“COME to the barn, the three of yees, till ye see the big rat the
barn-cat is after catching,” said Michael to the children the next
morning; and off they started, in such a hurry that poor little Posy
tripped over a stone and scraped the skin off her chubby little hands.
“Be a brave girl and don’t cry,” said Tom encouragingly, looking at
Posy’s face, that was distorted from the effort she made to keep from
crying.
“No,” said Posy, swallowing very hard and winking back the tears; “I
don’t cry at trifles, do I, Tom? Some girls would cry, wouldn’t they,
Tom? The tears might come into my eyes just a little bit, you know,
but I wouldn’t cry;” and two great tears rolled down Posy’s cheeks as
she spoke.
Nancy and Tom wiped the little hands very tenderly, and Tom’s praise
of her fortitude made the smarting much easier to bear; and in a few
minutes the three children were on their way to the barn again.
On the barn-floor lay a large rat, gray around the nose from age, and
nearly as large as the barn-cat herself, who sat near by.
“He’s an old fellow,” said Michael; “ye can see that by the gray beard
of him.”
“Look at his long yellow teeth,” said Tom, stooping to examine the rat
more closely, “and one of them is broken off. I guess ’twas done in a
fight, don’t you, Michael?”
“It’s as like as not,” answered Michael.
“How pleased the cats seem to be!” said Posy, looking from the
barn-cat, who watched the dead rat with so much satisfaction, to
the gray kitten, who looked on from behind her, and the house-cat,
who appeared at the door and looked in with great interest. The
tiger-kittens came too, and were so curious they couldn’t see all
they wanted to without going up to the rat and smelling around him,
till their mother gave a little “meaw” and drove them back. Then the
house-kittens came too, and peeped around the corner.
“I’m glad he’s out of the way, even if I didn’t catch him myself,” said
the house-cat.
The barn-cat was of too generous a disposition to boast of her victory.
“It doesn’t make any difference who caught him, now that he _is_
caught. What I want to see next is, these boards ripped up and the old
fellow’s nest examined; for I am certain my collar and Posy’s necklace
will be found there.”
“I wonder they don’t think of it,” said the house-cat; “but human
beings are so stupid I declare I’ve no patience with them.”
“The cats mew just as if they were talking it over,” said Tom.
“I shouldn’t wonder if they were,” said Posy; “I wish we knew what they
were saying.”
“I wish you did,” said the house-cat, “but that would be expecting too
much of you.”
The sparrow, too, had heard the news, and perched on the window to get
a look at the notorious Graywhisker who had caused so much mischief.
“I should have been in a pretty fix if that old fellow had come home
and found me in his house that time,” he said to himself; “one thing
is certain, I shouldn’t be sitting here now if he had. Hallo, my dear!
you came to get a sight of the old villain, did you?” he said to the
bright-eyed sparrow who lit beside him.
“I do believe those sparrows have come to see the rat too,” said Nancy.
Major, also, had turned around in his box-stall and faced the little
group assembled around the dead rat, and appeared to take great
interest in the event.
“Now, the only thing left to do is to tear up those boards and bring
the old fellow’s nest to light,” neighed Major.
“I guess Major is saying he’s glad the old rat won’t be able to steal
any more of his oats, don’t you, Tom?” said Posy, going up to the
gentle horse and stroking his soft nose.
“It’s more likely he’s after asking yees for the apples ye have in the
hands of yees,” answered Michael.
Major gave him as scornful a look as his mild eyes were capable of
giving, and then rubbed his nose affectionately against the little
hand that stroked him, in order to show his appreciation of the
sympathy she had with his feelings.
“Papa,” cried Tom and Posy together, as Mr. Winton came out of the
house, “do come and see this awful big rat the barn-cat caught last
night.”
“He was an old stager, and no mistake,” said Papa, looking at him. “I
want you, Michael, to take up these boards and destroy all the old
nests. I don’t doubt there are a good many of them.”
The barn-cat was so delighted that she completely forgot her dignity,
and catching sight of the tiger-kittens and house-kittens at play in
the yard, raced up to them and chased them around till they thought she
had suddenly lost her wits.
“Well, I declare,” said the house-cat, who was too well bred to forget
_her_ dignity in such a manner, “I thought you had a fit.”
“It did me good,” said the barn-cat; “I had to do something or I should
have exploded with joy.”
