Chapter V: A Spoilt Plan

ALTHOUGH startled, Tim was not frightened by Snip's attack upon him. The servants did not follow the dog to discover the cause of his excitement, no doubt taking it for granted that he was hunting a cat; and, relieved upon that point, Tim began to hope he might succeed in disabusing Snip's mind of the idea that he was there for an evil purpose, so he spoke to him in a conciliatory tone:

"Hulloa, Snip, old man! What's the matter with you, eh? Why, you know me right enough, don't you?"

Snip immediately recognised the voice as that of the boy next door, and his firm grip relaxed. Tim stooped and patted him gently, whereupon he gave a little wriggle of pleased surprise and dropped his hold of Tim altogether, realizing he had made a mistake and feeling rather foolish; and after that he stood quietly by whilst Tim mounted the ladder, pulled it up after him, and disappeared on the other side of the wall.

Tim did not linger in the garden; but, having put away the ladder, he entered the house, satisfied that he had carried out his plan as he had intended, and congratulating himself on the way in which he had conciliated Snip.

Meanwhile Snip, who was very curious even for a dog, was exceedingly puzzled by the behaviour of the boy next door, and was taking a stroll round to see what he had been doing. Apparently all was as usual; but, on returning to the back door, Snip's sharp nose made him suspect that there was a rabbit in the hutch, and having satisfied himself that he was not mistaken, he gave one sharp, imperative bark, which the servants knew meant that he desired to call their attention to something.

"What's the matter, Snip?" asked cook, opening the back door.

Snip barked again, more imperatively; and cook came out, a lighted candle in her hand.

"Why, some one's left a rabbit here!" she exclaimed, greatly astonished. "I wonder if Miss Kitty and Master Bob were expecting it. I suppose I'd best call them out."

She accordingly did so, and a short while later the sister and brother arrived upon the scene, the former full of excitement.

"Who brought it, cook?" she inquired, as Bob took the rabbit out of the hutch and they examined it by the light of the candle. "Oh, isn't it a love?" she cried, her face aglow with delight.

"I don't know who brought it, miss," cook answered. "We didn't hear any one, although Mary and I were both in the kitchen; but Snip barked to be let out and, as we fancied he heard a cat about, we opened the back door and he rushed out in a fury. I suppose there must have been somebody here."

"Most likely," agreed Bob. "And that somebody was frightened away."

"But who could it have been, Master Bob?" asked Mary, the housemaid, who had come out too.

"I don't know, I'm sure," replied Bob. "I expect it was an errand-boy, or some one like that, sent by Tom Hatch. I saw Tom this morning, and he said his brother had given him a couple of his young rabbits, and you were to have one of them, Kitty; he told me he didn't want to be paid for it."

"Then it's a present, Bob?" asked Kitty.

"Yes. Tom said he would bring it if he had time—you know the Hatches are leaving B-to-morrow. I suppose he hadn't time, so he sent it. Yes, here's the basket it came in." He picked up the basket which Tim had dropped and forgotten, and examined it. "Snip must have given some one a fine scare," he proceeded, chuckling with amusement. "I say, Kitty, it's a jolly little rabbit, isn't it?"

"It's a beauty!" declared Kitty. "I shall keep it combed, and its coat will soon be lovely. How very kind of Tom Hatch to give it to me! I shan't be able to thank him, shall I?"

"Oh, don't let that weigh upon your mind. I thanked him for you, so that's all right," Bob responded carelessly. "I didn't say anything about it to you before because I thought I'd wait and see if Tom really meant to give you the rabbit," he proceeded to explain. "The fact is, he's such a chap for making promises he never carries out. He's been as good as his word in this case, though. I wonder whom he sent with the rabbit."

"I am afraid whoever it was must have been dreadfully frightened by Snip," said cook regretfully. "I'm sure we wouldn't have let him out if we guessed any one had been here. I'll hang up the basket in the scullery, for I suppose it will be fetched by someone to-morrow."

Bob replaced the rabbit in the hutch, remarking upon the pieces of bread which Kitty collected and soaked in milk for her new pet.

The little girl's heart was full of gratitude towards Tom Hatch, who had, as she naturally believed, from all her brother had said, made her this most welcome gift.

"I shall call the dear little thing 'Fluffy,'" she confided to her brother. "I don't think I shall show it to the boy next door, as I feel so certain he had something to do with the death of the other."

Bob merely shrugged his shoulders on hearing this, and made no reply, for he and his sister could not agree upon the point. Kitty was absurdly suspicious, he told himself.

The following afternoon when Tim Shuttleworth—his countenance shining with the recent application of soap and water—rang the front door bell of the Glanvilles' house, his heart beat fast with excitement. He was shown into the dining-room, where the whole family were assembled, and received a cordial welcome from Mr. and Mrs. Glanville. The latter, in particular, greeted him very kindly, and kissed him for his mother's sake, she said—a remark which made him feel a little choky for a minute, as he was deeply attached to his mother, and he had greatly missed her since he had been away from her—and then she introduced him to Kitty and Bob, who shook hands with him and looked as though they had never seen him in their lives before. At first, Tim felt a trifle embarrassed; but, as Mrs. Glanville talked to him and asked him questions, he soon lost all traces of self-consciousness, and found himself chatting quite easily of his own people—his mother and father, and his two brothers and three sisters, all younger than himself.

