At that moment the string bit hard into the captured tail, and the kitten cried out with the pain.

"Look out! You're hurting her," cautioned David sharply.
Only a laugh and a jeering word answered.

Then the kitten, with the bag on its head and the tin can tied to its tail, was let warily to the ground, the tall boy still holding its back with both hands.
"Ready, now! Come on, play," he ordered; "then we'll set her dancing." David's eyes flashed.
"I will not play--for that." The boys stopped laughing suddenly.
"Eh?
What ?" They could scarcely have been more surprised if the kitten itself had said the words.
"I say I won't play--I can't play--unless you let that cat go." "Hoity-toity! Won't ye hear that now ?" laughed a mocking voice.

"And what if we say we won't let her go, eh ?" "Then I'll make you," vowed David, aflame with a newborn something that seemed to have sprung full-grown into being.
"Yow!" hooted the tallest boy, removing both hands from the captive kitten.
The kitten, released, began to back frantically.

The can, dangling at its heels, rattled and banged and thumped, until the frightened little creature, crazed with terror, became nothing but a whirling mass of misery.