A platform, consisting of two collar boxes, was erected on the edge of the window sill where all might hear and see; and at the appointed hour every seat was taken, to say nothing of those who were obliged to stand.
The fair author was somewhat late, but after some delay the wooden soldier, who had been appointed manager of the entertainment, announced that it would commence. And Bedelia, bowing languidly, recited the following:
EPITAPH ON THE LATE ALLIGATOR P. M.
The Alligator, lo, is dead!
Bereft of his head,
His life breath sped,
And to another sphere his spirit fled.
This was received with great applause, only one rude and irreligious listener arose in the background and demanded to know where the epitaph was to be inscribed, adding that the remains of the departed, as they all very well knew, had been deposited in the kitchen coal scuttle.
Could an epitaph be recorded on a coal hod?