20 



HOME AND FLOWERS 



Chapter YII. 



IT was not long before Spott}' — for that 

 was the name Mary gave her kitten — 

 -^vas quite "at home" in her new quar- 

 ters in the old barn. Every day her little 

 mistress came to see her. And every day 

 the kitten developed some new and un- 

 expected proof of intelligence^ greatly to 

 Mary's delight. 



Those who have been denied the priv- 

 ilege of lavishing the affections with which 

 God has endowed them upon those of their 

 kind will readily understand how easy a 

 matter it was for Mary to form a strong 

 friendship for the little animal given into 

 her keeping. It is not at all to be won- 

 dered at that the tendrils of an affection 

 which were constantly reaching out in 

 search of something to cling to should 

 fasten themselves about this creature 

 which took the place of human friends. 

 Therefore^ for Mary to love the kitten 

 whose friendly ways were to some extent 

 a substitute for the caresses which her 

 heart craved, but could not have, was the 

 most natural thing in the world. 



The one drawback to her enjoyment of 

 the kitten's companionship was the fear 

 that Miss Betty might discover it and 

 object to it. 



"It would be just like her to/' thought 

 Mary. Therefore she took especial pains 

 to prevent the kitten from following her 

 to the house, as she showed a disposition 

 to do. 



"You must stay here all the time/' she 

 told Spotty, and the kitten looked up at 

 her so knowingly that Mary felt sure she 

 must understand what had been said to 

 hpr. "I know you're lonesome. I wish 

 I CDuld have you with me all day long, but 

 if Aunt Betty shouldn't like you, it 

 wouldn't be pleasant for you or for me. 

 I'll come to see you just as often as pos- 

 sible, and stay as long as I can each time, 

 but you musn't try to follow me home." 



To enforce the observance of this advice 

 Mary would put the kitten upon the hay 

 loft just before she had to leave her, and 



then run out of the barn and shut the door 

 quickly, and start on a run for the house. 

 By the time Spotty had. clambered down 

 from the mow and got out-of-doors her 

 little mistress would be out of sight, and 

 she would be obliged to forego the pleasure 

 of following her, as she had calculated on 

 doing. 



"Just wait," said the kitten to herself 

 more than once, when she had to admit 

 that Mary had foiled her plans, "some of 

 these days I'll get the start of her. I don't 

 like to stay alone in this old barn most 

 of the time, and I'm not going to." 



One day Mary came into the kitchen 

 showing considerable excitement. Some- 

 thing had happened which was quite out 

 of the common. 



"Mr. Slocum's just driven up to the 

 front gate," she said to Miss Betty, "and 

 there's a woman in the wagon with him, 

 and I guess she's going to stop here." 



"For the lan's sake !'' exclaimed Miss 

 Betty, crossly. "I wonder who it can be ? 

 I hain't b'en expectin' nobody, an' I ain't 

 hankerin' much fer visitors." 



She ran into the front room and lifted 

 the window shade enough to enable her 

 to get. a look at the possible visitor. 



"She's comin' here, whoever she is," said 

 Miss Betty. "Who on airth can it be ? Ef 

 she'd look 'round—" 



At that moment the woman who had 

 been clambering down from Uncle Si's 

 wagon with a great deal of deliberation 

 on account of being fat and clumsy, did 

 look around, and Miss Betty gave a cry 

 that was half-way between rage and 

 dismay. 



"I declare, ef 'tain't ol' Mis' Graham !" 

 she exclaimed. "What possessed her to 

 come lieref I never invited her to set 

 foot in the house. I'd be 'shamed, if I 

 was her, to force myself onto folks where 

 I knew I wa'n't welcome. An' she's calci- 

 latin' on stayin' a spell, fer she's got a 

 sa'chel o' clo'es or somethin'. I'm a good 

 mind to not let her in, an' make her think 

 I ain't to home." 



(To he continued.) 



