For Miss Kitty Cat was in a terrible temper.
XVIII
KIDNAPPED
THERE was great rejoicing among all the Mouse family. Pudgy Mr. MosesMouse had picked up a bit of news that delighted him and his wife andall their many relations. Somebody had stolen Miss Snooper--as the Mousefamily always called Miss Kitty Cat! Somebody had taken her away!
Master Meadow Mouse had seen it all; and he had told Moses exactly howit happened. Master Meadow Mouse knew that a wagon had borne MissSnooper up the road and over the hill. He had watched it disappear, withhis own eyes. All those things Moses Mouse repeated as fast as hisshort breath would permit. He had hurried back home to tell the news assoon as he had heard it. He found, however, that no one cared _how_ MissKitty Cat (or Miss Snooper), went, nor where; no one cared who took her;no one cared when. It was enough to know that she was gone. Andeverybody exclaimed that it was the best news ever--and good riddance tobad rubbish--meaning Miss Kitty Cat.
If it were only true! The Mouse family scarcely dared believe that itwas. But when two days passed, and Moses Mouse himself had even venturedinto the pantry, and the kitchen, and the woodshed, without meeting MissKitty, the Mouse family dared decide that she had indeed gone for good.
* * * * *
Meanwhile Miss Kitty Cat was having a most unhappy time. It was truethat she had been stolen. A man driving a peddler's wagon up the hillone evening had noticed her as she lay on top of the stone wall, aroundthe turn of the road beyond the farmhouse. "Kitty! Kitty! Kitty!" hecalled, as he stopped his horse. And reaching behind the seat, hebrought out a bit of food, which he held out for her.
Now, it happened that at that very moment Miss Kitty Cat had her mind onfood. She had been hoping that a meal would appear at any moment out ofa chink in the wall. And when it was dangled right before her eyes likethat she couldn't resist it. She climbed up into the wagon. And the nextthing she knew the peddler had clapped her into a basket and fastenedthe cover. Miss Kitty Cat was a prisoner.
"There, my beauty!" the peddler exclaimed. "I'll take you home with me.We need a mouser. And I dare say you're a good one. Unless I'm mistaken,you were hunting chipmunks on the wall."
Miss Kitty Cat made no answer. Naturally, it pleased her to be called abeauty. But there were other matters that she didn't like in the least.Her captor had forgotten to toss the scrap of meat into the basket--thebait with which he had caught her. And it was somewhat breathless insideher prison. And Miss Kitty Cat had no idea where the peddler was takingher.
He had clucked to his horse and started him plodding up the hill. Everytime a wheel struck a stone Miss Kitty gritted her teeth. She never didenjoy riding in a wagon, anyhow. And this one was not at allcomfortable.
"They'll wonder, back home, what's become of me," she thought. "And onething is certain: everybody will miss me!"
XIX
STRANGE QUARTERS
THE PEDDLER that took Miss Kitty Cat away in his cart drove long intothe night. Inside the basket into which her captor had popped her, MissKitty kept her wits at work. She knew that there were many twists andturns as they creaked up the hills and rattled down the other side ofthem. Then there were level stretches where the peddler held his horseto a swinging gait that fast put long miles between them and FarmerGreen's place in Pleasant Valley.
"Dear me!" Miss Kitty thought. "What a tramp I'll have getting backhome again!" For already she was planning to return to the farm. Shedidn't care if they did need a good mouser at the stranger's house. Theyneeded one just as much at Farmer Green's.
"If Mrs. Green has to depend on traps to take care of the mice she'llsoon be eaten out of house and home," Miss Kitty mused. "The minute thatfat Moses Mouse knows I'm gone he'll be as bold as brass."
At last the wagon left the hard road and pulled up in a dooryard. A dogbarked. And Miss Kitty heard voices.
"I've brought you something in here that you'll like," said the peddleras he handed Miss Kitty's basket to somebody. "But don't look at it outof doors or it'll get away."
Later, inside the house, a woman let Miss Kitty out of her prison.
"What a big cat!" she exclaimed. "Where did you get her?"
"Oh, I picked her up on the road," said the peddler. "She looked as ifshe wanted a ride," he chuckled. "I think she was hunting along an oldstone wall."
