as a witness, nigh's I can make out. Is that it?"

"Yes, sir. Will you go with me right off?"

"Right off, eh? Can't it wait till after supper?"

"I--I don't want any supper. PLEASE!"

So supper was postponed, in spite of Isaiah's grumblings, and the
Captain and Mary-'Gusta started forthwith for the home of their nearest
neighbor. Mr. Chase, his curiosity aroused, would have asked a dozen
questions, but Mary-'Gusta would neither answer nor permit Shadrach to
do so.

The Bacheldor family were at supper when the callers arrived. Abner
himself opened the door and he looked rather embarrassed when he saw the
pair on the steps. Captain Shad did not wait for an invitation to enter;
he walked in and Mary-'Gusta followed him.

"Now then, Ab," said the Captain, briskly, "what's this about our cat
stealin' your chickens?"

Mr. Bacheldor and Con, separately and together, burst into a tirade of
invective against the offending David.

"That's all right, that's all right," broke in the Captain, crisply. "If
that cat stole your chicken it ought to be shot. But are you sure of the
cat? Do you know ours did it? This girl here says 'twasn't ours at all."

"I know a dum sight better," began Abner, savagely. But this time it was