She
hoped she would soon be back in Mr. Mugg's store, washed nice and clean,
and set on a shelf. But the store of poor Mr. Mugg was in a sad state
now, even though the fire had been put out.
As Jeff's breathing became easier, his brothers and sisters, who were
just getting up out of their beds, crowded around him. His mother, who
was getting breakfast, asked him again:
"Jeff, am de p'licemans tryin' to git yo'?"
"Nope!" answered the colored boy. "I runned 'cause I wanted to git away
from Sam Brown an' his crowd. Dey was gwine to take mah cat away from
me!"
"Yo' _cat_?" cried Jeff's mother. "Where'd yo' git a _cat_?"
Jeff wiggled and twisted as he reached his hand inside his blouse and
pulled out the China Cat.
"Dere she am!" he cried, holding her up. "Dere's mah pussy! I done got
her at de fire, an' de p'liceman didn't see me!"
For a moment there was silence in the dingy basement tenement where Jeff
lived. His brothers and sisters, all smaller than he, crowded up around
him as he held the China Cat high in the air.
"Ain't she jess boo'ful!" murmured one little black girl.
"Kin she wiggle her haid, like I done see a Donkey shake his haid in de
toy shop?" asked one of Jeff's brothers.
"Lemme hab her!" pleaded the littlest black girl of all.
"No, suh!" declared Jeff. "Dis am mah white pussy, dat I done took outen
de fire an' de p'liceman didn't see me, an' I's gwine to keep her, I
is!"
He held the China Cat higher above his head.
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