She kept on coughing and crying and at last said I should have five cabbages as a present; and then she cried again.
“Why do you cry now?” I asked. “Here comes Karl Johan with the locksmith.” True enough—they were coming at full speed with a very long pair of tongs.
“So you’ve been sitting under lock and key, have you?” said the locksmith.
Just imagine! I really did get five heads of cabbage as a present.
“Don’t talk to me, for I haven’t any breath,” said Mrs. Polby; but at the same minute she gave a scolding lecture to Karl Johan because he would not creep under the floor after the key.
Just imagine! I really did get five heads of cabbage as a present—and had my money besides!
So nowadays whenever I see Mrs. Polby standing on her front steps, I stop and we have a little chat; for we are the very best of friends.
IV
TOBIESEN’S GRAND PARLOR
So many strange things are always happening to me. Can you understand why? Some persons (like my aunt who went to Paris) never have anything the least bit interesting happen to them. Why, when she came home, she said (I heard her with my own ears):