“Mr. Bunnett walked up and down the room thinking.  ’We must try and find ’omes for ’em when they are old enough,’ he says at last; ’I’ll go round myself and see wot I can do for you.’

“Henery Walker thanked ’im and went off ‘ome doing a bit o’ thinking; and well he ‘ad reason to.  Everybody wanted one o’ them kittens.  Peter Gubbins offered for to take two, and Mr. Bunnett told Henery Walker next day that ‘e could ha’ found ’omes for ’em ten times over.

“’You’ve no idea wot fine, kind-’arted people they are in this village when their ‘arts are touched,’ he ses, smiling at Henery.  ’You ought to ’ave seen Mr. Jones’s smile when I asked ’im to take one.  It did me good to see it.  And I spoke to Mr. Chambers about drowning ’is kittens, and he told me ’e hadn’t slept a wink ever since.  And he offered to take your old cat to make up for it, if you was tired of keeping it.

“It was very ’ard on Henery Walker, I must say that.  Other people was getting the credit of bringing up ’is kittens, and more than that, they used to ask Mr. Bunnett into their places to see ’ow the little dears was a-getting on.

“Kindness to animals caused more unpleasantness in Claybury than anything ’ad ever done afore.  There was hardly a man as ’ud speak civil to each other, and the wimmen was a’most as bad.  Cats and dogs and such-like began to act as if the place belonged to ’em, and seven people stopped Mr. Bunnett one day to tell ’im that Joe Parsons ’ad been putting down rat-poison and killed five little baby rats and their mother.

“It was some time afore anybody knew that Bob Pretty ’ad got ’is eye on that gold watch, and when they did they could ’ardly believe it.  They give Bob credit for too much sense to waste time over wot they knew ’e couldn’t get, but arter they ’ad heard one or two things they got alarmed, and pretty near the whole village went up to see Mr. Bunnett and tell ’im about Bob’s true character.  Mr. Bunnett couldn’t believe ’em at fast, but arter they ’ad told ’im of Bob’s poaching and the artful ways and tricks he ’ad of getting money as didn’t belong to ’im ’e began to think different.  He spoke to parson about ’im, and arter that ’e said he never wanted for to see Bob Pretty’s face again.

“There was a fine to-do about it up at this ’ere Cauliflower public-’ouse that night, and the quietest man ’o the whole lot was Bob Pretty.  He sat still all the time drinking ’is beer and smiling at ’em and giving ’em good advice ’ow to get that gold watch.

“‘It’s no good to me,’ he ses, shaking his ’ead.  ‘I’m a pore labourin’ man, and I know my place.’

“’Ow you could ever ’ave thought you ‘ad a chance, Bob, I don’t know,’ ses Henery Walker.

“‘Ow’s the toad, Bob?’ ses Bill Chambers; and then they all laughed.

“‘Laugh away, mates,’ ses Bob; ’I know you don’t mean it.  The on’y thing I’m sorry for is you can’t all ’ave the gold watch, and I’m sure you’ve worked ’ard enough for it; keeping Henery Walker’s kittens for ’im, and hanging round Mr. Bunnett’s.’