Jazbury opened his eyes and looked about him. For a moment he could not
think where he was. Instead of the white-washed walls and beams of the
cellar, the sides of the tree arched up above him; and there was Fluffy
cuddled up close against him, instead of Mother Bunch and Aunt Tabby.
Then he remembered. He had run away. He was in the wood. But where was
Yowler? He had been there when Jazbury went to sleep. Surely Yowler had
not gone away and deserted them.
"Fluffy!" he mewed.
Without opening his eyes Fluffy gave a sleepy little answering mew. He
stretched himself and yawned, showing his little pink tongue curled up
inside his mouth. Then he opened his eyes.
"Why, Jazbury!" he said in a surprised tone. He looked about him in a
startled way. "Why--why--I'd forgotten we ran away. Where's Yowler?"
"I don't know. Let's call him."
But at this moment Yowler came strolling around from behind the tree.
"Hello, kits!" he said. He had a comfortable, lazy look. He was licking
his lips, and there was a tiny feather sticking to one of his whiskers.
"Where have you been?" asked Jazbury.
"Oh, I just went out to look about."
"Well, I'm hungry. What shall we do about breakfast?"
"Yes; what shall we do about breakfast?" chimed in Fluffy.
"Oh, you'll have to catch something. There's plenty here in the woods."
"But aren't you going to help us?" asked Jazbury anxiously.
"No. I don't feel hungry. You kits go ahead. You won't have any trouble
about it. If I want anything I'll catch it later on."
"But I don't know _how_ to catch things. I never learned," said Jazbury.
"All the worse for you, but I can't help it," said Yowler cruelly.
Fluffy had been looking sharply at Yowler. Now he said, "Yowler,
there's a feather on your whiskers."
Yowler started. "Oh, is there?" he said, and he hastily wiped it off
with his paw. "You'd better hurry up if you want to catch anything." He
added. "I'm sleepy. Guess I'll take another snooze."
He went inside the tree and curled himself up in the warm spot that
Jazbury and Fluffy had just left, and closed his eyes. The two smaller
kittens stood looking at him for a moment.
"Come on, Jazbury!" mewed Fluffy. "Let's go and look for something to
eat."
The two little kittens wandered away from the tree and on deeper into
the wood. Jazbury felt very much hurt that Yowler would not come with
them. He didn't see why he wasn't hungry, too.
"I know why he wasn't hungry," said Fluffy mysteriously.
"Why?"
"Oh, I'll tell you some time."
"Why won't you tell me now?"
"I don't want to; but I'll tell you some time."
Jazbury looked about him. "I don't see wherever we're to get anything
to eat," he mewed.
"I do, right now," whispered Fluffy. "Hist! Keep still now."
[Illustration: _Fluffy dropped the bird and put his paw on it_]
He crept silently forward through the bushes, there was a sudden
leap--a squeak--a flutter, and a moment later Fluffy came back proudly
carrying in his mouth a young bird he had killed.
"Oh, goody!" cried Jazbury, "I just love bird, and I've never tasted it
but once. Aunt Tabby caught one in the yard at home and gave me a
piece. Won't Yowler be pleased? Come on! Let's hurry back with it and
all have breakfast."
Fluffy dropped the bird and put his paw on it. "I'm not going to give
Yowler any," he declared.
"Not give Yowler any! Oh, Fluffy! Why not?"
"Because. Now I'll tell you what I was going to tell you awhile ago,
and didn't. I'm just sure Yowler caught a bird this morning and ate it
all himself before we were awake."
Jazbury could hardly believe such a thing could be true. "Oh, Fluffy!
He wouldn't be so mean!" he cried.
"Well, I'm sure of it. Don't you remember the feather on his whiskers?
Anyway, you might as well eat your share of the bird for I shan't give
Yowler even a single bone, whether you eat any of it or not."
