“Oh, you've got several bees in your bonnet, that's what's the matter with you!” exclaimed Nannie.
“Is it bees, ye say? Air they loose too?” screamed Bridget, jerking off her sunbonnet and tearing down her hair. “Is it bees as well as cows in me hid, an' ye standin' laffin loike ter kill yersilf at the very idee of me bein' murdered in cold blud!”
By this time her hair was distraught and her face flaming with excitement and exertion, and altogether she so closely resembled some avenging spirit that even Sarah Maria began to tremble before her.
As soon as Nannie could control herself she informed her that the terrifying words she used were merely a figure of speech.
“Clothed or not clothed——” Nannie began, but Bridget burst forth:
“An' I wuldn't hev belaved that anny young leddy wid a dacent raisin' wud use figgers of spache, widout clothes at that. It's Bridget O'Flannigan'll see if——”
But here Nannie's screams of laughter interrupted her.
“I believe you've a brick in your bonnet as well as a bee,” she exclaimed.
This time Bridget understood, and clapping her sunbonnet (upside down) onto her disrumpled head, she wabbled toward the house.
This would never do, so Nannie ran and planted herself in front of her.