The Case of the Cat’s Meow
by Crosby Bonsall illustrations by Crosby Bonsall
Snitch was yelling. He was pulling a wagon with a funny thing in it. And
he was yelling.
“Stop yelling,” yelled his brother, Wizard.
“Stop yelling,” yelled his friend Skinny.
“Stop yelling,” yelled his friend Tubby. Snitch stopped yelling. It was
very quiet. The little noise in the wagon sounded like a loud cry.
“MEOW!”
There, in an old bird cage, sat Mildred. Mildred was Snitch’s cat. “I’m
keeping her safe,” Snitch said. “Somebody might steal her.”
“Who wants old Mildred?” Tubby said. “She’s dumb.”
“She’s no fun,” Skinny said.
“She makes too much noise,” Wizard said.
“She’s nice!” Snitch yelled. “I love Mildred!”
“Nobody is going to steal Mildred,” Wizard said. “We are private eyes.
We have our own clubhouse. We have a sign on the
door. Nobody will steal anything. Take my word for it.”
“We can catch anybody now,” Tubby said. “We have an alarm.”
“What alarm?” Snitch asked.
“The alarm we just put in,” Skinny said. “Step over this string.”
“See,” Wizard said, “if anybody comes sneaking around here, he will trip
over this string. That will pull this pail of water down on his head.
Then the string on the pail handle will ring this bell.”
“And it will ring and ring and ring,” Snitch cried. “And we will catch
whoever wants to steal Mildred.”
“Nobody wants to steal Mildred,” Wizard said. “Take my word for it.”
Snitch started to yell.
“Come on,” said Wizard. “It’s almost time for supper.”
“I knew it must be,” Tubby said.
They stepped over the string. Nobody wanted to set off the alarm.
When Snitch and Wizard got home, Mildred ran up the back steps. She ran
in the little door in the big door that was her door.
“She’s nice,” Snitch said. “I love
Mildred.”
But did Mildred love Snitch? The next morning she didn’t come when
Snitch called her. He called and called and called.
Wizard looked out the window.
“Somebody stole Mildred,” Snitch yelled.
“Nobody stole Mildred,” Wizard said. “Take my word for it.” But he came
down in a hurry.
“I’ll call Skinny and Tubby,” Wizard said.
“They will help us find Mildred.”
“Somebody stole her,” Snitch said. And he started to yell.
The boys looked for Mildred all that day.
“Anybody seen a dumb cat?” Tubby asked.
“Anybody seen a cat?” Skinny asked.
“She doesn’t do much.”
“Anybody seen a noisy cat?” Wizard asked.
“Have you seen my cat Mildred?” Snitch asked. “She’s soft and she’s
nice. And I love her.”
But he did not find Mildred. Nobody found Mildred. Nobody had even seen
Mildred.
Back at the clubhouse Wizard said, “We are not very good private eyes if
we can’t find Mildred.”
“But how can we?” Skinny asked.
“Food!” Tubby said. “Mildred has to eat.”
“That’s a good idea,” said Wizard.
“Tonight we’ll put food in the yard. If Mildred is hungry, she’ll come
home.”
“She likes liver,” Snitch said, “and strawberry jelly. Without seeds.”
“Z like strawberry jelly,” Tubby said.
Each of the boys brought some food. Next day they had cats, all right.
They had cats in the tree, cats on the
roof. They had cats on the grass and one cat sitting on a stone in the
middle of the brook. But no Mildred.
“Our plan was no good,” Wizard said.
“How do we get rid of these cats?”
“I know!” Skinny cried. “Dogs! Dogs will chase the cats away.”
“They will scare Mildred,” Snitch said.
“Mildred isn’t here,” Wizard said.
Snitch started to yell again.
The boys brought every dog they could find on the block. They got rid of
the cats, all right. But now they had dogs.