"She'll find hunting enough here," said his wife. "This house is overrunwith mice. I'll just put her down cellar and let her work for hersupper." Then she gave Miss Kitty a toss down the cellar stairs andslammed the door behind her.
It was no wonder that Miss Kitty Cat was angry.
"A fine way to treat a guest!" she spluttered down there in the dark."That woman might have set out a little milk for me. It would havetasted good, after my long ride in that stuffy basket." Miss Kittycouldn't help thinking what a fine home she had had at Farmer Green'sand how good Mrs. Green had always been to her.
Even Johnnie Green--though he _was_ a boy--had petted her oftener thanhe had pulled her tail.
But Miss Kitty was too hungry to sit long at the foot of the cellarstairs in thought.
She soon heard faint rustlings squeaks, and scratchings around her. Andthough she didn't care to oblige the woman upstairs in any way, MissKitty lost no time in providing a hearty meal for herself.
Then she lay down on an old sack and slept for a while.
And just before the roosters began to crow she had found a broken panein a cellar window.
"What luck!" said Miss Kitty under her breath. And very silently sheslipped through the opening and stole away.
XX
A LONG JOURNEY
BY SUNRISE Miss Kitty Cat had trotted at least a mile along the roadthat passed the peddler's house. She wanted to get a safe distance awaybefore the family got up and turned loose the dog that had barked thenight before, when she arrived.
Miss Kitty remembered clearly that the wagon had been climbing a longhill before it turned into the peddler's dooryard. So without hesitatingshe started _down_ the road. She knew that in that direction layPleasant Valley--and her home at Farmer Green's.
Having put the first mile of her journey behind her, Miss Kitty stoppedbeside a little brook and drank her fill of cool, sweet water. She wasvery thirsty, because she hadn't had a drink since the evening before.
A pretty wood stretched beyond the brook, tempting Miss Kitty Cat toexplore it. At that hour of the morning there were many birds twitteringamong the trees. And spry chipmunks were frisking about in search oftheir breakfast. Miss Kitty Cat just naturally began to think of her ownbreakfast.
"If I were at home, Mrs. Green would be setting a saucer of milk on thewoodshed steps about this time," she murmured. "But now I must shift formyself."
Luckily Miss Kitty was quite able to find something to eat, as asurprised meadow mouse soon discovered.
After breakfasting, Miss Kitty lingered a while to tease the birds, whoscolded her shrilly, calling her a tramp and telling her to get out oftheir woods.
Of course Miss Kitty had to stay there for a time after that, to let thebirds know that they couldn't frighten her away. She scared them almostout of their wits by threatening to climb up where their nests were. Butshe didn't do more than sharpen her claws against a tree-trunk. Thatalone was enough to throw them into a panic.
At last, after she had bothered the birds quite enough, Miss Kitty Catset off for Pleasant Valley once more. Sometimes she travelled throughfields; sometimes she jogged along the roads; sometimes she jumped tothe top of a stone wall and used that for a highway. And always when sheheard the creak and rattle of a wagon, as the sun rose higher andhigher, she crept into the bushes and hid until she had the road toherself again.
If Miss Kitty hadn't been homesick she would have thought her adventurea great lark. But somehow she couldn't get Mrs. Green's house out of hermind. Especially the thought of the kitchen, with its delicious odors ofseven-layer cakes baking in the oven, and doughnuts frying on top
of therange, made Miss Kitty's nose twitch. And her own particular warm spotunder the range, where she basked away long hours! When she recalledthat it was no wonder that her pace quickened.
Perhaps Miss Kitty Cat herself couldn't have told exactly how she knewthe way back to Farmer Green's place. No doubt she wouldn't have told,had she known; for she was one of the kind that keep such things tothemselves. She never even explained to old dog Spot, afterward, whereshe spent the three nights that she was away from the farm.
Anyhow, Miss Kitty Cat kept plodding along. And one afternoon when shecame out of a patch of woods on a hill-top, she saw something loomingright ahead of her that looked familiar.
It was Blue Mountain. And she knew that on the other side of it layPleasant Valley--and her home at Farmer Green's.
