"But it's no trouble. I can get them both. They are right here in the woodshed." And he started toward the door.
"Come back," she said, "I don't care to see either of them."
"But the snake is dead and the mouse won't bite. He knows me."
Miss Clement shuddered: "No! No! Don't speak of them again! Come back."
He came back. She knew, and had always known, that boys themselves were a species of reptile. She felt, at this moment, that whatever this boy did must be regarded from that point of view—and forgiven. And as she wondered how a benevolent Creator could permit, in a decently ordered world, the existence of boys, the Vandal exclaimed in a reflective tone, but with a smile of amusement:
"Women are funny!"
At that moment the grandfather clock in the corner struck four. Miss Clement frowned in that direction. "When did Dr. Alton say he would be back?"
"He didn't say."
"But you told me he would return soon."