TODDLES AND BLOP

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21410, 28 February 1935, Page 8 (Supplement)

TODDLES AND BLOP

Toddles was two months old when he came to live with Miss Mary Macintosh, ind Blop was not much older. Toddles was an adorable tabby kitten with a snowy white bib. and Blop was a cheeky, lovable puppy of a tan colour, with white shirt-front, and paws. "Why ever did you call them Toddles and Blop?" someone asked Miss Mary once, but she had only laughed for reply, for, secretly. Miss Mary really didn't know. They had just been Toddles and Blop from the very beginning, and to call them anything else would have been silly, for it became them both so very well. Toddles and Blop had both been with Miss Marj' for a year, so she decided to give them a birthday party. But the day before the party, Toddles disappeared. Poor Blop went to sleep cold •no lonely, for Toddles and he slept in the same box. And «ss Mary wandered disconsolately «D°ut, milk jug in hand, calling "Toddles, puss, puss, P*M-les. But no Toddles apJ*Bred, and Miss Mary worried so ®uch that she could scarcely sleep a wink. £ or the next two days Toddles did S a PP ea r, and poor Miss Mary quite given up hope. Blop waridered about with his tail be*!r en *> ls legs, feeling very lonely f 2 ".. and Miss Mary wandered J' 1 '* 1 er strongest spectacles her nose, calling, "Toddles, ;Pf * P U , SE - puss-y!" poking into all most unlikely places, and looking under the beds. And when she ln PPed over Blop she would pick

(By Barbara Silver)

him up and kiss his mournful little face, and he would lick hers. On the third morning Miss Mary opened the kitchen door, and there, sitting as if she had never been away, sat Toddles. "Toddles!" cried Miss Mary with a little scream of joy, and Blop came bouncing out, his tail jazzing, and barking in excitement. But Toddles had no more than a few grateful rubs for Miss Mary, and a grateful purr, before she tackled the milk and meat Miss Mary gave her as if she hadn't had anything to eat for weeks. Poor Blop! Toddles quite ignored him. And as soon as she had had all she wanted, she rushed outside and disappeared. "Well!" said Miss Mary when she'd gone, "Did you ever?" She picked Blop up and asked him about it, but Blop was quite miserable. He couldn't understand this new attitude of Toddles's at all. For over a week it continued. Toddles was there every morning, and Blop was severely ignored. Miss Mary was becoming quite annoyed. "The way that cat treats us, Blop, is disgraceful!" she said, and Blop agreed. Now Blop was inquisitive, like most puppy-dogs of his age, and one morning he hid in the yard, then followed Toddles after she had had her meal. He saw her go into a hole beneath an old tin shed that was filled with straw, in the field next door, so the following morning he only waited until Toddles was inside before he was racing off to the old tin shed. The hole was rather small for his squat little body, but at last

he managed to squeeze in. Then—of all the things he had imagined —no, you couldn't guess—two of the loveliest little kittens! Blop just sat down on his haunches and gasped. He didn't know what to think. At first he was so pleased with Toddles being so clever, but on second thoughts he remembered how she had been behaving to him lately. Fancy Toddles deceiving Miss Mary and him so! He would teach Toddles to be unjust! He advanced quietly to the edge of the little warm nest, and eyed the twins. They were exactly like Tqddles herself, excepting only one possessed a snowy white bib. Then, very carefully, he proceeded to lift one of the babes out. The wee thing cried a little, which rather annoyed him, but he managed to get it to the entrance, when—of course, Toddles had to return just then. She didn't give Blop time to explain, and she quite forgot they used to be such splendid friends. Suddenly she became a fury, all teeth and claws and spitting. Poor Blop turned and fled as fast as his legs would take him. "Little spitfire!" he told himself, licking his scratches, and rolled over and over, trying to tell himself he didn't love Toddles any more. But by afternoon he had decided to ask Toddles's forgiveness, and set off to visit her. But by afternoon Toddles had decided that the old tin shed was no place for her precious babes, and that she must return with them to Miss Mary's. She had the youngest one half across the field when Blop appeared. "Spit! Spit! sssss!" said Toddles angrily, putting her babe between her front p'aws. Blop just sat down and looked sadly at her till she ran out of breath and had to stop. Then, "I won't touch it,

Toddles,"' he promised solemnly, and Toddles picked up er burden and resumed her journey, with Blop walking proudly beside her, and Toddles turning to cast a suspicious or doubtful glance at him every few steps. Miss Mary was scrubbing the kitchen floor when Toddles, the kitten, and Blop marched in. She sat up in surprise, and the surprise turned to astonishment when she saw what Toddles had in her mouth. "Toddles!" she gasped, sitting plop on the wet floor. And Toddles solemnly deposited her wee burden in Miss Mary's apron, stayed to purr a little, then raced after the other one. Blop stayed. "Well, Toddles!" Miss Mary exclaimed at intervals, for she could not get over it, and Blop thumped his tail more than he'd ever thumped it before, and sniffed at the wee thing, and licked it to make friends. When Toddles came back with the second one, Miss Mary was stroking it gently and still exclaiming, "Well, Toddles!" a little absently, and when she saw the second one she said faintly, "How many more, Toddles?" But Toddles stayed, so Miss Mary knew, and was glad it was only two. Then a nice nest in a basket was made for the family, and on the second night Blop's basket was placed next to Toddles's and Toddles didn't mind. She just looked at Blop and blinked and smiled a little, and Blop was glad and thumped his tail, and licked her a little, to show her how happy he was, and soon Miss Mary came to see if they were all safe and comfortable, and she said, "Next month the kittens will be a month old, and as Toddles and Blop didn't have a birthday party after all, we'll have a big one for the kittens, too. now, all together." Then she bentdown and cuddled them all.