For some time the weather was beautiful, clear and warm and sunny. But
after about a week it changed. Clouds gathered. There was a feeling of
rain in the air, and the wind was chilly. The kittens huddled close
together at night for warmth. Yowler always took the warmest corner,
the one furthest back in the tree where the leaves were thickest and
softest.
In the daytime he went off on long prowls. Sometimes the other kittens
did not see him from the time he set out in the morning till he came
back at night. They no longer liked or trusted him, but it troubled
them that he should stay away so much. One day Jazbury asked him
whether he wouldn't show them the way home. They were tired of staying
in the woods, and he wanted to see his dear mother and his Aunt Tabby
again. When Jazbury said this he felt so sad that he began to mew
pitifully. Fluffy joined in, and the two little kittens cried bitterly.
"Let's go home!" they cried. "Oh, let's go home. We don't want to stay
here any longer."
"Hush!" cried Yowler angrily. "Oh, _hush_! I tell you I'm not going
home. Not for a long time, anyway. You may go if you like, but I
shan't."
"But we don't know the way! We don't know the wa-y-y-y!" wailed the
kittens.
"Well, I can't help that," retorted Yowler, and he stalked away and
left them still crying.
It was the very next night that a rain set in. Yowler had come home
late. Jazbury and Fluffy had already cuddled down together in the tree,
as far back as they could, for the night was chilly and damp. But as
soon as Yowler came he crowded them out of their snug nest and took it
himself.
"Oh, Yowler! We just got that place warm!" mewed Fluffy.
"I don't care! You can get another place warm. This is where I am going
to sleep."
"I don't think that's fair!" said Jazbury. But Yowler paid no attention
to him. He curled down and soon was fast asleep.
It was not long after this that the rain began. It beat into the tree.
"Oh, dear!" said Jazbury. "I'm getting so wet."
"Listen, Jazbury," whispered Fluffy. "Yowler has the only dry place
here. Do you remember that sort of little cave I found today under that
big rock? It isn't far away, and I'm sure we could keep dry there. It
isn't very big. Not big enough for all of us to sleep in, but there
would be plenty of room for you and me."
"All right," said Jazbury. "One thing's sure, we'll soon be dripping
wet if we stay here."
The two little friends crept out of the hollow without wakening Yowler,
and ran quickly over to the cave Fluffy had spoken of. It was indeed a
cosy little cave and perfectly dry, really much better than the hollow
of the tree. The two little kittens crept in and huddled down together.
Outside the rain beat. The leaves hung down from the trees, drenched
and heavy with water; the ground was sodden, but the two little kittens
cared nothing for all this.
All night they slept there as dry and comfortable as though they had
been in their cellar at home instead of out in the wild wood with only
a rock cave to shelter them.
The next morning Fluffy and Jazbury were awakened by a loud
"Miaw-aw-aw! Miaw-aw-aw!" It was Yowler calling them.
"That's Yowler," said Fluffy. "He must have awakened."
Jazbury rose and stretched himself and stepped outside the cave. It had
stopped raining; the sun was shining down through the leaves, but the
woods were still wet.
"Here we are, Yowler," he called.
Yowler came over toward the cave. He was dripping wet.
"Where have you been all night?" he asked crossly. "What did you mean
by going off without telling me? Look how wet I am! A mean trick, I
call it."
"Well, Yowler, we thought you were dry," said Jazbury. "You took the
only dry place there was, so we came over here."
"Dry place! I look as if I'd been in a dry place, don't I? I just guess
not. Sopping wet I am."
[Illustration: _He turned on them so fiercely that they were
frightened_]
"Well, Yowler, we didn't know it," said Fluffy.
"Oh, be quiet. I don't care, anyway. I'm tired of the woods. I know a
farmhouse near here where they want another cat, and I'm going there to
live. I met a cat that lives there, and he asked me to come."
"Oh, but Yowler! What's going to become of us? Can we come, too?" cried
Jazbury.
"No, you can't. They only want one cat. If you tried to tag along
they'd drive us all away."
"But won't you show us the way home first?" begged Fluffy. "Please,
please do. We're tired of the woods, too, but we don't know where else
to go."
"Well, you find some place," said Yowler. "I did, so you can, too, if
you try hard enough." With that he turned tail and stalked away through
the wood.
Jazbury and Fluffy followed him, mewing, until he turned on them so
fiercely that they were frightened. Then they stopped and stood looking
after him until he disappeared in the wood, and never once did he look
back, or say one word of good-bye to them.