' A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS ' 223 



I underestimated the evil cunning of the boy Billy, 

 for hardly had I dipped my tail three times into the 

 seductive jug, and licked it clean again, when there 

 was a sudden tap at the window. My heart leapt 

 into my mouth, and I fled for dear life — through 

 the larder door in safety, across the passage in 

 safety, though I expected every moment to feel a 

 stick across my back ; in safety I crossed the 

 dreaded boothole and sprang on to the shelf and 

 through the empty pane in the window, and even 

 as I rushed along the tank, I knew that destiny had 

 got me at last, for I planted my forepaw on some- 

 thing which gave way beneath it. I snatched it 

 away in haste, but far too slowly to prevent a pair 

 of cruel iron jaws from closing like a vice upon my 

 leg just above the ankle. 



With a scream of agony I flung myself towards 

 the ground, and my luck stood by me there, for, 

 had I fallen the other way, I must inevitably have 

 been drowned, and this story would never have 

 been wTitten. There was a hideous clang of iron 

 against the side of the tank, and I found myself 

 suspended in mid-air by a forepaw, which hurt me 

 more than a little, as you may well believe. How- 

 ever, I managed to retain my wits in the midst of 

 my trouble, and there was no small need of them, 



