CHAPTER IV
THE SIEGE.
“Open the door,” screamed granny, beside herself with rage, “or I’ll kill you.”
“You can’t get at me,” said Tom, triumphantly.
The old woman grasped the knob of the door and shook it vigorously. But the lock resisted her efforts. Tom’s spirit was up, and she rather enjoyed it.
“Shake away, granny,” she called through the key-hole.
“If I could only get at you!” muttered granny.
“I won’t let you in till you promise not to touch me.”
“I’ll skin you alive.”
“Then you can’t come in.”
The old woman began alternately to pound and kick upon the door. Tom sat down coolly upon a chair, her dark eyes flashing exultingly. She knew her power, and meant to keep it. She had not reflected how it was to end. She supposed that in the end she would get a “lickin’,” as she had often done before. But in the mean while she would have the pleasure of defying and keeping the old woman at bay for an indefinite time. So she sat in placid enjoyment in her stronghold until she heard something that suggested a speedy raising of the siege.