and talked of cash
payments. Then his face shone; he made the admission, cautiously, that
he might be induced to sell skim-milk; and then they came to the
discussion of prices. Mr. Stubbs wanted to see skim-milk in quarts;
the Terror could only see it in pails; and this difference of point of
view nearly brought the negotiations to an abrupt end twice. But the
Terror's suavity prevented a complete break; and in the end they struck
a bargain that he should have as much skim-milk as he required at
threepence halfpenny the pailful.

In the course of the next fortnight they admitted twelve more kittens
to the home; and the Terror had yet another idea. Milk alone seemed an
insufficient diet for them; and he approached the village baker on the
matter of stale bread. There were more negotiations; and in the end
the Terror made a contract with the baker for a supply of it at nearly
his own price. Now he fed the kittens on bread and milk; they throve
on it; and it went further than plain milk.

The Twins enjoyed but little leisure. They had been busy filling
certain shelves, which they had fixed up above the cat-hutches, with
the best apples the more peaceful and sparsely populated parts of the
countryside afforded. But what spare time he had the Terror devoted to
a great feat of painting. He painted in white letters on a black
board:--

LADY RYEHAMPTON'S CATS' HOME

The letters varied somewhat in size, and they were not everything that
could be desired in the matter of shape; but both Erebus and Wiggins
agreed that it was extraordinarily effective, and that if ever their
aunt saw it she would be deeply gratified.

With this final open advertisement of their enterprise ready to be
fixed up, they felt that the time had come to take their mother
formally into their confidence. She had learned of the formation of
the cats' home from old Sarah; and several of her neighbors had talked
to her about it, and seemed surprised by her inability to give them
details about its ultimate scope and purpose, for it had excited the
interest of the neighborhood and was a frequent matter of discussion
for fully a week. She had explained to them that she never interfered
with the Twins when they were engaged in any harmless employment, and
that she was only too pleased that they had found a harmless employment
that filled as much of their time as did the cats' home. Moreover, the
Terror had told her that they did not wish her to