She managed
after this mishap to procure a light, and by a circuitous route,
constructed of tables and chairs, to avoid stepping upon the floor,
Mrs. B. obtained the desired weapon. It was then much better than a
play to behold that heroic woman defying grimalkin from her eminence,
and to listen to the changeful dialogue which ensued between herself
and that far from dumb, though inarticulately speaking animal.
"Puss, puss, pussy--poor pussy."
"Miau, miau, miau," was the linked shrillness, long drawn out, of the
feline reply.
"Poor old puss, then, was it ill? Puss, puss. Henry, the horrid beast
is going to fly at me! Whist, whist, cat."
"Ps-s-s-s. ps-s-s-s, miau; ps-s-s-s-s-s-s-s," replied the other, in a
voice like fat in the fire.
"My dear love," cried I, almost suffocated with a combination of
laughter and quinsy; "you have never opened the door; where is the
poor thing to run to?"
Mrs. B. had all this time been exciting the bewildered animal to
frenzy by her conversation and shovel, without giving it the
opportunity to escape, which, as soon as offered, it took advantage
of with an expression of savage impatience partaking very closely
indeed of the character of an oath.
This is, however, the sole instance of Mrs.
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