"That nobody should know who was the man on the Woolly Horse!" said Mrs. Smart, in extreme vexation.
"My friend Mr. Tickle may know," said Toney, with a mischievous twinkle of his eye, as he directed their attention to the Professor, who was instantly surrounded.
"Who was it, Mr. Tickle?" said Mrs. Foot.
"Who was it?" exclaimed Mrs. Cross.
"Oh, dear! who was it?" cried Mrs. Hobbs.
"Mr. Tickle, who was the man on the Woolly Horse?" screamed Mrs. Smart.
"Ladies," said the Professor, with profound gravity, "it may have been an Osage Indian carrying a Woolly Horse, which he had captured in the Rocky Mountains, to Barnum."
"It was an Osage Indian on the Woolly Horse!" screamed Mrs. Smart.
"No, it wasn't an Osage Indian," said Mrs. Tongue, who had entered the room unobserved.