ead peep out, he put his head
back and laughed.

"I pity the rats in your barn now, Mrs. Alder," he shouted.

Mrs. Alder frowned at first, but when she looked at Clematis, and
saw her anxious face, she smiled.

"What on earth made you bring that cat way up here?" she asked.

"She's my own cat. I was afraid to leave her at the Home all alone.
Would you like to leave your cat alone, where people might throw it
away while you were gone?"

Just then a tall man with a gray beard walked up.

"Never mind, Mary," he said. "We have plenty of milk in the dairy,
and plenty of rats in the barn."

By this time Clematis had Deborah safe in her arms, and Mr. Alder
led the way to the house, while Mr. Ladd drove off, laughing as he
went.

"Well, you can take the cat down to the barn. I won't have it in the
house," said Mrs. Alder.

"All right, we'll find a place for her," said Mr. Alder. He took
Clematis by the hand, and they went down to the barn.

A gray horse poked his head from a box stall to look at the little
visitor, and a little red hen called her chickens, and hastened
away, clucking, as if she were very angry.

Clematis turned to look at her.

"Did you ever have any chickens?" asked Mr. Alder.

"Oh, no, I never saw any." Clematis could not take her eyes from the
little chicks, as they ran after their anxious mother.

"We have lots of things to show you here. Let's put your cat up in
the loft now."

They went up a set of stairs, and there was a loft, full of sweet
hay.

[Illustration: Clematis stuck one hand out]

"There now, Mrs. Tabby, you will find a good bed, and good hunting
here."

"Her name isn't Tabby, it's Deborah," said Clematis, as she put her
down.

"Oh, that's quite a name. It suits her very well." Mr. Alder led the
way down again.

At the other end of the barn, a red and white calf came up to meet
them.

It put out its wet nose to smell the little visitor, and made her
start back.

"He wants to say 'how do'. He loves little girls," said Mr. Alder.

Clematis stuck one hand out timidly, and pulled it back again, when
the calf tried to lick it with his rough tongue.

"He wants just a little taste," laughed Mr. Alder. "Come on now.
Here is something else."

At the end of the barn, Clematis could hear strange noises. There,
in the yard, were some smooth, white animals running about.

When Clematis came near the fence, they ran and put their fore feet
up, and stuck their noses out.