dark green tartan plaid sweater his wife had meticulously crocheted for him. "I'm afraid I'll get beef stew on it! How in the world did you manage to get the plaid pattern so precisely correct?"

"I used a small stitch and just went back and forth row by row. I had a picture of that kind of plaid in those colors which I was looking at the whole time so I kept switching off appropriately. It was a tad challenging but I learned lots of new tricks making that sweater for you."

"Well, I thank you. Scotland thanks you. My ancestors thank you." He took a mouthful of stew. "Oh, my goodness, this is so good!" He dove into his stew and there was silence for a while as theyreappear when he got tired of admiring himself and receiving dozens of compliments from everyone he encountered in town, but that would take a while yet.

"Say, hon, I have a question," said Connie.

"Sure."

"You know I just love your new haircut. But I would love to know how in the world you are keeping every single hair perfectly in place all the time?"

Without missing a beat he replied, "Sorry, that's classified."

THE END

Preview, The Cat Who Cut a Rug, Book Three

"What's he doing?" asked Connie.

"He's got something in his mouth," answered Qwilleran.

"It had better not be a grape! Enough mess already!"

"We're out of grapes. What is that?"

"It looks like a string, maybe?"

"Get that away from him! If he swallows it, it could wrap around his intestines!"

Koko responded cooperatively by jumping