, and as he rounded the corner of the street
on which Mr. Noland's house stood, he saw the auto turn in the other
end of the very short block. Stubby jumped out and when he saw Billy
he ran joyously to meet him, barking as he came, "Oh, Billy, you
should have been with us! I never had more fun in my life. But what
has happened to you? I bet you have been in mischief somewhere.

"Come down by the lake while I try to wash this ink off, and I will
tell you what I have been up to while you were away, and you may tell
me what has happened to you."

So the two of them trotted off toward the lake to recount their
adventures. And as you are interested in the doings of Billy, Stubby
and Button, perhaps you might like me to relate to you in another
chapter what happened to each of them.

CHAPTER VII

BUTTON'S DAY WITH BELLA

Nellie took Button up in her arms and started over to see her best
friend, Kittie Mead. Kittie owned a beautiful white Angora cat named
Bella, who always wore a tiny gold bell tied around her neck with a
blue ribbon.

When Nellie was within calling distance of Kittie's house, she began
to call, "Oh, Kittie, bring your doll carriage here quick! Hurry,
hurry, for this cat is getting heavy!"

Nellie had carried Button in her arms most of the way, as she was
afraid that he would run away if she trusted him to follow her. Now
Button was no lightweight, you must remember, and the farther she
carried him, the heavier he became and the more he slipped through her
arms. So when she called to Kittie most of Button's long body was
dangling around her legs, while she still held on to his neck in such
a manner that the poor cat was nearly strangled.

"Oh, Kittie, don't you hear me? Come, come, come! I can't carry this
cat another minute!"

Luckily for Button, Kittie happened to be playing in the front yard
with her doll and had just put Annabella, her favorite doll, to sleep
in the doll carriage. So when she heard Nellie calling her, she jerked
the sleeping Annabella out of the carriage so quickly it nearly
disjointed her and tossed her on the grass while she started on a dead
run down the garden path to meet the calling Nellie.

When Kittie came up, Nellie let go of Button and he dropped to the
ground and lay like dead for a few minutes. Indeed, the poor cat was
almost choked to death. Before he could recover and jump up and shake
himself together enough to run away, Nellie had picked him up again
a