"But you can't take it," said Daddy Bunker. "The kittie must stay here.
It belongs to the fruit stand. It's your cat, isn't it?" he asked the
Italian.

"My keeten? No. I have no keeten. I sell banan', orange, apple! You buy
some I give you keetie. Me no want!"

"No, and we don't want it, either," said Mrs. Bunker. "I was hoping it
was yours so you could say you had to keep it here to drive the mice
away. If Margy thought it was yours she wouldn't want to take it away."

"Ah, I see!" exclaimed the Italian with a smile. "All right, I keep the
keeten," and he said the name in a funny way.

"There, Margy!" exclaimed her father. "You see you'll have to leave the
kitten here to keep the mice away from the oranges."

"Can't I take it to Cousin Tom's with me?"

"No. And you must put it down quickly, and hurry, or we shall miss the
boat."

Margy started to cry, but the Italian, who seemed to understand
children, quickly offered her a big, yellow orange. Then Margy let go of
the kitten, and the fruit man quickly picked it up and put it down in a
little box out of sight.

"She no see--she no want," he whispered to Mrs. Bunker.