"Oh my!" said Mary, exactly like her little sister.
Sarah laughed a little bit, and said, "Oh my!" too. "Your dear mamma wouldn't do so, would she?" she asked.
"Oh no!" cried both the children; and then they had to get down, and run to kiss their mother; whose large dark eyes were full of love for her darlings.
"After the poor kittens had wiped their eyes, and blowed their noses, and sighed two or three times, one of them said to the others, "Don't cry any more. Let's get our little pails and fill them with water and borrow a piece of soap from the cook, and wash our mittens."
"'Oh yes! you darling sister, to think of such a nice plan!' cried the other two; and they rolled over on their backs, and flourished all their soft paws in the air together, they were so glad.
"So the three little kittens
Washed their mittens,
And hung them up to dry.
"Then they ran to their mother, who was fast asleep on the rug, with her tail curled round her; but they did not mind that – which I think was not quite polite – for when people and cats are taking a nap, everybody must keep very quiet, and not go near them or make a noise; but our friends, the kittens, did not think, you see: they just went pounce right on top of their mother, and sang out:
"'Oh, mother, dear,
Only see here,
See! open your eye, see! we have washed our mittens.'
"The old cat, for a wonder, did not get angry; instead of that, she smiled a sweet smile, rubbed her chin with her paw, and in a musical, mewing tone of delighted surprise, exclaimed:
"'Washed your mittens!
Oh you little ducks of kittens!
But s-hh! Listen! I think I hear a rat close by.'
"'Purr purr.'
"'Mew!' said one of the little kittens, who was afraid of the rat.
"'Hush up, you naughty little kitten! I hear a rat close by.'
"That's all."
"Oh!" cried Mary, "tell me about the rat, won't you?"
"Well, I believe the old cat ran like lightning after the rat, caught him, and gave her little kittens a paw apiece, and eat all the rest up herself."
"Every bit?" asked Charlotte.
"I don't think she left the least scrap," said Sarah.
"Tell another story," said Mary. "Ah, do!"
How we laughed – their mother and I – softly to ourselves, when Mary asked Sarah for more stories; Sarah laughed too, and was just going to begin another, when the mother said it was time to go. So I bid her good-by, and sent my kind regards to Mr. Ewer, the dear little childrens' father – who is a minister, and one of the best men in the whole world; because he is never tired of working for God. Great crowds of people go to hear him preach, and his constant prayer is: that he may bring them all, old and young, to the feet of the Blessed Jesus.
I was very sorry to have those sweet little pets go so soon, because I wanted to talk to them myself; but, of course, they must mind their mother; and I never tease any one to stay. It is not polite; so I kissed them heartily, and went with them to the front door.
The wind blew sharply in my face, and I said, "You dear little kits! I'm glad you are not made of sugar candy; you would snap all to pieces such a cold day! but here, what is this? where in the world is your mitten?"
There was the darling little Charlotte, standing in the cold, with only one white mitten on.
"Why dear me!" exclaimed her mother, "what have you done with it?"
Then the cunning precious pet laughed out merrily, and turning her sweet face up to us, with the funniest little twist of her eye, lisped out:
"I a ittie kitten,
I loss my mitten."
We both burst out laughing – we could not help it; but her mother, smoothing the smiles almost away, made believe to be the kittens' mother, and cried out:
"Lost your mitten?
Oh you naughty little kitten!
Now you can't have any pie."
So back we all went to the parlor, both the children laughing, as if it was the funniest joke in the whole world; and we looked under the tables, and chairs, and sofas, and piano, and into all the corners. The little darlings, dancing up and down, and singing that they were little kittens, and had lost their mittens, and running all round the room in the greatest glee. But we could not find the mitten; and after we had stopped looking, and were feeling very sorry that Mr. Jack Frost would have such a fine chance pinching Charlotte's fingers, what do you think the queer little puss did? Why, she just crept behind the door, which was opened way back nearly to the wall, and in a minute, out she came again, with the lost mitten. The funny little thing had hidden it there on purpose, so as to be like the kittens in the story.
How we did laugh – for you know she was in play, and did not mean to do anything naughty. She skipped up to her mamma, and chirped out:
"See, mamma, dear!
Only look here,
I found my mitten! didn't I?"
And her mother just caught her up in her aims and kissed her, and said:
"Found your mitten?
Oh, you good little kitten!
Now you shall have some pie!"
And off they went, the children perfectly delighted with the comical play of the kittens. I dare say they hid their mittens again as soon as they got home. I know I should, if I had been a funny little girl; wouldn't you? But don't hide the soldiers' mittens – for all the world! They wouldn't like that at all, you know; and if any of them was as cross as the old cat, they might ask General McClellan to give them leave of absence, so that they could come and give you what Paddy gave the drum.
"What was that?"
"Rat-a-tat-tat!
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Rat-a-tat-tat-too!"
THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT
One evening the little mother said: "Here is a sweet little story for the 'darling kittens'; but first Aunt Fanny requested me to ask Clara to repeat the fourth commandment to the little ones, slowly and distinctly."
"Yes, mamma," said Clara, "I will; I know it perfectly. Gentleman and ladies, come stand in a row before me."
So the little tots trotted and skipped up to their sister, – who was quite a great girl in their eyes – and after hopping up and down, first on one foot, then on the other, and puckering up their mouths like little bags, to keep all the laugh in tight, they stood almost still.
Then Clara all at once grew grave; for she was about to repeat something out of the Holy Bible, and although this was a great pleasure to her, she did not dream of even smiling.
She began thus, in a clear, distinct voice:
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."
The little ones had listened with great attention, and their mother now said:
"My darlings, you know