o defend himself to the last gasp. "Boys, I will
settle this affair. _Is_ there anything hidden in the closet, Ben?" and
Miss Celia came between the belligerent parties with her one hand up to
part them.

[Illustration: MISS CELIA BECOMES PEACE-MAKER.]

Thorny fell back at once, looking half ashamed of his heat, and Ben
briefly answered, with a gulp as if shame or anger made it hard to
speak steadily:

"Yes'm, there is."

"Does it belong to you?"

"Yes'm, it does."

"Where did you get it?"

"Up to Squire's."

"That's a lie!" muttered Thorny to himself.

Ben's eye flashed, and his fist doubled up in spite of him, but he
restrained himself out of respect to Miss Celia, who looked puzzled, as
she asked another question, not quite sure how to proceed with the
investigation: "Is it money, Ben?"

"No'm, it isn't."

"Then what _can_ it be?"

"Meow!" answered a fourth voice from the closet, and as Ben flung open
the door a gray kitten walked out, purring with satisfaction at her
release.

Miss Celia fell into a chair and laughed till her eyes were full;
Thorny looked foolish, and Ben folded his arms, curled up his nose, and
regarded his accuser with calm defiance, while pussy sat down to wash
her face as if her morning toilette had been interrupted by her sudden
abduction.

"That's all very well, but it doesn't mend matters much, so you needn't
laugh, Celia," began Thorny, recovering himself, and stubbornly bent
on sifting the case to the bottom, now he had begun.

"Well, it would, if you'd let a feller alone. She said she wanted a
cat, so I went and got the one they gave me when I was at the Squire's.
I went early and took her without asking, and I had a right to,"
explained Ben, much aggrieved by having his surprise spoiled.

"It was very kind of you, and I'm glad to have this nice kitty. Give
her some breakfast, and then we will shut her up in my room to catch
the mice that plague me," said Miss Celia, picking up the little cat,
and wondering how she would get her two angry boys safely down-stairs.

"The dressing-room, she means; _you_ know the way, and _you_ don't need
keys to get in," added Thorny, with such sarcastic emphasis that Ben
felt some insult was intended, and promptly resented it.

"You wont get me to climb any more trees after _your_ balls, and my cat
wont catch any of _your_ mice, so you needn't ask me."

"Cats don't catch thieves, and they are what I'm after!"

"What do you mean by