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。