Chapter V: Part 5

Poor Polly well knew what was the reason. She had never seen the sisters except when she was "dressed up," as her mother called it, in a silk or merino frock, and a handsome and expensive bonnet and cloak, and now she was dressed in the same old and faded blue dress in which she was first introduced to our readers, and which her mother had thought good enough to run in to see Sarah Bond, as long as she went the back way so that Mrs. Cox did not see her. She was too much mortified to finish her visit, but soon slipped out, and went home more annoyed and out of patience than ever.

The girls looked eagerly around the room, but no kitten was to be seen.

"Your father told us he had found a tortoise-shell kitten," said Ella to Sarah, speaking as usual both for herself and her sister; "and as we have lost one, mother said we might come and see if it was the same."

"To be sure," said Mrs. Bond. "I shouldn't wonder if it was. You go and get her, Sarah. Our old cat quarrelled with her," she explained, as Sarah went upstairs, "and so the girls shut her up in their room till we found out about her, for Mr. Bond said you were coming down to see her some time to-day. Be quick, Sarah!"

But Sarah had no need to hurry. Tabby had heard the well-known voices, and was mewing and scratching at the door in an agony of impatience. No sooner was it opened than she made almost one leap from the top of the stairs to the bottom, and was in Ella's lap before Sarah could come down again. No words could have more plainly expressed her joy than did Tabby's movements. She went from one to the other, purring, rubbing her head, and rolling over, and doing everything that a cat could do, to express her delight at seeing them again.

"It is our very own dear little kitty," said Ella, examining her all over, as if to make sure of the fact, and almost crying for joy. "O you dear little naughty Tabby! How glad I am to see you again, and how glad your mother will be!"

"She is just as much pleased to see you," remarked Mrs. Bond, enjoying the delight of the little girls. "She is a real pretty kitten, and as cunning as ever I saw one. I don't wonder you were sorry to lose her. Do you want to carry her home yourselves, or shall I send Tom up with her? I am sure he will go cheerfully."

Tom at once professed his willingness, but the little girls declared they would not, upon any account, lose the pleasure of taking her home. So Mrs. Bond provided a snug basket with a cover and handle, which they could conveniently carry between them.

"But you must not go just yet," she said, as she saw them look round for their capes. "Stay and rest a little." She went into the pantry as she spoke, and presently returned with a plate of bread and butter, and another containing a beautiful piece of white honeycomb. "You must eat some bread and honey before you go," said she. "The honey is from our own bees, and I am sure your walk has made you hungry."

The girls were in a great hurry to get home, but they thought it would not be polite to refuse what Mrs. Bond had taken so much pains to provide for them. So they sat down to the table, and found, as Mrs. Bond had said, that the walk had given them an appetite. Tabby, who kept close to her mistress, was also provided with a saucer of milk, that she might not go away hungry. They had a very pleasant little visit, and after inviting Sarah Anne to come and see them, and thanking her for her care of the kitten, they took their leave.

Mrs. Cox, watching from her dining-room window, saw them issue from the policeman's gate, bearing a covered basket between them, and now and then stopping to peep through the chinks of the basket, as though highly delighted with the contents. But with the nature of its contents Mrs. Cox was destined never to become acquainted. Mrs. Webster, to whom she looked for a solution of the mystery, was taken severely ill that afternoon and continued so for several weeks, and by the time she was well enough to talk, Mrs. Cox was so much occupied with her own and her neighbour's house-cleaning and papering that the affair of the basket passed out of her mind, and so it chanced that she never found out after all what it was that took Mrs. Merriam's girls to Mrs. Bond's, nor what they carried away with them.

Ella and Marian pursued their way merrily, only stopping as aforesaid, to peep into the basket where Tabby lay snugly coiled up, perfectly contented to be quiet in her warm quarters, as long as she was going home to her mother and Tody. They did not forget their promise to stop at Mrs. Warrington's, and inform Dora of their success.

"Dear little Tabby!" said Tessy, peeping into the basket, as Dora went up stairs to tell her sister the good news. "How glad I am she is safe, but how thin and forlorn she looks! I don't believe you will ever be so foolish as to run away again, little kitty."

