“And why not, my dear?”
“Why! Because they’ve set a guard.”
“Guard! An old cat, you mean. Are you afraid of her?”
“Yes, because she mews when she sees something.”
“I say, I’ll tell you what to do. Take a bit of meat, and when she opens her mouth to mew, pitch it in. That’ll keep her jaws quiet while we pick the broccoli.”
And so it was done, and they got away with another bagful of broccoli.
In the morning the mago Virgil found that he had been robbed again. He complained again to his wife, who said:
“Well, to-night we will put the dog on.”
Said and done. But the dame at the window was on the watch. And seeing all, she said:
“No broccoli to-night, gossip. This time they’ve put the dog to look out.”