bert was eager to press forward, but his mother put him behind her.
She fully expected to see burglars searching for silver, or taking money
from the desk.

But the sight which actually greeted her made her drop into a chair and
laugh. And Gilbert! He threw up his cap, almost shouting. "That's great,
isn't it, mother? Wasn't it cute of Billikens to light up for us to get
in?"

Now Billikens was a beautiful white Persian kitten, which had come to
Gilbert on his last birthday, and as full of mischief as a kitten could
be. Billikens sat perched on the back of an easy-chair under one of the
lights, looking for all the world as if he tried to say, "I did it, for
sure."

[Illustration: Billikens sat perched on the back of an easy-chair.]

It was this way: Gilbert had often held Billikens up to play with the
electric light cords, and once when the kitten had pulled just right,
the light flashed out. Afterward, it became a kind of game to take him
round to the brackets, and let him light up.

"I'm afraid we'll have to stop his doing it," Gilbert's mother said. "I
doubt if you can teach a cat that what is done in play mustn't be done
in earnest."

"That's too bad," Gilbert was quite grieved. "It's such fun to see him
put on the lights. He almost laughs, himself. We could shut him up if we
were away, mother dear."

"Well, perhaps."

Gilbert was a thoughtful little chap. Now he said, "I learned, didn't I,
mother? Grandfather liked to have me pull his whiskers when he was
awake, but once I pulled them when he was taking a nap, and he didn't
like it one bit. I never did it after that."

[Illustration: Billikens]

DILLY AND HER DOUBLE-FACED DOLLY.

"I think you ought to invite Dilly to your party, Mildred," said Mrs.
Fuller. "She lives so near us, and you've invited every other little
girl on the street."

"Why," said Mildred, "she'd be sure to bring that dreadful doll that she
loves so much. Some of the girls wouldn't come if she were invited. You
said, mamma, I might ask just whom I pleased."

Mrs. Fuller said nothing more, and the dainty notes of invitation flew
here and there, but none stopped at Dilly's door. Dilly hardly expected
an invitation, but there were some bitter tears which fell down on
Arabella's face.

Arabella was the name of one side of her doll. The doll was a
crooked-neck squash with a stick for its body. It had two faces--one on
each side of its head, and ink lines drawn round some of