THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF 'TOM' 147 



revealed his identity, and the girl, horrified to find herself 

 in a bear's paws, uttered the scream which had given the 

 first note of warning. As already said, the sudden appear- 

 ance of Decamps and his guests had frightened Tom, and 

 Tom's fright had resulted in the fainting fit of the old 

 lady and the rout of the wedding party. 



Alexandre Decamps, who was a special friend of 

 Tom's, undertook to make his excuses to society in general, 

 and as a proof of his docility, to fetch Tom wherever he 

 might be, and bring him to make his own apologies. He 

 went into the dining-room, and there he found Tom 

 walking about the table with great dexterity, and in the 

 act of finishing his third tipsy-cake. 



Unluckily this proved a climax. The bridegroom 

 shared Tom's tastes, and he appealed for sympathy to all 

 lovers of tipsy-cake. Loud murmurs arose, which not 

 even the docile air of Tom as he followed Alexandre 

 Decamps could subdue. 



At the door Alexandre met the landlord, to whom the 

 old lady had just given notice to leave. The bridegroom 

 declared that nothing would induce him to stay in the 

 house another hour unless justice were done him, the 

 other lodgers chimed in as chorus. 



The landlord grew pale, as he foresaw himself left 

 in an empty house, and, turning to Decamps, told him 

 that, much as he wished to retain him as a lodger, it would 

 be impossible to do so unless he lost no time in getting 

 rid of an animal which had caused such a disturbance at 

 such an hour in a respectable house. 



Decamps, who, truth to say, was getting rather weary 

 of Tom's various scrapes, only hesitated long enough to 

 save appearances. He promised that Tom should leave 

 the premises the very next day, and, completely to re- 

 assure the lodgers, he at once took his bear down to the 

 yard, where he made him get into a large dog-kennel. 

 He then turned the opening to the wall, and heaped big 

 stones on the top. 



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