i8l 





and after a while they were large enough to come 

 downstairs. Blackie was very proud of the notice 

 they received from the family, and would sit wav- 

 ing her tail softly, and blinking with content, while 

 Alice played 

 with them or 

 petted them. 



One day when 

 Blackie and her 

 kittens were in 

 the library, 

 Charley went 

 past the garret 

 steps. Some 

 sound made him 

 look up. There, 

 to his amaze- 

 ment, were two 

 strange black 

 kittens playing 

 at the head of 

 the stairs. 



When they saw him they stopped playing, and 

 silently vanished, like shadows, through the attic 

 door. 



Charley and the Kittens 



