I could not get over my dread of the green creature, and I had
crept under the table, so that if it came out and frightened Miss Laura,
I could jump up and catch it.
When tea was half over, she gave a little cry. I sprang up on her lap,
and there, gliding over the table toward her, was the wicked-looking
green thing. I stepped on the table, and had it by the middle before it
could get to her. My hind legs were in a dish of jelly, and my front
ones were in a plate of cake, and I was very uncomfortable. The tail of
the green thing hung in a milk pitcher, and its tongue was still going
at me, but I held it firmly and stood quite still.
"Drop it, drop it!" cried Miss Laura, in tones of distress, and Mr.
Maxwell struck me on the back, so I let the thing go, and stood
sheepishly looking about me. Mr. Wood was leaning back in his chair,
laughing with all his might, and Mrs. Wood was staring at her untidy
table with rather a long face. Miss Laura told me to jump on the floor,
and then she helped her aunt to take the spoiled things off the table.
I felt that I had done wrong, so I slunk out into the hall. Mr. Maxwell
was sitting on the lounge, tearing his handkerchief in strips and tying
them around the creature where my teeth had stuck in.
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