Dr Price looked quite cast down by this severe examination. "I'm afraid I didn't," he said humbly; "you see they always look alike to me." "There's _quite_ as much difference in them as there is in dogs," said Maisie in an instructive voice; "Madam's three last kittens were not a bit alike. One was black--we kept that; one was quite white--we gave that to Philippa; and one was stripey grey, and that was the one that went to Upwell and got lost." "It would be odd, wouldn't it?" suggested the doctor, "if it was the one I saw at Tuvvy's." Maisie sat very upright, with a sparkle of excitement in her eyes. "Could it be?" she exclaimed. "How did the little girl get it?" Dr Price shook his head with a guilty air. "Didn't ask," he said. His conduct with regard to the kitten had been thoroughly unsatisfactory, but he looked so sorry, that Maisie could not be hard upon him. "Never mind," she said graciously; "I daresay, if you don't like cats-- It had one white paw," she added quickly, with renewed hope, "but I daresay you didn't even notice that." Dr Price was so anxious to please, that it is possible he might have gone the length of remembering the one white paw, but he was saved from this rashness by the entrance of Mrs Budget, bearing a covered dish from which came a very savoury smell. "There's Miss Pringle stepping down with cloak and umbrella for Miss Chester," she said, "so I thought I'd just bring the dinner straight in. It's done to a turn, and smells like a nosegay," she added, lifting the cover with a triumphant flourish. Pringle was Aunt Katharine's maid. It was most tiresome of her to come just now, for Maisie felt she might really be on the track of the lost kitten at last. She knew, however, that she must not stay any longer, and keep the doctor from the enjoyment of his dinner, so with a little sigh she slid off her chair, and held out her band to say good-bye. "And if I were you, Miss Maisie," were the doctor's parting words, as he followed her out to the door, and folded the big cloak carefully round her, "I should just go over to Upwell, and have a look at that kitten one day. You'd leave it with Becky, wouldn't you, if it does turn out to be yours?" Maisie's eyes were bright, and her cheeks flushed with excitement. "Of course we should," she said; "that is, if old Sally's Eliza doesn't mind, and it's a really good home." The doctor lingered so long in the porch looking after his little guest as she hurried up the wet road by Pringle's side, that Mrs Budget replaced the cover with a hasty crash. "There's no credit in cooking for him, none at all," she muttered. As for Maisie, she would have liked wings to fly back to Fieldside with this wonderful news, but she had to restrain her impatience and keep pace with Pringle, who held the umbrella and took mincing steps through the mud.