147 



"Brother," whispered Whitey, "he's coming to 

 catch us. What shall we do? Shall we run 

 away ? " 



I looked sharply at the man. He had a good, 

 kind face. " Stay where you are, Whitey," I said, 

 " and" let him catch you. You're a pretty, gentle, 

 little thing. They will be sure to give you a good 

 home if they take you." 



" But won't you wait, too ? " asked Whitey, for 

 I had slunk further away beyond the fence. 



" No, no ; you are pretty and lovable, but who 

 would want an ugly, lean thing like me ? Besides 

 there would be more chance of their keeping you 

 if there were only one instead of two." 



So Whitey crouched quite still and allowed the 

 man to touch her and pick her up. He carried her 

 back to the buggy and gave her into the hands of 

 the little girl. 



I heard the child petting her and calling her 

 pretty names. I heard her begging her father to 

 allow her to keep the little " Snowball," as she 

 called Whitey, and her father said she might. 

 Then I heard both children asking him to catch 

 the other kitten too, but he refused. " No, no," 

 he said. " One is quite enough. What would 



