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 they saw he had long yellow teeth with one of them broken off.

"Graywhisker!" they all exclaimed in a breath. "If she can only get him!"

Quick as the barn-cat was, old Graywhisker was quicker, and darted into a hole under the barn that was the private entrance of the rats, just as the barn-cat reached it. She had the satisfaction of clawing the tip of his tail; but it was too slippery for her to hold, and it slipped through her claws. She went back to her companions with rather a crestfallen air.

"Splendidly done, my dear creature!" said the sparrow; "you almost got him."

"I'll have him yet," said the barn-cat as she washed her rumpled fur; "to think of his listening again to our conversation!"

"He can't do any harm, fortunately," said Mrs. Polly. "All he can do is to sneak around and play the spy."

"I sometimes fear that he may do the