e
into the station house. But now to hear Mr. Mugg say she was not his
Cat! Oh, it was terrible, I do assure you!

"Not your Cat?" exclaimed the sergeant. "Why, I understood a lot of toys
were stolen from your shop after the fire, and a China Cat was among
them."

"Yes, that is so," answered Mr. Mugg. "But my China Cat was a white one,
and this is black and white. No, she does not belong to me."

He turned away, and the China Cat would have shed tears if China Cats
ever cry. But Miss Geraldine stepped forward.

"Please let me look at that toy," she said.

The sergeant handed her the China Cat. Geraldine looked closely at her.
Then she gave a joyful cry.

"Why, of course she is our Cat, Father!" said Geraldine. "She is just
grimy and dirty. That's the reason you think she is black and white. If
I could only wash her you'd see that she is our own China Cat."

"Do you think so?" asked Mr. Mugg, hopefully.

"I'm sure of it!" declared his daughter. "Oh, if I only had a little
soap and water."

"We can let you have some, lady," said the sergeant. "You may take the
cat to the washroom and clean her."

This Miss Geraldine did. Under the stream of water, when some soap had
been rubbed on the China Cat, a great change took place. Off came the
grime of the smoke! Off came the spots of sticky molasses! Off came the
soiled marks made by Jeff's dirty hands! The White Cat, not coming to
life while Miss Geraldine had her, of course got no soap in her eyes,
as would have happened if she had been real.

Soon all the black, the grime, and the dirty spots were washed away.
Geraldine dried the China Cat on a towel the sergeant gave her, and then
held the plaything up in front of her father.

"Now isn't that our Cat?" asked Miss Geraldine.

Mr. Mugg looked carefully over the tops of his glasses. He ran his hands
through his hair and then through his whiskers, and then rubbed his
hands together.

"Why--er--yes--er--my dear--that _is_ our China Cat!" he said. "We'll
take her right back to the store! Oh, I'm very glad to get her back.
Thank you, very much," he said to the police sergeant.

"You are welcome," replied the officer. Then Geraldine and her father
hurried back to the toy shop, carrying the China Cat.

As for the white pussy, you can imagine how glad and happy she was to be
clean again. Nothing else mattered for the time, and she would have
mewed out a song if she had been allowed to do so. But of course she
could