'Breathe fire! Oh, Mother! Do you think it's a silly dragon in a fairy story? Of course it doesn't. How can it breathe fire?'
'Sorry,' said Edith apologetically. 'Go on.'
'But, the peculiar thing about it, besides that it lives entirely on muffins and mutton and the frightening part, I'm coming to now.' He became emphatic, and spoke slowly. 'The golden quoribus has more claws than any… other… animal… in the whole world!'
'Oh-h-h,' she shuddered.
'Yes,' said Archie solemnly. 'It has large claws coming out of its head.'
'Its head! Good gracious!'
'It has claws here and claws there; claws coming out of the eyes; and claws coming out of the ears; and claws coming out of its shoulders; and claws coming out of the forehead!'
Edith shivered with fright and held up her hands in front of her eyes to ward off the picture.
'And claws coming out of the mouth,' said Archie, coming a step nearer to her and raising his voice.
Edith jumped.