“‘All right,’ said the cousins, bobbing their heads. ‘And I approve of your plan, Pa,’ said Mrs. Nutcracker very proudly; and the little Nutcrackerses hopped and skipped in joy, and so they started.”
Joel’s eyes got very big, but he didn’t say a word as he clung to Polly’s arm.
“And don’t you think,” said Polly, “that the hateful, bad old thing in the Nutcrackers’ house didn’t hear them coming; they all stepped on the tips of their toes, you know; and he just winked and blinked his green eyes as he said to himself, ‘I’ll catch ’em every one pretty soon.’ And then he looked up, and there was Mr. Nutcracker’s nose in the doorway.”
Joel jumped as if he were shot. “O Polly!” he screamed.
“And after him came all those cousins and Mrs. Nutcracker. She was slower, ’cause she was so big, you know; yes, and every single one of those little Nutcrackerses; they just ran in between all the others, and all together they jumped and hopped onto the great big dreadful creature, and”—
“Make him hop at them, and kick, too, Polly, that big man with the green eyes!” howled Joel, quite gone in excitement.
“Oh, it was very dreadful!” exclaimed Polly, holding up both hands, “for about a minute or so. And instead of the great, dreadful thing crying out, ‘I’ve got you!’ he began to whimper and beg. ‘Oh, let me go! let me go!’ And pretty soon all the whole bunch of Nutcrackerses, and their cousins who had come to help, just lifted up that bad, wicked, horrid thing with the green eyes, that had stolen into their house, and they pitched him, head over heels through the doorway, and down—down; and he was ten feet long; so he was dreadful slow in”—
“O Polly Pepper!” roared Joel, “what you saying? why, there isn’t any man so big as that.”
“It wasn’t a man,” said Polly coolly.
“Wasn’t a man?” fairly squealed Joel; “what was it?”