to throw my cat away”

The policeman smelled the fresh bread, and it made him hungry.

“Are you hungry, little girl?” he asked, looking down with a smile.

“Wouldn’t you be hungry if you hadn’t had anything to eat all day long?” Clematis looked up at him with tears in her big brown eyes.

“Nothing to eat all day? Why, you must be nearly starved!” As he spoke, the policeman started into the store, pulling Clematis after him.

She was so surprised that she almost dropped her kitten.

“Miew,” said poor Deborah, as if she knew they were going to starve no longer. But it was really because she was squeezed so tight she couldn’t help it.

“Now, Miss Clematis, do you see anything there you like?”

Jim Cunneen smiled down at Clematis, as she peeped through the glass case at the things inside.

She stood silent, with her nose right against the glass.

There were so many things to eat it almost took her breath away.

“Well, what do you say, little girl? Don’t you see anything you like?”

“May I choose anything I want?”

“Yes, miss. Just pick out what you like best.”

The lady behind the counter smiled, as the policeman lifted Clematis a little, so she could see better. There were cakes, and cookies, and buns, and doughnuts.

“May I have a cream cake?” asked Clematis.

“Of course you may. What else?” He lifted her a bit higher.

“Miew!” said Deborah, from under her coat.

“Oh, excuse me, cat,” he said, as he set Clematis down. “I forgot you were there too.”

The woman laughed, as she took out a cream cake, a cookie with nuts on it, and a doughnut.

“May I eat them now?” asked Clematis, as she took the bag.

“You start right in, and if that’s not enough, you can have more. But don’t forget the cat.”

Jim Cunneen laughed with the baker woman, while Clematis began to eat the doughnut, as they started out.

Before long they came to a brick building that had big doors.

“Here we are,” said the policeman. They turned, and went inside.

There another policeman was sitting at a desk behind a railing.

“Well, who comes here?” asked the policeman at the desk.

“That is more than I know,” replied Jim Cunneen. “I guess she’s lost out of the flower show. She says her name is Clematis.”

Clematis said nothing. Her mouth was full of cream cake now, and a little cream was running over her fingers.

Deborah was silent also. She was eating the last crumbs of the doughnut.

“Is that all you could find out?” The other man looked at Clematis.

“She says she has no father and no mother. Her cat is named Deborah. That is all she told me.”

“Oh, well, I guess you scared her, Jim. Let me ask her. I’ll find out.”

The new policeman smiled at Clematis. “Come on now, sister,” he said. “Tell us where you live. That’s a good girl.”

Clematis reached up one hand and took hold of her friend’s big finger. She looked at the new policeman a moment.

“If you didn’t know where you lived, how could you tell anyone?” she said.

Jim Cunneen laughed. He liked to feel her little hand.

“See how scared she is of me,” he said. “We are old friends now.”

Again they asked the little girl all the questions they could think of. But it was of no use. She could not tell them where she lived. She would not tell them very much about herself.

At last the Captain came in. They told him about this queer little girl.

He asked her questions also. Then he said:

“We shall have to send her to the Home. If anyone claims her he can find her there.”

So Clematis and Deborah were tucked into the big station wagon, and Jim Cunneen took her to the Home, where lost children are sheltered and fed.

As they climbed the steps leading to the Home, Clematis looked up at the policeman.

“What is this place?” she asked.

“This is the Children’s Home, miss. You will have a fine time here.”

A young woman with a kind face opened the door.

The policeman did not go in. “Here is a child I found on Chambers Street,” he said. “We can’t find out where she lives.”

“Oh, I see,” said the woman.

“Could you take her in for a while, till we can find her parents?”

“Yes, I guess we have room for her. Come in, little girl.”

At that moment there was a scratching sound, and Deborah stuck her head out.

“Miew,” said Deborah, who was still hungry. Perhaps she thought it was another bakery.

“Dear me!” cried the young woman, “we can’t have that cat in here.”

Clematis drew back, and reached for Jim Cunneen’s hand.

“It’s a very nice cat, I’m sure,” said the policeman.

He felt sorry for Clematis. He knew how she loved her kitten.

“But it’s against the rules. The children can never have cats or dogs in here.”

Clematis, with tears in her eyes, turned away.

“Come on,” she said to her big friend. “Let us go.”

But Jim Cunneen drew her back. He loved little girls, and was also fond of cats.

“Don’t you think the cook might need it for a day or two, to catch the rats?” he asked, with his best smile.

“Oh dear me, I don’t know. I don’t think so. It’s against the rules for children to bring in pets.”

“Ah then, just wait a minute. I’ll be right back.”

The policeman ran down the steps and around the corner of the house, while the young woman asked Clematis questions.

“It’s all right then, I’m sure,” he called as he came back. “Katie says she would be very glad to have that cat to help her catch the rats.”

The young woman laughed; Clematis dried her tears, and Jim Cunneen waved his hand and said goodby.

In another moment the door opened, and Clematis, with Deborah still in her arms, was in her new home.

It was supper hour at the Children’s Home. In the big dining room three long tables were set.

At each place on the clean, bare table was a plate, a small yellow bowl, and a spoon.

Beside each plate was a blue gingham bib.

Jane, one of the girls in the Home, was filling the bowls on her table with milk from a big brown pitcher.

Two little girls worked at each of the tables. While one filled the bowls, the other brought the bread.

She put two thick slices of bread and a big cookie on each plate.

The young woman who had let Clematis in, came to the table near the door.

“There is a new girl at your table tonight, Jane,” she said. “She will sit next to me.”

“All right, Miss Rose,” answered Jane, carefully filling the last yellow bowl.

“Please may I ring the bell tonight, Miss Rose?” asked Sally, who had been helping Jane.

Miss Rose looked at the table. Every slice of bread and every cookie was in place.

“Yes, dear; your work is well done. You may ring.”

At the sound of the supper bell, a