Chapter VII: Kitty's Accident

KITTY'S statement that Tim Shuttleworth had stolen the covered basket was received with incredulity by the family generally; but she led the way to the scullery, and pointed triumphantly to the empty peg behind the door as witness to the proof of her tale.

"There!" she cried. "See for yourselves! What do you think now?"

"That the basket has certainly been taken," her father rejoined. "But calm yourself, Kitty, and don't jump to a conclusion which may be quite wrong. You say you saw a boy reaching into the scullery window, and afterwards carry away a basket. Are you sure it was Tim? May it not have been another boy of about his height and size? Moonlight is very deceptive, remember."

In her own mind the little girl was confident that it had been Tim whom she had seen, though she had caught no glimpse of his face.

But whilst she momentarily hesitated over her reply, Bob exclaimed impatiently: "Of course she's not sure; she's made a mistake, I'm positive of it! Tim Shuttleworth wouldn't steal the basket! Why should he? What good would it be to him? Depend upon it the rabbit was brought the other evening by the same boy who fetched the basket to-night; he merely helped himself to his own property, and, being afraid of Snip, did it as quietly as possible."

"But how could he tell the basket was behind the scullery door, Master Bob?" asked Cook, dubiously.

"Perhaps he's an errand-boy who comes to the house, and noticed it there," suggested Mary.

"Very likely," agreed Mrs. Glanville; "but if so, he might have asked for it in a proper manner instead of helping himself to it after dark. I wish, Kitty dear," she continued, addressing her little daughter with a note of reproach in her voice, "you would not be so ready to think evil of Tim Shuttleworth. He strikes me as a particularly nice boy, certainly not one who would do a dishonest action. Depend upon it, you have made a mistake."

"I don't believe I have," declared Kitty. "I didn't see his face, but I am sure—that is, almost sure—it was Tim."

"Absurd!" Bob cried. "What will you accuse him of doing next, I wonder? First you thought he killed your rabbit, and now you believe him to a thief. You're utterly silly."

"I'm not," retorted Kitty, looking deeply mortified and vexed that she could get no one to credit the charge she had brought against the boy next door. "I think he's a horrid boy," she declared hotly, "and I believe he'd do anything—so there! I shall tell him the next time I see him that I was watching him to-night, and hear what he has to say."

"You will do nothing of the kind, Kitty," her father admonished her; "for that would be tantamount to accusing him of having stolen the basket. I forbid you to mention the matter to him; it would naturally make him feel most uncomfortable if you did. We have not known the boy many days, it is true, but quite long enough to know that he is not a thief."

"Yes, indeed, father," agreed Bob. "I believe he's the sort of boy who wouldn't do anything dishonourable or mean for the world. Since I've known him I've liked him—though I admit before that I'd rather taken sides against him. I suppose Kitty, you've no objection to my changing my mind?"

Kitty made no response, but her eyes flashed resentfully at her brother, and she was conscious of a jealous feeling against Tim which did not soften her heart towards him. She had not calculated that Bob would become so friendly with the enemy next door.

"I don't see why you need persist in thinking of Shuttleworth so suspiciously," Bob proceeded. "I'm sure he's as nice as possible to you now; and he told me only yesterday how sorry he was that he spoke to us so rudely over the wall that day Snip ruined his garden; but he thought we had made Snip do it on purpose, so it was no wonder he was mad."

"Oh, you may try to make excuses for him now," Kitty said, scornfully; "but I don't forget all he said and how he looked (ugh! he is an ugly boy!); and I believe he meant every word he spoke."

"I dare say he did at the time," admitted Bob; "but I'm sure he didn't afterwards."

"Come, children, don't wrangle," said their mother. "I am sure, Kitty, when you were playing with your brother and Tim this evening you all seemed the best of friends. Come and have supper, and don't trouble about the basket. It's gone, and I've no doubt the rightful owner has it. I am glad Snip did not frighten him to-night."

"Snip was in the dining-room," said Bob. "By the way, Kitty, had you not better see that your rabbit is all right? Perhaps your enemy next door has stolen Fluffy too."

Although quite aware that her brother was laughing at her, Kitty took his advice, and assured herself that her pet was safe before she joined the others at supper, during which meal she was unusually silent and preoccupied, by no means convinced that she had mistaken another boy for Tim. And, as a matter of fact, the little girl was quite right in her belief that Tim had taken the covered basket; for, after returning to his uncle's house, he had waited until the rain had ceased, and then had quietly gone out again and stolen round to the Glanvilles' back door and purloined the basket through the scullery window. He had been unable to think of any better way of regaining Deborah's property; and having placed it on the shelf inside the tool-house door, he went to bed with an easy mind, little guessing that Kitty had seen and recognised him.

On Monday Bob went to school at nine o'clock. It was a beautiful morning in the first week in May; the air was fragrant with the scent of lilac and hawthorn, and the big apple tree at the bottom of the Glanvilles' garden was one mass of bloom.

