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Page 57
Shep asked nothing better than this command, and charged forward,
barking furiously and leaping into the air as though he intended to eat
the calf up alive. The two swept across the barnyard and into the lower
regions of the barn. In a moment Shep reappeared, his tongue hanging
out, his tail wagging, his eyes glistening, very proud of himself, and
mounted guard at the door.
Aunt Frances hurried along desperately through the gate of the barnyard.
As it fell to behind her she sank down on a rock, breathless, still pale
and agitated. Betsy threw her arms around her in a transport of
affection. She felt that she UNDERSTOOD Aunt Frances as nobody else
could, the dear, sweet, gentle, timid aunt! She took the thin, nervous
white fingers in her strong brown hands. "Oh, Aunt Frances, dear,
darling Aunt Frances!" she cried, "how I wish I could ALWAYS take care
of you."
The last of the red and gold leaves were slowly drifting to the ground
as Betsy and Uncle Henry drove back from the station after seeing Aunt
Frances off. They were not silent this time, as when they had gone to
meet her. They were talking cheerfully together, laying their plans for
the winter which was so near. "I must begin to bank the house tomorrow,"
mused Uncle Henry. "And those apples have got to go to the cider-mill,
right off. Don't you want to ride over on top of them, Betsy, and see
'em made into cider?"
"Oh, my, yes!" said Betsy, "that will be fine! And I must put away
Deborah's summer clothes and get Cousin Ann to help me make some warm
ones, if I'm going to take her to school in cold weather."
As they drove into the yard, they saw Eleanor coming from the direction
of the barn with something big and heavy in her mouth. She held her head
as high as she could, but even so, her burden dragged on the ground,
bumping softly against the rough places on the path. "Look!" said Betsy.
"Just see that great rat Eleanor has caught!"
Uncle Henry squinted his old eyes toward the cat for a moment and
laughed. "We're not the only ones that are getting ready for winter," he
remarked.
Betsy did not know what he meant and climbed hastily over the wheel and
ran to see. As she approached Eleanor, the cat laid her burden down with
an air of relief and looked trustfully into her little mistress's face.
Why, it was one of the kittens! Eleanor was bringing it to the house.
Oh, of course! they mustn't stay out there in that cold hayloft now the
cold weather was drawing near. Betsy picked up the little sprawling
thing, trying with weak legs to get around over the rough ground. She
carried it carefully toward the house, Eleanor walking sinuously by her
side and "talking" in little singing, purring MIAUWS to explain her
ideas of kitten-comfort. Betsy felt that she quite understood her. "Yes,
Eleanor, a nice little basket behind the stove with a warm piece of an
old blanket in it. Yes, I'll fix it for you. It'll be lovely to have the
whole family there. And I'll bring the other one in for you."
But evidently Eleanor did not understand little-girl talk as well as
Betsy understood cat-talk, for a little later, as Betsy turned from the
nest she was making in the corner behind the stove, Eleanor was missing;
and when she ran out toward the barn she met her again, her head
strained painfully back, dragging another fat, heavy kitten, who curled
his pink feet up as high as he could in a vain effort not to have them
knock against the stones. "Now, Eleanor," said Betsy, a little put out,
"you don't trust me enough! I was going to get it all right!"
"Well," said Aunt Abigail, as they came into the kitchen, "now you must
begin to teach them to drink."
"Goodness!" said Betsy, "don't they know how to drink already?"
"You try them and see," said Aunt Abigail with a mysterious smile.
So when Uncle Henry brought the pails full of fragrant, warm milk into
the house, Betsy poured out some in a saucer and put the kittens up to
it. She and Molly squatted down on their heels to watch, and before long
they were laughing so that they were rolling on the kitchen floor. At
first the kittens looked every way but at the milk, seeming to see
everything but what was under their noses. Then Graykin (that was
Betsy's) absent-mindedly walked right through the saucer, emerging with
very wet feet and a very much aggrieved and astonished expression. Molly
screamed with laughter to see him shake his little pink toes and finally
sit down seriously to lick them clean. Then White-bib (Molly's) put his
head down to the saucer.
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