Nora was sole ruler of this cheerful realm below stairs; the only other
inhabitants of the kitchen were the parrot and the kitten, and now this
Chinese boy. Nora's special work-room was a great pantry with a latticed
window. Near-by a wide door led out into a little garden of apple, pear,
and cherry trees; the garden had a grape-arbor too, which ran from the
door to a roomy cabin. Here was every convenience for washing and
ironing.

Nora was a portly woman, with a round face, large forehead, and a little
nose which seemed to be always laughing. She was a merry soul; and she
used to tell "the children," as Charles and Lucy were called,
"Liliputian stories," tales of the Fairy Schoolmaster of Irish lore.

The Chinese boy did not look up to Polly as she gazed and exclaimed at
him, but shelled his peas.

Presently, however, the pretty kitten whirled the industrious boy's
pigtail around in a circle until it pulled. Then he cast his almond eyes
at her, and addressed her in a tone like the clatter of rolling rocks.

"Ok-oka-ok-a-a!"

The kitten flew to the other side of the room, and Nora appeared from
the pantry. When she saw the two children on the stairs, she put her
hands on her sides and laughed with her nose. "We've a quare one here,
now, haven't we?" said she.

Polly stretched her lovely head out into the room from the cage, and
flapped her wings, and swung to and fro, and the kitten returned,
whereupon the boy drew up his pigtail and tied it around his neck like