ublicly.

"If I haf a boy brudder like him, I sew him up in a bag--oh, yes!" was
one of the mildest threats that Linda ever made regarding Sammy.

Sammy pushed up the screen and placed the coat, with the four kittens
asleep on it, carefully in the deep wire basket. Sandyface, interested,
leaped upon the window sill, and smelled of the kittens and the basket.
Then she craned her neck to look down to the ground.

"You'd better not jump, cat," warned Sammy, unfastening the rope that
ran through blocks at both ends and so enabled one to pull the basket
back and forth. "It's a long way to the ground."

Sandyface had no such silly idea in her wise old head. As Sammy turned
away for a moment she stepped gingerly into the basket, moved the
squirming kittens over, and settled down to nurse them. A little thing
like being twenty feet or so up in the air with her babies did not
disturb Sandyface--much.

"Hey, you!" exclaimed Sammy, grabbing the old cat away before the
snuffling little kittens had really found she was with them. "Can't
take the whole crew and all the passengers off the wreck at once. You'll
overload the lifecar. Scat!" and he put her down upon the floor.

But the kittens began to whine now; they were being cheated, they
thought, and they desired their mother very much. Sandyface replied to
them and jumped upon the window sill again.

"Hey!" Sammy said, "didn't I tell you to wait till the next load? Aw!
look at that cat!"

For the mother cat had stepped into the basket again, purring, and once
more settled down.

"All right, then," ejaculated Sammy in disgust, "if you're bound to go
along! But don't blame _me_ if you're so heavy that the old carrier
busts."

He carefully drew the basket out upon the wire, away from the house.
Sandyface lifted her head; but as she was very comfortable and had her
family with her, she made no great objection as the basket swung out
into space.

"Je-ru-sa-_lem_!" gasped Sammy, with fearful joy. "Bet that old basket
would hold all the other cats too. Wish I had the bunch of 'em--Spotty,
and Almira, and Popocatepetl, and Bungle, and Starboard, Port,
Hard-a-Lee and Main-sheet! And Almira's got four kittens of her own
somewhere. And so's Popocatepetl. Whew! that makes--makes--"

But Sammy did not like arithmetic enough to figure up this sum; and he
did not seem to have fingers enough just then to count them. So he gave
it up. A cat and four kittens swinging out over Willow S