Mary-’Gustastampedherfootintriumph。“Thenitwasn’tDavid，“
shesaid。“Itwasn’tDavidatall。’Twassomebodyelse’scat，Mr。
Bacheldor。“
“Somebodyelse’snothin’！Don’tyousupposeIknow——“
“Holdon！Heaveto，Ab。Mary-’Gusta，howdoyouknow’twasn’tourcat？“
“’Cause——’causeDavidwaswithmefromfouro’clocktillmostfive；
that’show。Hewasinthe——inourhousewithme。So，“
triumphantly，“hecouldn’thavebeenanywhereelse，couldhe？“
Conandhisfatherbothbeganaprotest，butShadrachcutitshort。
“Keepstill，formercysakes，“heordered。“Thisain’tShoutin’
Methodistcampmeetin’。Let’sgetsoundin’shere。Now，Mary-
’Gusta，yousaythecatwaswithyoufromfourtillfive；you’resureofthat？“
“Yes，sir。IknowbecauseMr。Chasehadgoneoutandweknewhewouldn’tbebackuntilfive’causehesaidhewouldn’t。Sowelookedattheclockbeforewewentin。“
“Wentin？Wentinwhere？“
Thegirlhungherhead。Itwasevidentthattheanswertothisquestionwasoneshedreadedtomake。Butshemadeit，nevertheless。
“Beforewewentinto——intotheparlor，“shesaid，faintly。
CaptainShadwastheonlyoneofherhearerswhograspedthefullsignificanceofthisconfession。No，therewasoneother，andheturnedredandthenwhite。
“Theparlor？“repeatedtheCaptain，slowly。“Thebestparlor？“
“Ye-yes，sir。“
“Doyoumeanyouwentintothebestparlorovertoourhouseand——
ANDTOOKTHATCATINWITHYOU？“
“Yes，sir。“
“Well，Iswantoman！DidyouforgetwhatItoldyouwouldhappenifyouwentintothatparloragain？Andespeciallyifyouluggedthatcatin？Didyouforgetthat？“
“N-no，sir。Ididn’tforgetit。You——yousaidIcouldn’tgotothepicnic。“
Shadrachshookhishead。“Well，“hegroaned，“ifthisdon’tbeatthenation！Whatunderthesundidyoudoitfor？“
“’Cause——’causewewantedtoplaypirateswith——withtheswordsandthings，“falteredMary-’Gusta。“AndwetookDavid’causehewasgoin’tobeoneofthepassengersontheshipwetook。But，“withasuddenreturntothemainpointatissue，“thatprovesDavidwasn’tthecathesaw，theonethatstolehischicken。“
TheCaptainlookedather。“Byfire，itdoes，that’sright，“hemuttered。AbnerBacheldorroaredinindignation。
“Itdon’tprovenothin’，“hecried。“Allitprovesisthatthekid’saliar。She’slyin’so’stosavethatdummedthiefofacat。
Allkids’llliewhentheythinktheycanmakesomethin’outofit。“
Shadrachgrunted。“Maybeso，“hesaid，“butIain’tcaughtthisoneinaliesofar。AndIdoubtifshe’slyin’now。Now，Mary-’Gusta，isthereanywayyoucanproveyouwasinthatparlor，and——what’shisname——Davidwasthereatthetimeyousay？Isthere？“
AgainMary-’Gustahesitated。Hereyeswanderedaboutthefacesintheroom，untiltheirgazeresteduponthefaceofJimmieBacheldor。
AndJimmielookedwhiteandscared。
“N-no，sir，I——Iguessnot，“shefaltered。
“Iguessnot，too，“declaredCon，withasarcasticlaugh。
ButtheCaptainwassuspicious。Hehadseenthechild’slook。
“Holdon，“hecommanded。“There’smoretothisthanablindmancouldseethroughaboardfence。Mary-’Gusta，wasthereanybodyelseexceptDavidinthatparloralongwithyou？Wasthere？“
Mary-’Gustalookedatthefloor。
“Yes，sir，“shefaltered。
“So？Ikindofhadanideatheremightbe。Whowasit？“
Againthelookandthen：“I——Iain’tgoin’totell。“
Conlaughedoncemore。“Youbetsheain’t，“heexclaimed。“Shecan’t。Thewholeyarn’salie。Don’tpaynoattentiontoit，Pop。“
