a sudden message--Aunt Amelia is going to pay a surprise visit
to this inf--this cats' home these little friends are pretending to run
for her. I saw that there was no time to lose--there must be a cats'
home with cats in it--or she'd cut them both out of her will. I bought
cats--all over London--they've been with me ever since--yowling--they
yowled in the taxi--all over London--they traveled down as far as
Rowington with me and an old gentleman--a high-spirited old
gentleman--yowling--not only the cats but the old gentleman, too---and
they traveled from Rowington to Little Deeping with me and two maiden
ladies--timid maiden ladies!--yowling! But come on: we've got to make
a cats' home at once!" And he picked up one of the plaintive baskets
with the air of a man desperately resolved to act on the instant or
perish.

"But we've got a cats' home--only it's full of kittens," said Erebus
gently.

"Good heavens! Do you mean to say I've gone through this nightmare for
nothing?" cried Sir Maurice, dropping the basket.

"Oh, no; it was awfully good of you!" said the Terror with swift
politeness. "The cats will come in awfully useful."

"They'll make the home look so much more natural. All kittens isn't
natural," said Erebus.

"And they'll be such a pleasant surprise for Aunt Amelia. She was only
expecting kittens," said the Terror.

"What?" howled Sir Maurice. "Do you mean to say I've parleyed for
hours with a high-spirited gentleman and two--two--timid maiden ladies,
just to give your Aunt Amelia a pleasant surprise?"

He sank into a chair and wiped his beaded brow feebly. "I ought to
have had more confidence in you," he said faintly. "I ought to know
your powers by now. And I did. I know well that any people who have
dealings with you are likely to get a surprise; but I thought your Aunt
Amelia was going to get it; and I've got it myself."

"But you didn't think that we would humbug Aunt Amelia?" said the
Terror in a pained tone and with the most virtuous air.

"Gracious, no!" cried Sir Maurice. "I only thought that you might
possibly induce her to humbug herself."

The Twins looked at him doubtfully: there seemed to them more in his
words than met the ear.

"You must be wanting your dinner dreadfully," said Mrs. Dangerfield.
"And I'm afraid there's very little for you. But I'll make you an
omelette."

"I can not dine amid this yowling," said Sir Maurice firmly, waving his
hand over the vocal ba