Kitty, as soon as she had seen her brother depart and had attended to the needs of Fluffy, strolled down to the apple tree, and perched herself on her favourite branch in the midst of a mass of blossoms. She wondered what Tim would do now Bob had gone to school, and if he would be very dull; she had been congratulating herself upon the fact that she had three days more holiday than her brother, but she scarcely knew how she would pass the time without a companion. By-and-by, when Tim appeared in Mr. Shuttleworth's garden, her face brightened, and she half hoped he would speak to her, so that she was rather pleased than otherwise when he came closer and suddenly glanced up. He caught sight of her immediately, and a friendly smile crossed his countenance.

"Hullo!" he cried by way of greeting. "I say you're in a regular nest of flowers," he proceeded. "Even Uncle John noticed that tree this morning—he said he had never seen it so full of bloom before. You will have a fine crop of apples later on."

"Yes, if all's well," Kitty responded; "and they are such nice apples—Blenheim oranges; we gather them early in October, and hoard them—they don't get properly ripe till nearly Christmas."

"Then I shan't taste them," said Tim. "What a pity!" He was looking up at Kitty with rather a wistful expression on his face, wishing she would invite him to join her in the tree; but as that was evidently not her intention, he fetched the ladder and perched himself on the wall close by. "Do you remember the first time I looked at you and Bob over the wall?" he asked.

"Yes," nodded Kitty.

"I was hoping you would speak to me, and you didn't."

"We thought it rather a cheek of you to stare at us," she informed him.

"I didn't mean it for cheek," he replied. "Really, I didn't."

"You made an ugly face at Bob; you couldn't call that good manners."

"I did it because he called Snip away; that wasn't very nice of him, was it?"

"No-o-o," she admitted, for that had been her opinion at the time. "Bob's gone to school," she observed presently.

"I know; I saw him start. I shall miss him. But your father says I may join him in his walks: isn't that kind of him? And he's going to take me fishing; I haven't a rod, but Bob says I can use his. Do you get a whole holiday on Saturday, like Bob?"

"Oh, yes."

"Then we must make the most of Saturdays," said Tim, regarding the little girl with a smile. "Are there many girls at your school?" he inquired.

"About twenty—none over twelve years old, and some are as young as five. There's a kindergarten class."

Tim nodded. He had heard Bob speak of the school Kitty attended somewhat disparagingly, as "a school for kids."

"I'm ten years old, you know," she proceeded to explain, "and I've been at school since I was six."

"Then I suppose you're the head in class by this time?" he suggested.

"No," Kitty answered sharply, with a slight show of confusion in her manner; for, truth to tell, she was rather a dunce. Meeting the glance of Tim's eyes, she saw they were twinkling humorously. "I suppose Bob's been telling tales of me, saying that I'm at the bottom of the third class?" she cried, with sudden wrath.

"No, no; indeed he hasn't," he assured her. "Don't be cross! I expect you're like me, and don't care for lessons much."

She nodded, mollified at once. After that there was silence for some minutes. Tim kicked his heels against the wall and whistled light-heartedly whilst Kitty longed to speak to him of the covered basket; but remembering what her father had said in reference to the suggestion she had made of doing so, she kept silent upon the subject.

"Are any of the seeds you planted in your garden coming up?" she asked by-and-by.

"Oh, yes, I think so," he answered. "There's something springing—mignonette, I expect; I sowed a lot of that. How do you manage to keep Snip off your flower-beds? I see he doesn't do any damage in your garden."

"No, because he knows it's ours; and that's why he doesn't interfere with Fluffy. If he saw a rabbit anywhere else he'd kill it in an instant. Snip's very sharp; he always was, even as a tiny puppy. I believe he knows all we say to him; and see how excited he gets if we ask him if he's going walking. I'm afraid he has rather a dull time when we're at school, though father takes him out in the afternoons; but he likes going with Bob and me better than with father, because we let him do as he likes," Kitty confessed ingenuously.

Tim laughed. "Do you know that your mother has asked me to go to the grammar school sports with her next week?" he asked. "Yes, she has," he continued, as the little girl shook her head. "Isn't it jolly and thoughtful of her? Bob said he could get a card of invitation for Uncle John; but sports aren't in his line, he says; and I'm glad they're not, for I'd far rather go with Mrs. Glanville. I suppose you'll be there too, won't you?"

"Oh, yes, and father. You know Bob's going in for several races besides the high jump. I wouldn't miss the sports for anything. Oh, I must go in, for there's mother at the back door beckoning to me. I expect she wants to send me on an errand," and Kitty began to descend the apple tree as she spoke.

"Take care!" cried Tim warningly, as the little girl, eager to impress him with her agility, swung herself somewhat recklessly from one branch to another.

"All right," she replied. "I shan't fall. I could climb this tree when I was six years old."

The words were scarcely out of her mouth when her foot slipped, and her whole weight was thrown upon the slight bough to which she was clinging. A moment later the bough snapped off, and Kitty, with a terrified shriek, fell heavily to the ground.