XXI
IN THE PANTRY
OF COURSE everybody knows that while the cat's away the mice will play.So what happened during Miss Kitty Cat's absence from the farmhouse wasreally no more than any one might have expected. There were gay banquetsin Mrs. Green's pantry at midnight. And among those present there was noone that had a better time than fat Mr. Moses Mouse. He was always thelife of the party. He made jokes about Miss Snooper--as he called MissKitty Cat. And nobody laughed at them harder than he.
With every night that passed, Moses Mouse grew still merrier. Some ofhis companions even claimed that they could scarcely eat, he made themgiggle so violently.
On the fourth night of Miss Kitty's absence, and at the fourth banquet,Mr. Mouse balanced a bit of cheese on the end of his nose, exclaiming atthe same time, "What a pity it is that Miss Snooper isn't here! How I'dlike to offer her this delicious tidbit!"
To his great surprise, none of his friends laughed.
"Look out, Moses!" Mrs. Mouse cried the next moment.
"Don't worry, my dear!" said he. "I shan't lose this nice piece ofcheese. If I drop it I can find it again. But I'm not going to drop it.I've practiced this trick a good many times.... It's too bad MissSnooper isn't here to see it."
Miss Kitty Cat Sees Moses Mouse Balance a Bit of Cheeseon His Nose.]
Still nobody even snickered--though Moses himself would have had he notbeen afraid of joggling the cheese off the end of his nose. He thoughtthe silence very strange. And removing his eyes from the cheese, whichhe had been watching closely (though it made him look cross-eyed), hetook a quick glance about him. Everybody had vanished.
"Ha!" said Moses Mouse to himself. "They're playing a trick on me. They'rehiding." And he promptly lost his temper. Much as he loved to cutcapers and play tricks on others, Moses never liked to have any one geta laugh on him. And now he gave a sort of snort, because he was angry.
Thereupon the bit of cheese fell off Moses's nose and rolled behind himon the pantry floor. He turned to get it, only to find himself face toface with Miss Snooper herself; for Miss Kitty Cat was home again.
Before Moses Mouse could jump she clapped a paw down on him. And therehe was--a prisoner!
"Well, well!" cried Miss Kitty Cat. "Aren't you glad to see me? You werejust wishing I was here."
Moses Mouse didn't act glad--not the least bit! He struggled his hardestto get away. But Miss Kitty hadn't the slightest trouble holding him,with only one paw, too.
"Now that I'm here," she said to him, "don't you want to balance thatscrap of cheese on your nose once more, and offer it to me?"
Since Miss Kitty caught him, Moses Mouse hadn't said anything that shecould understand. He had made only a few squeaks of fright. Now,however, he managed to gasp, "Yes! Just let me go a moment! I can'tpick up the cheese while you're crushing me against the pantry floor."
XXII
THE FLOUR BARREL
MISS KITTY CAT took her paw off Moses Mouse, after giving him a sharpnip to warn him not to try to run away.
"Ouch!" Moses squeaked. And then, when he felt himself free, he pickedup the hit of cheese that he had dropped upon the pantry floor. But hewas shaking with fear.
He shook so hard that he couldn't balance the cheese on the end of hisnose. It tumbled off at once and he turned quickly to get it. Miss KittyCat turned with him. And while she was turning, Moses Mouse turned backagain and jumped behind a flour barrel.
She sprang after him. But the barrel stood so near the wall that therewas only a small space behind it. It was wide enough for Moses Mouse toslip through; but it was entirely too narrow for Miss Kitty Cat. AndMoses Mouse waited just beyond reach of her paw.
She ran around the barrel, only to find that Moses had crawled backthrough the opening and was watching her with his beady little eyes.
Miss Kitty Cat was almost frantic. She hurried around the barrel again,and saw that Moses Mouse had repeated his trick. He needed only to movethe length of his tail, while she had to whisk all the way around thefat flour barrel.
"This will never do," Miss Kitty thought, as she peered through thecrack at Moses Mouse, while she paused to get her breath. And as shestared at him, an idea popped into her head. It seemed such a good ideathat Miss Kitty Cat decided to act upon it at once.
So she wheeled and started off again, as if to run around the barrelonce more. But when she had whisked half way around it she turned andhurried back again.
