Page 71 - Among the camps, or, Young people's stories of the war

u Ah ! ” said Kittykin, " they cannot get dowrt, either.
Serves them right [,r

But suddenly they all waved their arms at her and cried,
" S c a t ! ”
Goodness ! T h e idea of c r y i n g “ scat ** at a kitten when
she is up in a tree !— “ scat/" Which fills a kitten's breast with
terror I It was brutal, and then it was all so unexpected. It

came very near making her fall. As it was, it set her heart
to thumping and bumping against her ribs, like a marble in
a box. " Ah ! ,f she thought, “ if those brutes below were but
mice, and J had them on the carpet ! hl So she dug her claws

into the bark, which was quite tender up there, and it was
well she did, for she heard some one call something below
that sounded like 11 S h a k e !1' and before she knew it the man
nearest her reached up, and, seizing the limb on which she
was, screwed up his face, and—- G oodness! it nearly shook
the teeth out of her mouth and the eyes out of her head.

Shake! shake! shake! it came again, each time nearly
tearing her little claws out of their sockets and scaring her to
death. She saw the ground swim far below her, and felt that
she would be mashed to death* Shake ! shake ! shake ! shake !

She could not hold out much longer, and she spat down at
them. How those brutes below laughed ! She formed a
desperate resolve. She would get even with them. L'A h , if
they were but— ” Shake ! sha— W ith a fierce spit, partly
of rage, partly of fear, K itty kin let go, whirled suddenly, and
flung herself on the upturned face of the man nest beneath