That afternoon, Michael, armed with a crowbar and hammer, went out to
the barn, followed by the children, who seated themselves comfortably
on the oat-box, where they could obtain a good view of Michael as he
tore up the boards of the floor.
Placing the crowbar under one of the planks, he gradually pried it up
and laid it on one side. The children peeped curiously in, but to their
great disappointment nothing was to be seen.
“It’s here where they’ve been,” said Michael; “I see the tracks of ’em.”
Then another plank was pried up and laid aside, and Michael looked down
and carefully examined the ground. “It’s here where the old villain
lived, I’ll be bound,” he exclaimed.
Down jumped the children from the oat-box and stood beside Michael.
“There’s his nest,” cried Tom excitedly,--“that bunch of rags and twine
in the corner.”
“It’s right ye are,” replied Michael.
“What’s that yellow thing there under that rag?” asked Tom.
Michael stooped and picked up the object that had attracted Tom’s
attention.
“My amber necklace,” shrieked Posy joyfully. “Oh, I’m so glad! Now they
won’t say you took it any more, Nancy;” and snatching the necklace from
Michael’s hand, she darted out of the barn, calling “Mamma” so loudly
that Mrs. Winton was at the door almost as soon as Posy was.
“My amber necklace,” cried Posy, waving it frantically over her head.
“It was in the old rat’s nest. Come and see where he lived.”
Mrs. Winton followed Posy to the barn, and looked into what had once
been Graywhisker’s home.
“It was right there, under that old rag,” cried Tom; “I saw it first.”
“What is that little thing shining there?” asked Mrs. Winton, pointing
to a bright spot.
Michael picked it up and handed it to her.
“Why, it must be the padlock to the barn-cat’s collar!” exclaimed Mrs.
Winton. “What a thief the old fellow was! I know now where the sugar
and raisins must have gone. Tell Hannah to come here a minute, Tom.”
Tom was off like a shot and soon returned, bringing Hannah, who looked
greatly astonished at the unusual message.
“Hannah,” said Mrs. Winton, holding up the amber necklace, “Posy’s
necklace has been found in this old rat-hole, and also what is left of
the barn-cat’s collar. You see your suspicions were unfounded. The
thief who has caused so much mischief is now dead, and I think you will
find that your stores in the loft will not disappear as fast as they
used to.”
Hannah was silent, and her face flushed.
“You do believe, _now_, that Nancy isn’t a thief, don’t you, Hannah?”
said Posy earnestly.
“Yes,” said Hannah slowly, for it cost her a great effort to
acknowledge she had made a mistake; “I see I was mistaken, and I am
sorry. I can’t say no more than that, as I know.”
“Hannah,” said Posy, with her sweetest smile, “I _don’t_ think you are
a mean girl, and I _will_ help you cook whenever you want me to.”
“Then I’m all right,” answered Hannah cheerfully.
It would be hard to tell how happy Nancy was at the favorable turn
affairs had taken; and if such a thing were possible, the animals, who
had been the means of bringing it to pass, were even happier than she
was. Mrs. Polly was so excited that for several days she talked the
family almost to death, and the canary sang till it seemed as if his
little throat would burst.
The sparrow settled down into quite a model husband and father, and
very seldom relapsed into his old habits. He and the little bright-eyed
sparrow continued to be very fond of each other, and brought up many
broods of young sparrows,--some of them lively young fellows like their
father and as fond of keeping late hours as he used to be, and others
as bright-eyed and domestic as the bright-eyed sparrow herself.
The barn-cat and the house-cat continued to disagree in their ideas of
education, but their kittens associated together with great amiability
and did not share the jealousies of their mothers.
Little Nancy never left the kind friends who had befriended her, and
was so devoted to Posy and made her so happy that a new nurse never
appeared, and the children became more attached to her every day, if
such a thing were possible.
[Illustration: The Sparrow’s House.]
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
On page 201, diging has been changed to digging.
On page 209, look-out has been changed to lookout.
On page 225, puting has been changed to putting.
The name of the old rat was typeset as Gray Whisker, Gray-whisker and
Graywhisker; these names have been regularized to Graywhisker across
this ebook.
All other spelling, hyphenation and dialect have been retained as
typeset.
Some illustrations in this text version of the ebook have been added by
the transcriber, and are placed in the public domain.