“it seemed as if everything had gone wrong”
The cook, who was, in truth, a very kind-hearted man, sought to reassure the poor cat. “There; it is unfortunate, very; but do not weep; thieves thrive in kings’ houses!” he said, and, stooping, he began to stroke the drooping cat’s back to show that he held the weeping creature blameless.
Sooty Will’s heart leaped into his throat.
“‘where is the coffee?’ said the cook”
“Oh, oh!” he half gasped, “oh, oh! If he rubs his great hand down my back he will feel the corners of the coffee-mill through my ribs as sure as fate! Oh, oh! I am a gone cat!” And with that, in an agony of apprehension lest his guilt and his falsehood be thus presently detected, he humped up his back as high in the air as he could, so that the corners of the mill might not make bumps in his sides and that the mill might thus remain undiscovered.
But, alas! he forgot that coffee-mills turn. As he humped up his back to cover his guilt, the coffee-mill inside rolled over, and, as it rolled, began to grind—rr-rr-rr-rr-rr-rr-rr-rr-rr-rr!
“Oh, oh! you have swallowed the mill!” cried the cook.
