Page:The House Without Windows.djvu/46

38 As for the Brunios, they were very much distressed when they found out that the chipmunk was gone. By spying, they discovered some of Eepersip's strange habits. Then, early one morning, they took their little kitten--the twins had rather stupidly named her "White," for her colour--up to the field where Eepersip had her home, let her go very near Eepersip’s burrow, and then ran away quickly before the kitten could find them. Well, White didn’t care much about being left in the dewy grass, bewilderedly shaking first one paw, then another. But presently Eepersip came out of her burrow with Chippy. Seeing the patch of white, Eepersip thought the kitten was an exceptionally late bit of snow left on the grass. But no, it certainly had not been there the last time she had looked. And then she realized that it was altogether too late for any snow. Darting up to it, she found the little kitten, so snow-white, with the blue-grey eyes like little moonstones, gazing pitifully up at her. Because she thought the kitten had been a patch of snow, Eepersip named her Snow-flake.

She took her, shivering with the wetness of the dew, into her burrow, and found, much to her surprised, that Chippy recognized her and sprang at her in great delight. The truth of the matter was