"It struck me that he ought to know something about the matter.
Anyway, he was the nearest approach to a vet that I could find."

Mrs. Keith looked at him thoughtfully.

"You seem to have a curious way of reasoning. What did the man say?"

"He promised to engage the services of a dog-fancier friend of his."

"You imagined that a dog-fancier would specialize in cats?"

Millicent's eyes twinkled, but Mrs. Keith's face was serious and
Blake's perfectly grave.

"I don't know that I argued the matter out. To tell the truth, I
undertook the thing on impulse."

"So it seems. But you haven't told me what became of my hamper."

"The hamper was unfortunately smashed. I left it at a basket shop; and
that explains the cloak. My friend, the taxidermist, insisted on
lending it and his winter gloves to me. One looks rather conspicuous
walking through the streets with a bobcat on one's arm."

Then, to Blake's astonishment, Mrs. Keith broke into a soft laugh.

"I understand it all," she said. "It was a prank one would expect you
to play. Though it's a very long time since I saw you, you haven't
changed, Dick. Now take that ridiculous cloak off and come back and