I succeeded at length, however, and, once outside the door, I
put sufficient distance between myself and the house to ensure my not
being captured, for I knew "Toady" so long as he lived would never cease
hoping to get me back.
"'Where to go, I did not know. Two or three homes were offered me, but
none of them quite suited me. At one place, where I put up for a day,
just to see how I liked it, there was a dog; and at another, which would
otherwise have done admirably, they kept a baby. Whatever you do, never
stop at a house where they keep a baby. If a child pulls your tail or
ties a paper bag round your head, you can give it one for itself and
nobody blames you. "Well, serve you right," they say to the yelling
brat, "you shouldn't tease the poor thing." But if you resent a baby's
holding you by the throat and trying to gouge out your eye with a wooden
ladle, you are called a spiteful beast, and "shoo'd" all round the
garden. If people keep babies, they don't keep me; that's my rule.
"'After sampling some three or four families, I finally fixed upon a
banker. Offers more advantageous from a worldly point of view were open
to me. I could have gone to a public-house, where the victuals were
simply unlimited, and where the back door was left open all night.
Pages:
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149