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A solemn-faced little midget, about six years old, clasping to her breast
a battered doll, stood before them—Page 31]
Kittyboy's Christmas
Copyright by
GEORGE W. JACOBS & CO.
1898
CHAPTER I
Kittyboy was lost. It was an evidentfact. He stood on the cornerof the alley which led into a wide street towhich he had been chased by an aggressivedog, and with every hair bristling,looked around for a friendly door, but theywere all shut closely; and the snow wasbeginning to fall, in an uncertain way, justa flake here and there, displaying exquisitelyperfect crystals on the stone stepsand the brick pavement, then melting awayvery slowly.
Kittyboy tucked his four small pawsneatly under him, and crouched in a corner,[8]once in a while giving a plaintive little"meow," which no one noticed, if any oneheard. Yet, after all, Kittyboy's losing ofhimself was not such a dreadful thing, forhe was always being kicked aside as atroublesome beast, even before his littlemistress, Annie Brady, was sent away to aHome, being considered by her uncle'sfamily in the light of a nuisance, quite asgreat as Kittyboy himself. Nevertheless,in spite of his rather unpleasant experiencesin the world, Ki