Then Snip scraped at the door, and, on being admitted, evinced much delight at the sight of the visitor.

"You are fond of animals," remarked Mrs. Glanville, as Snip promptly accepted an invitation to sit on Tim's knees, where he settled himself comfortably with a flattered expression on his face. "I suppose you keep pets at home, do you not?"

"No," Tim answered, "we have no room for them. Ours is a small house, and we have no garden. Mother had a canary once, but a neighbour's cat came in one day when no one was about and killed it."

"How dreadful!" exclaimed Kitty with a shudder. "What a horrid cat it must have been! I should hate a cat that killed birds!"

"Should you hate Snip if he killed a cat?" asked Bob, laughing.

"I don't think I should ever like him again," Kitty answered seriously; "but Snip wouldn't do it."

"I'm not so sure of that," said Mr. Glanville, "and that is why I make it a rule to scold Snip when I catch him chasing a cat, and I wish you children to do the same."

A short silence followed this remark, during which Kitty and Bob looked somewhat guilty. Kitty, who was engaged in hemming a duster, kept her head bent over her work until her father spoke again.

"I thought perhaps you boys would like a walk before tea," he said, suggestively, "and if so we had better start at once."

"Can't I go too, father?" inquired Kitty eagerly.

Mr. Glanville glanced at his wife, who shook her head. Kitty had been in disgrace that morning, having left her bedroom untidy and been impertinent to Mary, who had remonstrated with her about it; consequently she had been given some sewing to do by her mother for a punishment, and the duster she was hemming was not half done yet, though she might have finished it before if she had liked.

"It's miserable being a girl," she murmured dolefully, as the boys followed her father from the room. "I do so hate sewing—nothing makes me so hot."

Tim enjoyed his walk exceedingly, and, before it was at an end, he had found out a great deal about his companions—that Mr. Glanville was a retired tea-planter, and that both Bob and Kitty had been born in Ceylon; that Bob now attended the B— Grammar School, and that Kitty went to a private school for girls. In return, he told what a very dull time he was having with his uncle, who kept him all day by himself.

"What do you think of him, Bob?" whispered Kitty to her brother when Tim was talking to her mother after tea.

"I don't fancy he's a bad sort," was the unexpected reply.

"Don't you?" she questioned dubiously.

"No. He improves upon acquaintance. I say, you might show him your rabbit, I think."

"Have you told him about it?"

"No. I'll ask him to come into the garden; shall I?"

"If you like."

Kitty's manner was not gracious. She considered her brother fickle because he seemed inclined to like Tim Shuttleworth, and she marched off into the garden by herself. She was watching her new pet contentedly munching a tender young lettuce when the boys joined her.

"Isn't she a beauty?" she said, addressing Tim, who had been rather surprised he had not been told of the rabbit before.

"Yes," he answered, colouring; adding, somewhat awkwardly, "I'm glad you like it."

"Of course I like it. I've called it Fluffy. I hope I shall be able to keep this one safer than the last."

"I—I hope so," Tim faltered. "I don't think it can come to any harm here. Fluffy is a very good name for it."

"By the way, Kitty, the Hatches are gone," said Bob. "We passed their house this afternoon, and it was shut up; they must have gone early this morning. Tom told me he should come to B— for the Grammar School Sports next month, though; so perhaps you'll be able to speak to him about the rabbit then."

"Oh, yes," agreed Kitty; "that will do very well. No one has come for the basket, Bob; it's still hanging up in the scullery; I noticed it just now."

Tim started, suddenly remembering the covered basket, which, until this moment, he had entirely forgotten he had left behind him the night before when Snip had startled him into flight. Could that be the basket to which Kitty referred? Yes, it must be. He stood pondering, turning over in his mind the best way of letting his companions know that this new pet was his present, and at length, by way of leading up to the point, he asked, with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes:

"When did you get the rabbit?"

"Last night," Kitty responded. "It's a present from one of Bob's school friends."

"Oh!" gasped Tim, utterly astounded at this statement.

"Yes. I was going to buy it from Tom Hatch, but he has given it to me instead," the little girl explained. "He sent it last night."

"And we don't in the least know who brought it," said Bob with a laugh; "for Snip scared whoever it was off the premises."

"But—are you sure it was Tom Hatch who sent it?" Tim inquired.

"Of course," answered Kitty, a trifle impatiently. "Who else could it have been?"

"Oh, yes; it was Tom right enough," Bob agreed.

For a minute Tim was tempted to tell them they were wrong; but would they believe him if he did? He doubted if they would; and, upon reflection, he decided to hold his tongue and let them think the donor of the rabbit had been Tom Hatch. How different his plan for ingratiating himself with his companions had turned out from what he had expected, and how vexed and disappointed he felt!