Mrs Forster curtsied.
“Smile upon them,” continued the malicious young lady.
Mrs Forster grinned horribly.
“Now dance your cat.”
Mrs Forster obeyed the injunction.
“Now give a loud shriek, and toss the cat out of window.”
Mrs Forster uttered a hideous yell, and threw the animal at the heads of the spectators, who retreated with alarm in every direction.
“Now burst into a fit of laughter, curtsy to them, and wave your hand, and that will be sufficient.”
Mrs Forster obeyed the last order, and Miss Dragwell shut the window. In a few minutes the report spread that Mrs Forster had gone out of her senses; and the murder of Mr Spinney, a topic which was nearly exhausted, was dismissed for the time to dwell and comment upon the second catastrophe.