s has been pointed out, a born
mother.

Avoiding the verandah and Mrs. Bilton, Mr. Twist filled with
recklessness, hurried upstairs and knocked at Anna-Rose's door. No
answer. He listened. Dead silence. He opened it a slit and peeped in.
Emptiness. Down he went again and made for the kitchen, because Li Koo,
who always knew everything, might know where she was. Li Koo did. He
jerked his head towards the window, and Mr. Twist hurried to it and
looked out. There in the middle of the yard was the cat, exactly where
he had left her an hour before, and kneeling beside her stroking her
stomach was Anna-Rose.

She had her back to the house and her face was hidden. The sun streamed
down on her bare head and on the pale gold rings of hair that frisked
round her neck. She didn't hear him till he was close to her, so much
absorbed was she apparently in the cat; and when she did she didn't look
up, but bent her head lower than before and stroked more assiduously.

"Anna-Rose," said Mr. Twist.

"Yes."

"Come and talk to me."

"I'm thinking."

"Don't think. Come and talk to me, little--little dear one."

She bent her head lower still. "I'm thinking," she said again.

"Come and tell me what you're thinking."

"I'm thinking about cats."

"About cats?" said Mr. Twist, uncertainly.

"Yes," said Anna-Rose, stroking the cat's stomach faster and carefully
keeping her face hidden from him. "About how wise and wonderful they
are."

"Well then if that's all, you can go on with that presently and come and
talk to me now."

"You see," said Anna-Rose, not heeding this, "they're invariably twins,
and more than twins, for they're often fours and sometimes sixes, but
still they sit in the sun quietly all their lives and don't mind a bit
what their--what their twins do--"

"Ah," said Mr. Twist. "Now I'm getting there."

"They don't mind a bit about anything. They just clean their whiskers
and they purr. Perhaps it's that that comforts them. Perhaps if I--if I
had whiskers and a--and a purr--"

The cat leaped suddenly to her feet and shook herself violently.
Something hot and wet had fallen on her beautiful stomach.

Anna-Rose made a little sound strangers might have taken for a laugh as
she put out her arms and caught her again, but it was a sound so
wretched, so piteous in the attempt to hide away from him, that Mr.
Twist's heart stood still. "Oh, don't go," she said, catching at the cat
and hugging her tight, "I can't let _