i8o 



" We can't keep them all," said Mrs. Robblns. 

 "The cook will take one and Maria another, but 

 two of them will have to be drowned." 



Charley was the one who was to do the drown- 

 ing. His father promised to give him fifty cents 

 when It was done. The boy waited until Blackie 

 had left the kittens alone one day, and then he 

 went up to the garret and carried two of them away. 

 He took them back of the woodshed. 



" Charley, did you get rid of those kittens to- 

 day ? " his father asked that evening. 



" Yes, sir. I drowned them this morning." 



From that very day Blackie seemed to hate 

 Charley. She would not let him come near her. 

 Once he was going to the garret for something, but 

 she met him on the steps. Her tailed swelled. 

 She glared and spit and growled, so that he was 

 actually afraid she would fly at him. 



Charley could not understand it. He had not 

 done anything to her, and she had always seemed 

 to like him before. The only thing he could 

 think of was that she might have seen him drown- 

 ing her kittens, and hated him on that account ; 

 but that was hard to believe. 



The two kittens that were left grew and throve, 



