make-believe--pretending that the longish grass was a jungle, and
himself a tiger, stalking I know not what visionary prey: now gingerly,
with slow calculated liftings and down-puttings of his feet, stealing a
silent march; now, flat on his belly, rapidly creeping forward; now
halting, recoiling, masking himself behind some inequality of the
ground, peering warily over it, while his tail swayed responsive to the
eager activity of his brain; and now, having computed the range to a
nicety, his haunches wagging, now, with a leap all grace and
ruthlessness,--a flash of blackness through the air,--springing upon
the creature of his fancy.

Susanna and Anthony watched him for a little without speaking.

"You can't deny that he has imagination," said Anthony, at length,
turning towards her.

"He is beautiful and clever," said Susanna, "I could wish he were as
virtuous. This, of course, is sheer play-acting. He 's simply waiting
till our backs are turned, to renew his designs upon the bird's nest."

"When I turn my back I 'll carry him with me," Anthony answered. But
in his soul he said: "What 's the good of telling her that that will
only be to defer the evil moment? Of course he has marked the tree.
He will come back to it at his leisure."

"I beg your pardon," said Susanna. "That will merely be to put the
evil off. The cat certainly knows the tree. Directly he 's at
liberty, he will come back."

"Oh--?" faltered Anthony, a trifle disconcerted. "Oh? Do--do you
think so?"

"Yes," she said. "There 's not a doubt of it. But I am acquainted
with a discipline, which, if I have your sanction to apply it, will
unnerve Monsieur Patapouf, so far as this particular tree is concerned,
until the end of time. Cats have a very high sense of their personal
freedom--they hate to be tied up. Well, if we tie Monsieur Patapouf to
this tree, so that he can't get away, and leave him alone here for an
hour or two, he will conceive such a distaste for everything connected
with this tree that he will never voluntarily come within speaking
distance of it again."

"Really? That seems very ingenious," commented Anthony.

"'T is an old wives' remedy," said Susanna. "You don't happen to have
such a thing as a piece of string in your pocket? It does n't matter.
But you have a penknife? Thank you. Now please catch your cat."

Anthony called Patapouf, exerting those blandishments one must exert
who would coax a hesitating cat.