"I don't believe I shall," thought Tabby, "but dear me, I hope they won't stay here long; I want to get home so, I don't know what to do. I feel as if I should fly."

But Tabby could not fly, and her patience was destined to a little longer trial, for Dora came down presently, to ask the girls to go up and see Agnes. They found her lying in bed, her beautiful curling hair all cut off close to her head, and so changed that they could hardly think it was herself. She was too weak to say much, but kissed them both, and whispered: "I am so glad she is found! You don't know how sorry I have felt."

"Never mind, Aggy," said Marian, with tearful eyes. "It has all turned out well, so you need think no more about it."

"I don't think Aggy wants to forget it, Marian," remarked Theresa. "Do you, dear?"

Agnes shook her head, but she was not allowed to talk, so the girls kissed her again, and taking their leave, soon arrived at home in safety with their precious burden.

As soon as they came in sight, Miss Fanny, who was watching at the parlour window, ran to let them in, knowing by their faces that they had succeeded in their search. The old cat was lying before the parlour fire with Tody, and she looked up in amazement to see Miss Fanny jump up so quickly. But she jumped up ten times more quickly herself as Ella lifted the cover, and Tabby, thin and dirty, but still her own loved Tabby, jumped out of the basket, and threw herself into her mother's paws, while Tody capered round them in such an ecstasy of delight that he singed his tail in the grate without knowing it, and twice attempted to jump over his own head!

"Well, Tabby," said her mother, after she had given an account of all her adventures, "you have had some very narrow escapes, and seen many curious things. I hope you have learned one lesson from your adventures that you will never forget—that a kitten's own family friends are the best friends she can have, and that if she is not happy at home, it is almost always her own fault."

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I suppose my young readers will like to know what became of some of the other personages of our story.

Agnes Warrington recovered after a very long and tedious confinement. She never forgot the occasion of her illness, and the lessons which it taught her influenced the whole of her after-life. It is not easy to get over bad habits all at once, and she and Dora had a "tiff" now and then as of old, but her long-continued feebleness prevented their coming much into collision, till Dora's good principles were too firmly rooted to be easily overthrown. And as it takes at least two to make a quarrel, Agnes became gradually ashamed of being always in the wrong.

As Ella had prophesied, Theresa's influence had a good effect upon the rest of the family. She did not go to boarding-school till her cousin had entirely recovered, and by that time, she had become so much endeared to her relatives that they knew not how to part with her, and looked forward with pleasure to the time when she should have a permanent home among them.

Mrs. Webster also recovered, but only after a very long and dangerous illness, during which time her dear friend and counsellor, Mrs. Cox, never came to see her but three times, and did not once offer to assist in taking care of her. While Mrs. Bond and Mrs. Randall sat up with her night after night, looked after the housekeeping, and kept the baby, when its mother was so ill as to render its absence necessary. Under such circumstances, Mrs. Webster could not fail to see who were her true friends, and rose from her sick-bed at last a wise woman, having learned the important lesson that we should give all our attention to performing our duties at home and abroad to the best of our ability, in which case our social position may safely be left to take care of itself. Polly now goes as neatly dressed as Sarah Bond, and is almost as happy, and Mr. Webster finds his home so much improved in cheerfulness and comfort that he declares his doctor's bill to be the best laid out money he ever spent.

Jack Fletcher went to the House of Refuge, but he did not remain there long. He soon learned to read and write, and a farmer from the West, struck with his intelligent and good-humoured face, and interested in his story, took him out to Iowa to live. Jack now works on the farm in summer, and goes to school in winter, and bids fair to be as respectable a man as any in the United States. He corresponds with Tom Bond, who means to be a farmer too some day, and he never forgets to ask after Sarah Anne, who bids fair to be as smart and as good as her mother before her, though her father thinks she will never be as handsome.

And now, having disposed of all our principal personages, we will conclude by wishing all our young friends a Merry Christmas! and a happy New Year! and bid them farewell till next season.