'preciate that--an'--an' when I pulled his tail--he didn't _like_
that, neither."

"He's a bad old thief, that's what he is!" exclaimed Rudolf,
forgetting in his excitement to lower his voice. "And if we ever get
back to Aunt Jane's and he's there, _I'll_ fix him--"

A general warning hiss went up from the pirate cats who stood nearest
to the children. "Be quiet," muttered Growler, "unless you want your
ears bitten off? Don't you see the Chief is going to sing?"

Mittens had stepped to the front of the platform and was fixing an
angry scowl upon the three children who stood between Growler and
Prowler directly beneath him. When all was so quiet in the hall you
could have heard a pin drop, the Chief cleared his throat and nodded
to the Maltese pirate who stood ready to accompany him upon the
tambourine. In the background a semicircle of other singers clutched
their music and shuffled their feet rather nervously as they waited to
come in at the chorus.

Mittens sang in a high plaintive voice:


"When I was young, you know,
Not very long ago,
I was a mild, a happy Pussy-cat!
My fur was soft as silk,
I lived on bread and milk,
And I dozed away my days upon the mat!"