So the two little friends sat there on the soft moss and divided the
bird between them. How delicious it was! The kittens purred and smacked
their lips over it, it was so good, but all the while Jazbury had an
unhappy feeling that they were treating Yowler very badly, for he
_couldn't_ have done such a mean thing as to catch a bird and eat it
without telling them a word about it.
After they had finished eating Fluffy sat down and began to wash
himself. "You'd better wash yourself, too, Jazbury," he said. "Just
look how dirty and dusty your fur is."
"I don't care," mewed Jazbury. "I didn't come out in the woods to wash
myself, and I don't mean to do it. I'm never, never, never going to
wash myself until we go home again."
"You'd feel a whole lot more comfortable if you were nice and clean,"
said Fluffy, and he went on washing himself until his fur fairly shone
with whiteness.
Then the two kittens strolled back toward the tree. Jazbury was almost
ashamed to face Yowler. Anyway, it was not his fault. It had not been
his bird.
Suddenly Fluffy stopped, his eyes wide and excited. "There, look at
that!" he cried.
"What?" asked Jazbury.
"There! Under that bush!"
Jazbury looked, and then he saw a little heap of feathers lying under
the bush,--a wing--a tail. Fluffy went over to where they lay and
sniffed about. "I knew it," he mewed. "Yowler has been here. This is
where he killed the bird and ate it. Now you'll believe me, I guess."
Jazbury, too, went over to the bush and sniffed about, and he could
very easily tell that Yowler had been there. It made him feel very sad
that their companion should have played such a trick upon them.
When they came to the hollow tree they found Yowler still fast asleep.
Their coming awakened him. "Did you catch anything?" he asked eagerly.
"Yes, we caught a bird."
"Where is it?" Yowler sprang to his feet. "Did you bring it home?"
Jazbury and Fluffy looked at each other. Then Fluffy said, "No; we ate
it."
"Ate it! Without giving me any? What d'you mean by that? Ain't we
pardners? Here I bring you along with me, and show you a good place to
sleep, and you go and eat up all the breakfast without giving me even a
taste."
"You didn't give us any of the bird you caught," retorted Fluffy.
"Bird I caught! What d'you mean? When did I catch any bird?"
"Before we were awake. And you ate it all yourself, and never saved a
bit for us."
"I don't know what you mean; don't know what you're talking about,"
blustered Yowler. "But I'm not going to argue with you. If you can
catch things, so can I. And I can eat them all myself, too, just as
much as you can." And he stalked away, and would not answer them when
they called after him.
After that Yowler hunted by himself, and the other kittens by
themselves. At first Jazbury found it very hard to catch anything. The
birds and mice all got away from him. He would have had to go hungry or
to content himself with grasshoppers and beetles if it had not been for
Fluffy. But Fluffy was such a good little hunter that he always managed
to catch enough to eat, and whatever he caught he always shared with
Jazbury. He was a better hunter than Yowler, and after a while Yowler
said maybe they'd all better hunt together and share whatever they
might catch. "Only, of course, Jazbury ought to let us have the best
pieces," he added, "because he's no good about catching things."
"Yes, he is, too," mewed Fluffy indignantly. "He's learning. And
anyway, I'd rather share with him than with you any day, and you can
hunt by yourself, and we'll hunt by ourselves. That's the way you
wanted us to do it at first, and now that's the way we like best."
This made Yowler very angry, and he would not speak to Fluffy for a
whole day.
Jazbury, indeed, was becoming a very fine hunter,--better, even, than
Fluffy himself. Fluffy was very skilful, but Jazbury was not only
quick, he was also strong and brave; stronger and braver than the
gentle little Fluffy had ever dreamed of being.
Fluffy admired Jazbury very much, and was proud of the way he caught
things. But one thing troubled him. Jazbury _would not_ wash himself.
Every day he grew dirtier and rougher, until at last he looked more
like some wild creature of the wood than a little town kitten who
should have known enough to wash and care for himself.