“Oh!” he cried involuntarily.
“What’s the matter? Oh, I had forgotten they bite too.”
“What is this practical joke?” he cried angrily.
“Eh?” said Jinny. “Didn’t you order a pair of ferrets to be sent by the Carrier?”
His eyes grew wide. “I beg your pardon—I’d quite forgotten.”
“I thought Deacon Mawhood wasn’t a likely joker. Polecats, he said. Have you got the cages?” she asked, not looking back.
“I’m—I’m getting them,” he stammered, and began cautiously haling them towards him.
“The Deacon asked me to say the hob and the jill must be kept apart.”
“I know,” he grunted, almost as shocked as over her mention of Maria’s litter. The impudicity of her calling was again borne in on him.
“Anything else?” burst from him sardonically.