“Oh!” Polly started suddenly and rushed on again. “Yes, there he was, that dreadful creature right in the”—
“You said that,” cried Joel. “Mrs. Nutcracker met her cousin, you told already; now what next?”
“So I did,” said Polly brightly. “Yes, she met her cousin, and so they stopped to talk and to ask after each other’s families; and that took a good deal of time, you know; and all this while there was that dreadful creature in Mrs. Nutcracker’s little house.”
“Oh, dear me!” cried Joel.
“Yes; and there were all the little Nutcrackerses having such a good time running round, trying to find out what the noise was all about, and Mr. Nutcracker, too, he”—
“Polly,” asked Joel suddenly, “what was the noise about?”
“Oh! it was nothing but a boy driving a lot of [pigs] to market, and they [wouldn’t go the way he wanted ’em to]; so he chased ’em, and he switched his stick over their backs, and they squealed awfully. And the little Nutcrackerses were so sorry that they had taken the trouble to come down just for that; so they said they’d race up home again and see who would beat.”
[And the pigs wouldn’t go the way he wanted ’em to.]
“O Polly!” cried Joel, in great excitement; “and did they, and find the dreadful creature with the green eyes waiting for ’em in their home? Did they, Polly?”