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“Very well, dear,” agreed Aunt Clara, and a little later Jennie was crossing the yard, carrying Snowball under her arm. The China Cat was very glad that she was going to be taken to see the Nodding Donkey, with whom she used to live in Mr. Mugg’s store.

“I’m glad you came over, Jennie,” said Joe, as he opened the door for the little girl. “What have you?”

“My new China Cat, named Snowball. I brought her over so she could play with your Nodding Donkey.”

“I guess maybe they know one another,” said Joe. “They came from the same store, you know.”

“Oh, so they did!” exclaimed Jennie.

“I have a toy wagon,” said Joe. “I’ll hitch my Nodding Donkey up to it, and we’ll give your China Cat a ride.”

“Oh, that will be fun!” cried Jennie. “Only don’t upset her, for if she falls out she may break off her tail.”

“I’ll be careful,” promised Joe, and then he and Jennie had a lot more fun with the Nodding Donkey and the China Cat. They were just thinking up another game to play when Joe cried:

“Here come Dorothy with her Sawdust Doll and Mirabell with her Lamb on Wheels.”

“I should like to meet those toys,” mewed the Cat to herself. And, a little later she did, as two other little girls came in to play with Joe. Then along came Dick, who was Dorothy’s brother, and he brought his White Rocking Horse, though it was rather a large and heavy toy to carry. And Arnold, who was Mirabell’s brother, brought along his Bold Tin Captain Soldier and his men.

Now began a very gladsome time for Snowball. She lived in a fine house, with a dear little girl for a mistress, and she had no more troubles.

Thus Winter passed and Spring came, with warm, sunny days when the children could play with their toys on the porches. One day Joe took his Nodding Donkey and went over to call on Jennie and her China Cat. But just as Joe was going up the porch steps he heard a hand organ down the street.

“Maybe there’s a monkey with that hand organ!” said Joe to himself. So, without stopping to ring the bell, or letting Jennie know he had come to call, Joe set his Nodding Donkey down on the porch and ran out of the yard.

And now I must tell you what happened. The hand organ was quite a distance from Jennie’s house, and it took Joe some little time to reach it. While he was gone, having, as I said, left his Nodding Donkey on Jennie’s porch, along came sneaking Jeff, the colored boy.

Jeff’s family had moved back into their basement tenement after the flood, and Jeff was the same dirty, careless colored boy as before. He, too, had heard the music of the hand organ down the street and he wanted to see if there was a monkey.

But as he was passing Jennie’s house he looked toward the porch, and there he saw Joe’s Nodding Donkey.

“Oh, golly!” whispered Jeff to himself, “dis yeah is mah chance! I kin git dat Donkey, suah!”

Sneaking along, Jeff softly opened the gate and went into Jennie’s yard. On tiptoes he approached the porch where the Nodding Donkey was slowly shaking his head up and down.

“Dis yeah suah is a fine toy!” muttered Jeff. “It’s a heap sight better dan de China Cat I got at de fire! I’ll take dis Donkey!”

Jeff reached the porch and stretched out his black, dirty hands to take the Nodding Donkey. But, as he did so, the negro boy happened to look up at a side window, and there, on a table behind the glass, sat the China Cat!

The China Cat had big, staring eyes, and now because of the way the sun shone on them, they seemed to glare straight at Jeff. They even seemed to open wider, and move and blink, did those glaring eyes of the China Cat.