Mary E. Wilkins Freeman

“ There were even motions caused by unseen things, and he reasoned, “Kittens afraid of Uncle Jonathan.” Then Johnny reflected with a great glow of indignation that the Simmonses kept an outrageous number of half-starved cats and kittens, besides a quota of children popularly supposed to be none too well nourished, let alone properly clothed. Then it was that Johnny Trumbull’s active, firm imagination slapped the past of old romance like a most thorough mustard poultice over the present. ”

“ Johnny snorted, fairly snorted. “If,” said he, “you think my father keeps his money where we can get it, you are mistaken, Arnold Carruth. My father’s money is all in papers that are not worth much now and that he has to keep in the bank till they are.”
Arnold smiled hopefully. “Guess that’s the way my papa keeps his money.”
“It’s the way most rich people are mean enough to,” said Johnny, severely. “I don’t care if it’s your father or mine, it’s mean. And that’s why we’ve got to begin with Jim Simmons’s cats and kittens.” ”

“ Even as he whimpered and as he suffered, Arnold felt a thrill of triumph. “Always knew I could if I had a chance,” said he.
“You couldn’t if I had been expecting it,” said Johnny.
“Folks get knocked down when they ain’t expecting it most of the time,” declared Arnold, with more philosophy than he realized.
“I don’t think it makes much difference about the knocking down,” said Lily. “All those poor cats and kittens that we were going to give a good home, where they wouldn’t be starved, have got away, and they will run straight back to Mr. Jim Simmons’s.” ”

“ Moreover, Johnny had a weakness, a hidden, Spartanly hidden, weakness for Lily. He rather wished to have her act as partner in his great enterprise. He therefore gruffly assented.
“All right,” he said, “you can be in it. But just you look out. You’ll see what happens if you tell.”
“She can’t be in it; she’s nothing but a girl,” said Arnold Carruth, fiercely.
Lily Jennings lifted her chin and surveyed him with queenly scorn. “And what are you?” said she. “A little boy with curls and baby socks.” ”

“ Do you s’pose a feller wants to wear these baby things? I guess not. Women are awful queer, Johnny Trumbull. My mamma and my aunt Flora are awful nice, but they are queer about some things.”
“Most women are queer,” agreed Johnny, “but my aunt Janet isn’t as queer as some. Rather guess if she saw me with curls like a little girl she’d cut ‘em off herself.”
“Wish she was my aunt,” said Arnold Carruth with a sigh. “A feller needs a woman like that till he’s grown up. Do you s’pose she’d cut off my curls if I was to go to your house, Johnny?” ”

“ There are a few poor folks I have been thinking we might take some money for and do good, but not many.”
“Who?” inquired Arnold Carruth, in awed tones.
“Well, there is poor old Mrs. Sam Little. She’s awful poor. Folks help her, I know, but she can’t be real pleased being helped. She’d rather have the money herself. I have been wondering if we couldn’t get some of your father’s money away and give it to her, for one.” ”

“ Van Ness has so much money he doesn’t know what to do with it; he would have been real pleased to give those cats a home and buy milk and liver for them. But it’s all spoiled now. I will never undertake to do good again, with a lot of boys in the way, as long as I live; so there!” Lily turned about.
“Going to tell your mother!” said Johnny, with scorn which veiled anxiety. ”

“ There, greedily lapping milk from a saucer, were two very lean, tall kittens.
“See those nice little tommy-cats,” said Maria, beaming upon Johnny, whom she loved and whom she sometimes fancied deprived of boyish joys. “Your aunt Janet sent me over to the Simmonses’ for them this morning. They are overrun with cats—such poor, shiftless folks always be—and you can have them. We shall have to watch for a little while till they get wonted, so they won’t run home.” ”

“ Jim Simmons has and doesn’t half feed, and that have to go hunting around folks’ back doors in the rain, when cats hate water, too, and pick things up that must be bad for their stomachs, when they ought to have their milk regularly in nice, clean saucers. No, Arnold Carruth, what we have got to do is to steal Mr. Jim Simmons’s cats and get them in nice homes where they can earn their living catching mice and be well cared for.”
“Steal cats?” said Arnold.
“Yes, steal cats, in order to do right,” said Johnny Trumbull, and his expression was heroic, even exalted. ”

“ She has to be real careful about doing right, because my uncle Jonathan used to preach, you know.”
Arnold Carruth grinned savagely, as if he endured pain. “Well, I s’pose I’ll have to stand the curls and little baby stockings awhile longer,” said he. “What was it you were going to tell me, Johnny?”
“I am going to tell you because I know you aren’t too good, if you do wear curls and little stockings.”
“No, I ain’t too good,” declared Arnold Carruth, proudly; “I ain’t—honest, Johnny.” “That’s why I’m going to tell you. ”

“ It was a pretty field, waving with feathery grasses and starred with daisies and buttercups, and it was very fortunate that it happened to be so wide. Jim Simmons’s house was not a desirable feature of the landscape, and looked much better several acres away. ”

“ Of course we can’t go around taking away money from rich people and giving it to poor folks. One reason is, most of the poor folks in this town are lazy, and don’t get money because they don’t want to work for it. And when they are not lazy, they drink. If we gave rich people’s money to poor folks like that, we shouldn’t do a mite of good. The rich folks would be poor, and the poor folks wouldn’t stay rich ”

“ They would be much more likely to accuse poor little Andrew Jackson Green, because he has a snub nose and is a bit cross-eyed, and I never knew that poor child to do anything except obey rules and learn his lessons. He is almost too good. ”

“ Johnny sniffed. “Don’t be silly,” said he. “Though I do think a nice cat with a few kittens might cheer her up a little, and we could steal enough milk, by getting up early and tagging after the milkman, to feed them. But I wasn’t thinking of giving her or old Mr. Payne cats and kittens. I wasn’t thinking of folks; I was thinking of all those poor cats and kittens that Mr. ”