contented purring of
the creature convinced him that nothing was wrong in the house. He
unlaced his shoes and tiptoed upstairs; in the hall he paused to listen;
the quietness of the house was broken only by a faint but regular
breathing; it came from the bedroom where old Daniel Holbrook slept. So
all was right, after all.

With a great feeling of relief, Teeny-bits groped his way along the hall
to the rear and opened the door to his own room. Suddenly he felt very
tired and it seemed to him that he could not get into bed quickly
enough. He pulled off his clothes, raised one of the windows, and in a
moment had settled down upon the comfortable mattress and had pulled the
covers up to his chin. He said to himself that he would sleep a little
while and early in the morning hurry up to the school. A pleasant
feeling of relaxation stole over him, his thoughts merged into drowsy
half-dreams and almost immediately he sank into a slumber deeper than
any he had experienced for many days.

He slept on and on; morning light came softly in at the curtained
windows; in the front of the house his father and mother rose and went
downstairs, and after a time old Daniel Holbrook went leisurely to his
duties at the station. Still Teeny-bits slept his deep sleep and only
the cat knew that he was in the house.

Just after twelve o'clock Daniel Holbrook came home to dinner; he
stopped in the back yard for an armful of wood and entering the kitchen,
dropped it in the box beside the stove. The rumble penetrated to the
rooms above, and Teeny-bits sat up abruptly in bed, wide awake in a
flash. This was the day of the big game; it was morning; he must hurry
up to the school; he began hunting in the closet for fresh clothes and
pulling them on in desperate haste. He was two thirds dressed when his
door was pushed slowly open and father and mother Holbrook peered
cautiously in; the look that he surprised on their faces was so
ludicrous that he laughed.

"Land sakes alive, Teeny-bits!" cried Ma Holbrook. "What a tremulo you
gave me. How'd you get here? Your pa and I heard you movin' around and I
thought sure it was burglars!"

Teeny-bits sat on the edge of the bed and laughed and laughed,--it
seemed so good to see them both alive and well; and old Daniel Holbrook,
holding the dangerous-looking stick of wood that he carried up from the
kitchen to use in dealing with burglars, slapped his thigh and laughed
harder than Teeny-bits.

"Don't te