"'Ye little limb! what for did ye say I killed the boy? I'll tickle ye
till ye're stiff!'

"If I'd a thought an instant, I'd a turned about and run. But I
couldn't take my eyes off her, and I backed from her as soon as I
could; and she came clatterin' after like a thing on wires, with her
fingers pointing to my throat, and she makin' all the time a sound
with her tongue like zizz-zizz-zizz.

"I kept backin' and backin' as quick as I could, and her fingers was
only a few inches away from my throat, and I felt I'd lose my wits if
she touched me.

"I went back this way, right into the corner, and I gev a yellock,
ye'd think saul and body was partin', and that minute my aunt, from
the door, calls out wi' a blare, and the ald lady turns round on her,
and I turns about, and ran through my room, and down the stairs, as
hard as my legs could carry me.

"I cried hearty, I can tell you, when I got down to the housekeeper's
room. Mrs. Wyvern laughed a deal when I told her what happened. But
she changed her key when she heard the ald lady's words.

"'Say them again,' says she.

"So I told her.

"'Ye little limb! What for did ye say I killed the boy? I'll tickle ye
till ye're stiff.'