out her eyes!"

"Scratch her, Granny! Pull out her hair!" pleaded the Brown Doll.

"Bump her head against the wall, Granny! Mash her nose!" exclaimed the
Jip-jap Doll.

The Rag-Tag Doll said not a word.

All this time the little old woman was searching in her satchel for
something, and Sweetest Susan began to get frightened.

"I've come off without my specs," said the little old woman, "and I
can't see a stiver with such a light as this."

Just then the big Black Cat that had been sleeping quietly in a chair
rose and stretched himself and gaped, showing his long white teeth. He
jumped to the floor and walked back and forth purring and rubbing
against the little old woman in a friendly way.

"Get out! You'll push me over," she cried. "Oh, will you go away? I'll
stick you with my needle! I certainly will! Keep your long tail out of
my face! Oh, how can I see to do anything? Will you go away? I'll hit
you as sure as I am standing here!"

"Don't," said the big Black Cat, stopping and looking straight at the
little old woman. "Don't you know it brings bad luck to hit a black
cat?"

"If I hit you, you'll feel it," cried the little old woman.

"Stop," exclaimed the big Black Cat. "I know what you are here for. Do
you see my eyes? They are as green as grass. Do you see my teeth? They
are as strong as iron. Do you see my claws? They are as sharp as
needles. If I look at you hard you'll shiver; if I bite you you'll
squall; if I scratch you you'll bleed."

The Grandmother of the Dolls looked at the big Black Cat long and
hard.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

"I know you," replied the Black Cat.

"What is your name?" she asked.

[Illustration: THE GRANDMOTHER OF THE DOLLS AND THE BIG BLACK CAT]

"Billy-Billy Blackfoot."

"It is time for you to go hunting," she said. She wanted to get him
out of the room.

"I have found what I was hunting for," said Billy-Billy Blackfoot.

"There's a rat gnawing in the pantry."

"He'll be fatter when I catch him."

"There's a piece of cheese in the dining-room."

"It won't spoil until I eat it."

"There's a pan of milk in the kitchen."

"It won't turn sour till I drink it."

"There's catnip in the garden."

"It will grow till I want it."

The Grandmother of the Dolls then made a cross-mark on the carpet and
waved her cane in the air. This was done to put a spell on Billy-Billy
Blackfoot, but before the spell could work Billy-Billy made a circle
by chasing his tail