l82 



Charley went upstairs and looked about. No 

 living thing was to be seen. He moved the trunks 

 about, and presently from behind one of them the 

 two kittens darted out and ran to another hiding 

 place. They were just about as big as the kittens 

 downstairs, and looked just like them, only they 

 were very wild. 



Charley ran downstairs and told his mother, and 

 she and Alice came up and looked. When the 

 boy scared the kittens out from where they were 

 hiding, Mrs. Robbins could hardly believe her eyes. 



They never did find out the secret of how those 

 two kittens got there. The only explanation they 

 could think of was that the kittens Charley had 

 tried to drown had been saved in some way, and 

 that Blackie must have found them and carried 

 them up to her nest again. 



When Alice took some milk up to them, Blackie 

 followed her and they seemed to know the old cat. 



After that Alice fed the kittens every day. 

 They grew tamer before long, and after awhile 

 good homes were found for all of them, but Charley 

 said he would never again try to kill any of Blackie's 

 kittens. 



