The Tale of Miss Kitty Cat | Page 9

certainly did
look beautiful. But you keep yours hidden inside that old syrup can
where nobody can see them. It's a shame that the public can't have a
chance to admire such fine nestlings as you must have in there."
Miss Kitty Cat was sitting under the cherry tree. And she looked up and
smiled most agreeably at Mrs. Wren.
Rusty Wren looked thoughtful.
"There's something in what she says," he whispered to his wife. "It is
too bad not to let the neighbors admire the finest nestlings in Pleasant
Valley."

"You know they say a cat may look at a king," Miss Kitty simpered.
"Well, a fortnight ago I went over to the pine woods and had a look at a
Ruby Crowned Kinglet's family. So it seems only fair that I shouldn't
be denied a look at your little wrenlets."

XII
JOLLY ROBIN'S NEWS
IN A WAY Miss Kitty Cat was a patient creature. She could play a
waiting game. She spent hours watching rat-holes without growing
restless.
So after her talk with Rusty Wren and his wife, when she urged them to
give up their boxlike house and build themselves an open nest like most
other birds, Miss Kitty left them.
"I'll let my words sink in," Miss Kitty muttered to herself. "Of course
they'll want to talk things over privately."
It wasn't often that she made herself so agreeable to any of the bird
people. Indeed, she had been so pleasant that Rusty Wren began to
think that Miss Kitty was a much kinder creature than he had always
supposed.
"Miss Kitty's very agreeable," Rusty Wren remarked to his wife. "Did
you notice how sweetly she spoke of our children?"
"Huh!" said Mrs. Wren. "She may fool you; but she can't fool me. She's
a mealy-mouthed animal, if ever I met one."
"I don't see how you can say that about Miss Kitty Cat," Rusty replied.
"She doesn't eat meal."
"I suppose you'll be saying next that she doesn't eat birds!" his wife
exclaimed.

"I fear you've been listening to gossip," Rusty ventured. "If Miss Kitty
Cat comes back I hope you'll be cordial to her."
He could have bitten his tongue a moment later for saying that, because
Mrs. Wren began to scold him. And he flew away and left her as soon
as he could think of a good excuse.
He went over to the orchard, where he flitted about for some time. And
at last he met Jolly Robin, who appeared most doleful.
"What's the matter?" Rusty Wren asked. "You look terribly upset."
"So I am," Jolly Robin admitted. "We had a caller yesterday."
"Well, well!" said Rusty Wren. "That's nothing to be glum about."
"You'd think so if you were I. It was Miss Kitty Cat. And when she left
she took one of our nestlings with her."
"Perhaps she only borrowed it," Rusty Wren suggested. "Maybe she'll
return it to-day."
"No!" Jolly Robin told him. "If she comes back again it will only be to
take another one."
Suddenly Rusty Wren remembered that he had urged his wife to be
cordial to Miss Kitty Cat the next time she called at the cherry tree
where they lived.
"I must hurry home!" he cried. "I must warn my wife."
"But your youngsters are safe," Jolly Robin assured him. "Miss Kitty
Cat can't reach them inside the tin can where you built your nest."
"That's true," Rusty Wren admitted. "But there's my wife! Miss Kitty
might harm her, if she caught her unawares." So he started for home at
top speed.

XIII
AN UNWELCOME GUEST
AS he neared his home in the cherry tree, Rusty Wren saw a fearsome
sight. Miss Kitty Cat was crouched right on top of the tin syrup can
which Johnnie Green had nailed to the tree. Inside that can was the
Wren family's nest. And inside the nest were some brand-new
youngsters, only two days out of their shells.
It was no wonder that when Rusty Wren came hack from the orchard
and saw such a sight he began to shriek.
"What are you doing on my roof?" he shrilled.
Miss Kitty Cat looked up calmly and watched him as he hopped about
in the top of the tree above her head.
[Illustration: Miss Kitty Cat Looked Calmly at Rusty Wren.]
"I've come to make another call on your wife," she explained.
Then a muffled voice chirped, "She's been here a long time and I can't
get her to go away."
The moment he heard that, Rusty Wren felt better. It was his wife's
voice and it meant that she was safe. To be sure, Rusty knew that she
was a prisoner in her own house; for it was plain that she dared not
leave it so long as Miss