98 Pussy Meow 
and I am sorry to say that each growled at the 
others while eating, for fear they would get the 
most : it tasted so good. 
While we were busy eating the popcorn, Dennis 
came in, wearing a beautiful new silver collar with 
his name and address : “ Dennis Hilton, 129 Pop- 
lar Avenue,” inscribed upon it, and a yellow satin 
bow in the ring. Of course, we invited him to 
have some popcorn. But Dennis was more inter- 
ested in our new pads and basket than in the pop- 
corn, and after smelling of them all very cautiously, 
he stretched himself out on my pad at full length 
and took a nap. I was so glad he was too big for 
the basket. 
I wondered all the morning why Jack didn’t come 
over, but in the afternoon we met accidentally on 
the fence ledge, and he told me that they had also 
had a Christmas over at his place ; and he invited 
me to go over with him. 
He said that on the night before when he was 
out in his poplar tree, he saw an old gray-haired 
man with a long, white beard, and wearing a furry 
coat and cap, drive down our street in a chariot 
drawn by reindeer, and that the chariot was loaded 
with the most beautiful toys and bonbons, such as 
