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Taking no notice of the paper Peter held out toward him, he laid the little cage on the table, and said very quietly:

“Now that you are here, you will perhaps kindly explain what you mean by sending all these animals to me.”

“Us, sir!” the twins exclaimed breathlessly, and as usual in chorus—“Us!”

“Did you or did you not cause these five kittens to be sent to me?” Mr. Neatby asked again.

Dead silence.

As Tod said afterward, “It was one of those beastly yes or no questions that there’s no getting out of.”

“Did you or did you not?” Mr. Neatby asked again, a little louder than before, though even the kittens had ceased mewing and seemed to be listening. “But I know you did, and I wish to know further what you mean by a piece of such intolerable impertinence, and such wanton defiance of school rules.”

“There’s no rule about sending kittens, sir,” murmured Peter, with the least suspicion of a giggle in his voice.

That giggle broke down the last barrier of Mr. Neatby’s self-control. For full five minutes he permitted himself to thunder at those boys, finally bidding them take all five kittens away with them there and then.