She had expected to surprise Mr. Moses Mouse on the wrong side of thecrack. And to her astonishment, he wasn't there. He wasn't anywhere insight.
"Goodness me!" Miss Kitty Cat wailed. "There must have been somethingwrong with my idea."
There wasn't. It had merely happened that Moses Mouse had had an idea ofhis own.
"I don't want to stay dodging here the rest of the night," he had saidto himself. "The next time Miss Snooper makes a trip around the barrelI'm going to run up the side of it and trust to luck."
That was exactly what he did. Once on top of the barrel, Moses Mouseleaped to a shelf. He crept along the shelf until he came to the pantrywindow. Now, Mrs. Green had left the window slightly open. And MosesMouse darted out of doors and half jumped, half tumbled, to the ground.He knew how he could get to his nest quickly enough, through a certainchink in the cellar wall.
Miss Kitty Cat soon decided that she had lost Moses Mouse again.
"Dear me!" she sighed. "What wretched luck I'm having to-night! Ideclare, it's a sad home-coming for me."
Meanwhile Mr. Moses Mouse was having a most merry time. Mrs. Mouse madea great fuss over him. And that was exactly what he liked.
XXIII
A SECRET
MISS KITTY CAT was behaving in the strangest manner. She came into thekitchen and hovered about the feet of Farmer Green's wife, mewing andlooking up at Mrs. Green as if she had something special to tell her.
"What is it, Kitty?" Mrs. Green asked her. "Are you hungry?"
But Miss Kitty Cat soon showed that she wasn't hungry, for she wouldn'ttouch anything that Mrs. Green offered her.
"Well, you'll have to run away, anyhow," Mrs. Green told her. "I can'ttake a step with you right under my feet."
Though Miss Kitty Cat trotted towards the door, she soon made it plainthat she didn't intend to leave the kitchen unless her mistress wentwith her. She came back and twitched Mrs. Green's apron gently with herclaws. Then she ran to the doorway again and called to Mrs. Green.
It seemed to Miss Kitty Cat that she couldn't have said more clearlythat she wanted to lead Mrs. Green somewhere. But still Mrs. Greendidn't quite understand.
"Scat!" she cried, just a bit impatiently. "I've too much to do to bebothered this morning. I suppose you've caught a mouse and want to showit to me. You'll have to bring it here, for I haven't any time to wasteto-day."
Miss Kitty Cat felt somewhat hurt. She went out and sat on the doorstepand looked in at Farmer Green's wife. Now and then she gave a plaintivemew. But Mrs. Green wouldn't pay any attention to her.
"Dear me!" said Miss Kitty. "Mrs. Green is busier than ever thismorning."
Old dog Spot had been watching Miss Kitty's actions. And now, as shestarted towards the barn, he sidled up to her,
wagging his tail to showher that he wanted to have a few friendly words with her.
"If Mrs. Green won't come with you, I'll be glad to," he offered. "Justlead the way and I'll follow."
"You?" Miss Kitty Cat exclaimed with scorn. "You needn't think I'd takeyou where I want Mrs. Green to come. You needn't think I'd show you whatI want her to see."
"Ho!" cried old Spot. "I don't know how you're going to stop me fromfollowing you."
"I do," said Miss Kitty firmly. "If you try to tag along after me whereI'm going I'll soon make you wish you had minded your own affairs."
There was a look in her eyes that old Spot did not like. It reminded himof the time when he cornered Miss Kitty in the barn, soon after shearrived at the farm. He remembered that his nose still bore the marks ofher sharp claws.
"Well, well!" he said. "I was only joking. I'm too busy to bother withyou, anyhow. I have a little matter to attend to in the pasture. There'sa Woodchuck up there that's getting too bold."
Then he trotted off, trying to look as important as possible, so that noone would think he was afraid of Miss Kitty Cat.
"Good!" Miss Kitty cried, as she watched him while he started up thelane.
"I'm glad he's out of the way. It would be awkward if I had to fight himwhile I'm doing what I'm going to do."
XXIV
FIVE IN A BASKET
"WELL, if you're not bothering me again!" Farmer Green's wife exclaimed.