamma then began to scold Wolf, and to talk to him; and the big dog looked wistfully into his mistress’s face, as if he understood what she said.
‘But come in now, my Alice; it is late, and dinner is waiting.’ And they went indoors.
