coins very heavy, and
there was a something about him that seemed to suggest that they ought
to be spent; but the boy turned his face rigorously towards the door of
the theatre, when his attention was taken by Wrench's tom-cat. He was
crouching upon the sill of one of the lower windows, which was raised a
little way, and evidently intently watching something within.

"What's he after?" said Glyn to himself. "Some bird got inside, I
suppose, and flying about among the rafters."

Walking quietly up to see if his surmise were true, the cat did not hear
him till he was quite close, when it bounded off the sill and made for
the Doctor's garden, to disappear among the shrubs.

"I thought he was after no good," said Glyn to himself; and, before
making for the door, he peered in at the window in expectation of seeing
a robin flitting about--a favourite habit these birds had of frequenting
the long room and flying from beam to beam.

But there was no bird, Glyn seeing instead the back of little Burton,
seated at his desk with the flap open resting against his head, as he
seemed to be peering in; and just then the little fellow uttered a low
sob.

"Poor little chap!" thought Glyn. "Why, that brute of a cat must have
had one of his white mice, and he's crying about it."

Glyn went in at once and crept on tip-toe in the direction of his own
desk, where he was about to write his letter; but he contrived to pass
behind Burton unheard, and stopped short, to find that he was right, for
the little fellow was bending low into his desk crying silently, save
when a faint sob escaped him, while his outstretched hands were playing
with three white mice. The door of their little cage was wide open, and
they kept going in and out, to run fearlessly about their master's
fingers, the cuffs of his jacket forming splendid hiding-places into
which they darted from time to time, to disappear before coming out
again to nestle in the boy's hands.

Glyn watched him for a few minutes, amused and pleased by the little
scene and the affection that seemed to exist between the owner and the
tame pets he kept within his desk.

"Why, the cat hasn't got one," he said; "he's only got three, and they
are all there."

Just then there was a heavier sob than usual, and Glyn sympathetically
laid his hand upon Burton's shoulder.

The little fellow gave a violent start, and the mice darted into their
cage, as their owner turned guiltily round to gaze w