"hurrah!" old dog spot barked. at least, what he said sounded a good deal like that.
he had cornered miss kitty cat in the barn. and there was nothing he liked more than teasing anybody that was short-tempered as she was.
"tchah!" miss kitty hissed.
now, that ought to have been warning enough to spot to keep a good, safe distance from her. but he was one of the sort that never knows enough to take a warning for what it is worth.
"wow!" he chuckled. "you needn't think i'm afraid of you. if you ran from me once, you'll run again."
he didn't intend to hurt miss kitty. all he wanted was to get her to run across the yard again, so that he might have the sport of chasing her. so he edged nearer and nearer her, thinking that she would dodge past him and run out of the barn.
but miss kitty cat had no relish for that sport.
"keep your distance, sir!" she cried. and though she spoke plainly enough, old spot paid no heed to her words. instead, he gave a quick spring at her, just to worry her a bit more.
to his great surprise, almost at that same instant miss kitty cat sprang at him. and as she jumped, she flashed one of her paws out and struck spot on one side of his long nose.
it was not just a gentle tap with a soft, well-padded paw. she thrust her claws well out from between her toes. and jabbing them deep into spot's tender nose, she gave a sharp downward pull.
all at once old dog spot thought of the time when, as a puppy, he stuck his nose into a hornet's nest. his joyful bark changed suddenly to a shrill ki-yi of pain. and at the same time he became angry.
"you don't know how to have fun," he growled at miss kitty cat. "just to teach you better manners i'm going to take you by the back of your neck and shake you."
it appeared that miss kitty herself had quite a different notion. at least, she went through an entirely different motion, which was not at all like offering the back of her neck for old spot to seize. when spot reached for her she clawed him furiously, with one paw after another, whilep. 16 she told him what she thought of him.
he did not wait to hear everything that miss kitty had to say to him. spot thought too much of his nose to linger in the barn any longer, but turned tail and hurried into the yard.
miss kitty cat chased him as far as the door. taking one quick backward glance at her as he went, spot noticed how fiercely her eyes glared. it was a terrible sight. and it made him hasten all the faster.
"my goodness! what a temper!" he said under his breath.
loping across the farmyard, he looked about him uneasily. he hoped nobody had seen miss kitty cat driving him out of the barn. he knew it would be a hard matter to explain to any one. all his farmyard friends would be sure to think it a great joke.
luckily there was no one in sight except henrietta hen.
"she won't notice anything," spot assured himself. "she's the stupidest person on the farm."
having nothing more to worry about except his scratched nose, old spot crawled under the woodshed and nursed his wounds during the rest of the morning.
as for miss kitty cat, she stayed in the barn a long time.
"what a worthless fellow that old dog is!" she thought. "this barn is full of mice! i don't believe he has caught one in all the years he has lived on the farm."
