By and by the cat, which found it lonely in the big, empty kitchen,
now that Bobby's mother was gone, came walking into the garden also,
and lay down upon a path in the sunshine and lazily watched the boy at
his work. The dog and the cat were good friends, having lived together
so long that they did not care to fight each other. To be sure Towser,
as the little dog was called, sometimes tried to tease pussy, being
himself very mischievous; but when the cat put out her sharp claws and
showed her teeth, Towser, like a wise little dog, quickly ran away,
and so they managed to get along in a friendly manner.

By the time the carrot-bed was all weeded, the sun was sinking behind
the edge of the forest and the new moon rising in the east, and now
Bobby began to feel hungry and went into the house for his dish of
bread and milk.

"I think I 'll take my supper down to the brook," he said to himself,
"and sit upon the grassy bank while I eat it. And I 'll take my
fiddle, too, and play upon it to pass the time until father and mother
come home."

It was a good idea, for down by the brook it was cool and pleasant; so
Bobby took his fiddle under his arm and carried his dish of bread and
milk down to the bank that sloped to the edge of the brook. It was
rather a steep bank, but Bobby sat upon the edge, and placing his
fiddle beside him, leaned against a tree and began to eat his supper.

The little dog had followed at his heels, and the cat also came slowly
walking after him, and as Bobby ate, they sat one on either side of
him and looked earnestly into his face as if they too were hungry. So