"Will you tell me one thing before you go in?" asked Laddie, as he
slipped into his pocket the nickel his grandfather had given him, while
Russ did the same.

"If your question isn't a hard riddle I'll try to answer it," said
Grandpa Ford. "Let me hear it."

"It's about kites and tails and cats," explained Laddie. "Isn't there a
cat that hasn't a tail, and isn't it a Banks cat?" asked Laddie. "I made
up a riddle why is a cat like a kite because it has a tail. And some
kites haven't any tails, Russ says. But mother showed me a picture of a
Banks cat. And don't they call 'em that because maybe they live in banks
and haven't any tails so they won't get shut in a door? Will you answer
that question, Grandpa?"

"Really, Laddie boy, I should say there were almost a dozen questions
there!" laughed Grandpa Ford. "But I'll answer only one now. About the
cats. There is a kind called Manx, and that sounds like banks, I
suppose. Manx is an island, near England, and cats that come from there
have no tails--or at least they have only little short ones that you can
hardly see. I guess when your mother told you about the Manx cats you
thought she said 'banks.' But now run along and have some fun."

Grandpa Ford turned up the walk with Miss Ripley, and Laddie and Russ
heard her say:

"Father sent me over to tell you not to be alarmed, as he doesn't
believe it is anything. He'll come out and help you look for whatever it
may be, if you want him to."