ully. Sawdust was the cat's name; a very
good name for a lumber yard cat, I think. "I'm so glad it's you,
Sawdust!" cried Freddie.

The big cat came up to Freddie, and rubbed against his legs. The little
boy rubbed her back and the cat's tail stood up stiff and straight, like
the flag pole in front of Mr. Bobbsey's office.

"I thought you were a rat, Sawdust," went on Freddie. "But I'm glad you
weren't. I like you!"

The cat purred again. She seemed to like Freddie, too. Soon she curled
up beside him, and Freddie put his arm around her. And, before he knew
it he was asleep again, and so was Sawdust. She had found her way into
the queer play-house while wandering about the lumber yard as she often
did, taking walks, I suppose, to make sure there were no mice or rats
about.

It was not long after this that Mr. Bobbsey left the office to go over
to one part of his lumber yard to see about some boards a man wanted to
buy. On the way Freddie's father passed the place where James, the
watchman, was sitting by the shingles.

"Well, did Freddie bother you much?" asked Mr. Bobbsey. "I'll look after
him now, as I'm not so busy."

"Why no, he didn't bother me, Mr. Bobbsey," said the watchman. "He
wanted to build a toy boat, and he brought some nails and string. I had
to go over to help Jason load his wagon, and when I came back, having
left Freddie to hunt for some boards, he wasn't here. Didn't he go back
to the office?"

"Why no, he didn't!" exclaimed Mr. Bobbsey, in some alarm. "I haven't
seen him. I wonder where he can have gone?"

They looked up and down the rows between the piles of lumber, but no
Freddie could be seen.

"Perhaps he went home," said James. "You could find out by calling Mrs.
Bobbsey on the telephone."

"So I could, yes. But if I asked if Freddie were home she would want to
know why I asked, and why he wasn't here with me--that is, if he wasn't
at home. Then she would worry for fear something had happened to him.
No, I'll have to find out in some other way."

"I could take a walk down past the house," the watchman said. "I could
look in and see if Freddie was there. If he wasn't, we'd know he was
somewhere around the yard yet."

"Well, you might do that," Mr. Bobbsey said. He himself was a little
worried now. "But don't let Mrs. Bobbsey see you," he went on to James.
"If she did she'd want to know what you were doing away from the yard.
Just walk past the house. If Freddie is at home he'll be