(Page [Seventy-One])
Zip sat quietly in the middle of the kitchen floor, enjoying their fright until the sound of the grocery wagon had died out down the street. Then he barked, "Ha, ha! I've gotten you now just where I want you, and I am going to bite your tail clear off! I see you have it done up in a white rag with witch hazel on it, for I smell the stuff."
Zip really did not intend to bite his tail off, but only pretended to do so, giving it a good pinch between his teeth.
With a shrill scream of fright, the monkey jumped onto the kitchen table that stood beside his chair, and he pulled so hard that the string broke. Its giving way so suddenly sent him flying off the table onto the floor, but he was up in a minute and leaped to the stove. The fire was out, but the stove was still warm, so he jumped upon the tea kettle. There he perched, hanging to the handle until Zip, seeing there was no fire in the stove, jumped on the hearth and from the hearth up on the stove. As Zip landed there, Peter-Kins ran up the stove pipe, but he kept slipping back, it was so smooth. From there he leaped to the top of the roller towel, but horrors! it began to roll up and when he stuck his claws into the towel, it unwound and took him nearly to the floor. He was afraid to let go and drop to the floor. Still if he held on, Zip could reach him too. He was wondering just where he could go to escape the dog when Zip jumped off the stove and grabbed the end of his long tail. Peter-Kins gave a jerk and tried to run up the towel, leaving his bandage in Zip's mouth. While Zip was trying to get the cloth out of his mouth, Peter-Kins dropped to the floor and climbed up on the kitchen table. Seeing a basket of eggs the grocery boy had left, he began throwing them at Zip, who was having a hard time getting rid of the bandage, for the more he pulled, the tighter it wedged itself between his sharp teeth.
Now Zip was in a pretty fix, for he could not bite with the wad of cotton in his mouth, neither could he run and jump for in trying to get the bandage from between his teeth, he had gotten it twisted around his legs and fast between two of his toes, which made it only possible for him to walk slowly.
And all this time Peter-Kins kept pelting him with the eggs, which broke and ran all over his back and down into his eyes, while Polly shrieked and cried out all the names she had ever been taught without the least knowing what they meant. Every time an egg would hit Zip, she would laugh and call out, "Soak him, Jimmy!"
Then Zip would glare at her and make as if going for her, which would cause her to cry out, "Help! Fire! Murder! Thieves! Buttons! Polly want cup coffee! Naughty boy, spank, spank! Tee-dull, dee-tee-dull-dum! Catchum! Catchum! Crackers, crackers, pretty Polly!" all in a jumble.