[THE MOUSE]
A Study in Egotisms
Scene: A drawing-room.
Persons: Clarissa, the Mouse, Purrline.
Clarissa: Help! Help! A Mouse!
Mouse: Don’t be alarmed! I’m here!
I hurried when I heard you scream—
Clarissa: Oh, dear!
If it jumps up at me I shall expire!
Mouse: If I may be permitted to enquire,
Why are you standing there in such a fright,
Upon a chair, clutching your frock so tight
About your—
Clarissa: Help! Oh dear! I wonder what
That girl’s about! Good heavens! I forgot
It’s Jane’s day out. There’s no one in the house
But me—
Mouse: Fair lady! I am but a Mouse,
A simple Mouse, but underneath this fur
There beats a heart whose motto is Sans Purr.
To see a lovely female in distress
Rouses in me the spirit of Noblesse.
To her protection instantly I fly.
No common Mus Domesticus am I!
You may have heard—