Everyone was out. The house was empty. Biddle wanted milk.
He had an idea.
He went to the study, tipped over the wastepaper basket, and emptied it on the floor. Then he pushed the empty basket — bit by bit — across the room and down the hallway, until it sat right outside the pantry door.
He turned it upside down.
He climbed on top.
He reached the door handle with his front paws, turned the knob — actually turned it — until the latch clicked free, and pushed the door open.
He moved the basket aside, walked into the pantry, and there was his saucer of milk, exactly where it always was.
He was still drinking when the family came home and found him — and the wastepaper basket, and the trail it had left across the floor — and understood exactly what had happened.