Shadrachturnedsharplyinhisdirection。“I’Mpayin’attentiontoit，“hesnapped，“andthat’senough。Soyouain’tgoin’totell，Mary-’Gusta，eh？Remembernow，ifyoudotellit’llproveyourstory’strueandDavid’llcomeoutontop。Thinkitover。“
EvidentlyMary-’Gustawasthinkingitover。Hereyesfilledwithtears，butsheshookherhead。
TheCaptainlookeddownather。“Keepin’mum，eh？“hesaid。“Well，that’sallright。Ical’latewe’reprettygoodguessers，someofus，anyway。Jim，“withasuddenlookstraightattheyoungestmemberofhisneighbor’sfamily，whowasfidgetingwithhisspoonandactingremarkablynervous，“whathaveyougottosay？Haveagoodtimeinthatparlorplayin’pirates，didyou？“
Jimmiegasped。Thesuddennessoftheattackknockedhisdefensesflat。Hegurgled，stammered，andthenbrokeintoawailofdistress。
“I——Ididn’tmeanto，“hesobbed，wildly。“’Twasher。Shesaiddoit；Inever。I——I——“
“Why，JimmieBacheldor！“exclaimedMary-’Gusta，shockedintoprotestbyherfellowculprit’sdistortionofthetruth。“Howcanyousayso！Whatastory！Youknow——“
“Iguessheknows，“brokeinShadrach。“AndIcal’lateIknow，too。
Nowthen，Jim，whattimewasitwhenyoulookedattheclock？Shutup，Abner，lettheboyanswer。Tellus，Jim；nobody’llhurtyou。“
“It——itwasfouro’clock，“holleredJimmie，inagony。“I——Ineverdoneitapurpose。Iwon’tdosonomore。“
“No，Idon’tcal’lateyouwill。Cal’lateyouwon’thaveachance。
Well，Ab，Iguesswe’veprovedourclient’scase。Nexttimeyougooutcatshootin’youbetterbesureyou’regunnin’fortherightone。Comeon，Mary-’Gusta。“
ConBacheldorsprangtohisfeet。
“Pop，“heshouted，“beyougoin’tolet’emgothisway？Andthatcatstealin’ourchickensrightalong。Ain’tyougoin’totell’emyou’llkillthecritternexttimehecomesonourland？“
Abnerwassilent。Heseemedoddlyanxioustoseethelastofhisvisitors。ItwastheCaptainwhospoke。
“No，Con，“hesaid，crisply，“heain’tgoin’totellmethat。AndyoulistenwhileItellYOUsomethin’。Ifthatcatofoursgetshurtordon’tshowupsometimeI’llknowwho’sresponsible。Andthen——well，thenmaybeI’LLgogunnin’。Goodnight，allhands。“
AllthewaybackacrossthefieldsandthroughthegrovetheCaptainwassilent。Mary-’Gustaclingingtohishandwassilenttoo，dreadingwhatsheknewwassuretofollow。WhentheyenteredthekitchenShadrachturnedtoher：
“Well，Mary-’Gusta，“hesaid，“I’mgladyourcat’sturnedouttobenochickenthief，but——butthatdon’talterwhatyoudid，doesit？“
“No，sir，“stammeredthegirl。
“No，I’mafraiditdon’t。Itoldyouwhatwouldhappenifyouwentintothatparlor，andyouwentjustthesame。Ical’lateyouknowwhattoexpect，don’tyou？“
“Ye-yes，sir，“inalowtone。“YoumeanIcan’tgototheSundayschoolpicnic。“
Shadrachclearedhisthroat。Hewasnotenjoyingthisepisode，asamatteroffacthisunhappinesswasalmostaskeenasthechild’s。
Butasaboyhehadbeenrearedintheold-fashionedway，andhefeltthathehadadutytoperform。
“I’mafraidthat’swhatImean，“hesaid，gravely。“Nowsetdownandhaveyoursupper。“
Mary-’Gustatriedhardtobebrave，butthedisappointmentwastoogreat。Thetearsstreameddownhercheeksandsheranfromtheroom。Shadrachstrodeafterher。
“Here！“hecalled。“Mary-’Gusta，whereareyougoin’？Comebackandhaveyoursupper。“
ButMary-’Gustadidnotcomeback。Shewasalreadyonthestairs。
“I——Idon’twantanysupper，“shesobbed。“Please，oh，PLEASEdon’tmakemeeatit。“
TheCaptainhesitated，turnedback，andjerkedhisownchairtothetable。