They had dogs in the tree, dogs on the
roof. They had dogs on the grass and one dog sitting on a stone in the
middle of the brook. And it took the rest of the day to take the dogs
home.
After supper Wizard called a meeting. “We have to keep our eyes open day
and night,” he said. “Let’s ask if we can sleep in the yard tonight.”
They went to bed even before their bedtime. They liked being outdoors.
It was warm. The sky was full of stars. Soon each of them was sound
asleep. And that was when the alarm went off.
The bell rang and rang. Wizard was up first. And then Skinny. Tubby got
stuck in his sleeping bag. So he took it with him. Wizard turned on his
flashlight. There was Snitch.
“I heard someone stealing Mildred,” he said.
“You can’t steal a cat who is not here!” Wizard yelled.
But they all went into the house for the rest of the night.
Next day Snitch told them something. “Last night I put food in Mildred’s
dish. And now it’s gone!”
Wizard was mad because he had not thought of Mildred’s dish. But he had
a plan. That night he put Mildred’s dish on a cookie tin filled with
flour. “Whoever is eating the food will have to walk over the flour.”
“And the white feet will leave a trail we can follow,” Skinny cried.
Next morning the food was gone. But there were clear white paw prints
going down the steps. Then the paw prints stopped.
“Shucks,” Tubby cried, “the flour didn’t last long enough.”
And Snitch started to yell.
“What will we do now?” Skinny asked.
“Try again tonight,” Wizard said. “And we will lock Mildred’s door.”
“Why?” asked Tubby.
“That cat is so noisy,” Wizard said, “she will cry if she can’t get in.”
“And we’ll hear her,” Tubby said. “And the case will be solved.”
“Then we’ll be private ears,” Skinny said.
That night the boys met on the porch. “Now let’s keep our eyes open,”
Wizard said.
They went to bed early. But the night was warm and the sky was full of
stars. Soon they were sound asleep.
“MEOW!”
“What was that?” Tubby whispered.
“Just an old cat,” Snitch said. He started to go back to sleep. “A CAT!”
he shouted. “It’s Mildred! She is found!”
Wizard turned on his flashlight. It was
Mildred, all right. But she was going away. “Meow,” she said as she
left.
“Follow that cat,” Wizard yelled.
Down the steps they ran, over the grass, up to the clubhouse. Mildred
was one jump ahead of them. One more jump took her over the string. The
string that was part of the alarm.
“Some alarm!” Wizard said. “It sure doesn’t catch cats!”
Each boy stepped over the string. Mildred jumped into the basket in the
corner.
“Where’s Mildred?” cried Snitch. “I brought her supper.”
“The case is solved,” said Wizard. “I told you nobody stole her.”
Snitch ran over to the basket. He started
to yell again. “MILDRED HAS KITTENS!”
“Oh, boy, I want one,” Tubby cried.
“Me too,” said Skinny.
“Don’t forget me,” Wizard said.
But Snitch had his arms around the basket. “Tubby said Mildred was
dumb,” Snitch said. “Skinny said she was no fun. Wizard said she made
too much noise.”
Well, they had said all those things.
Right then they changed their minds. Mildred was nice. They loved her.
And so they waited for the kittens to grow old enough to leave their
mother.
When they were old enough, Snitch gave a kitten to each private eye.
“This is one case I’m glad we solved,”
Skinny said.
“It’s lucky,” said Tubby, “we’re such good private eyes. The alarm
didn’t help us.”
“Snitch was the only one we ever caught with it,” Wizard said.
“Mildred will take care of us now,”
Snitch said.
“No, my cat will,” said Tubby.
“No, my cat will,” said Skinny.
“No, my cat will,” said Wizard. “You can take my word for it.”
And Snitch was yelling again.
You can join Wizard and his friends in other books by Crosby Bonsall.
Discover how they solve such mysteries as The Case of the Dumb Bells
and The Case of the Hungry Stranger—or see them outwitted by
Marigold and her friends in The Case of the Double Cross.
