The kittens liked their new home, and they hoped very much that they would not be sent away, for surely no one could be kinder than Elvira and Miss Harvey. They were always running around the kitchen whenever Miss Winifred went there, and, as she was very near-sighted, she once stepped on Sally’s tail. Sally and Oxford Gray, Junior, talked the matter over. ‘Her feet seem always getting in our way,’ said Sally. ‘I am glad she is going to New Hampshire,’ said Oxford Gray, Junior. ‘We’ll have a little peace, but I wish Elvira wasn’t going with her.’ They were glad, on the whole, that no one could understand their language, although it would be convenient at times to be understood. Elvira was somewhat troubled by them, but she loved them too well to think of parting with them, and soon, when they had grown used to their new home, it would be safe to let them out-of-doors again. By the time Miss Winifred and Elvira came back from New Hampshire, Miss Harvey and the kittens had become such firm friends that nothing more was said about sending them to the Ellen Gifford Home. [Illustration] CHAPTER V THE FRIENDLY HOUSE Sally was sure she liked houses. She liked the house where her new friends lived from the very start. A corner under a piazza where the rain could come through the cracks in the boards overhead had never seemed her idea of what a home should be, nor did she care to spend most of her time out-of-doors looking for food which was hard to find. So she settled down quite contentedly, and it did not trouble her that, while Elvira and Miss Winifred were in New Hampshire, Miss Harvey kept her and Oxford Gray, Junior, in the house. She always spoke of the three ladies in the following order, Miss Harvey, Elvira, and Miss Winifred. Her brother told her that she should speak of Miss Winifred first because she was the oldest and the owner of the house, and of Miss Harvey next, and Elvira last, because she was the youngest of the three, but Sally persisted in her own way. ‘I love Miss Harvey best, so I speak of her first, and I love Miss Winifred less than the others, so she comes last.’ [Illustration] It was not until Elvira and Miss Winifred had been at home some days that Miss Harvey said to Sally one morning, ‘You are such a good little kitten, I am going to let you through into the other part of the house while I am dusting the rooms.’ [Illustration]