se, gnawed a hole in the door,
and squeezed himself through, immediately turning into his proper shape
again, for fear of accidents.

The kitchen fire was at its last glimmer; but it showed a better supper
than even last night, for the Cook had had friends with her--a brother
and two cousins--and they had been exceedingly merry. The food they had
left behind was enough for three Brownies at least, but this one managed
to eat it all up. Only once, in trying to cut a great slice of beef, he
let the carving-knife and fork fall with such a clatter, that Tiny the
terrier, who was tied up at the foot of the stairs, began to bark
furiously. However, he brought her her puppy, which had been left in a
basket in a corner of the kitchen, and so succeeded in quieting her.

After that he enjoyed himself amazingly, and made more marks than ever
on the white table-cloth; for he began jumping about like a pea on a
trencher, in order to make his particularly large supper agree with him.

Then, in the absence of the cat, he teased the puppy for an hour or two,
till hearing the clock strike five, he thought it as well to turn into a
mouse again, and creep back cautiously into his cellar. He was only just
in time, for Muff opened one eye, and was just going to pounce upon him,
when he changed himself back into a Brownie. She was so startled that
she bounded away, her tail growing into twice its natural size, and her
eyes gleaming like round green globes. But Brownie only said, "Ha, ha,
ho!" and walked deliberately into his hole.

When Cook came downstairs and saw that the same thing had happened
again--that the supper was all eaten, and the table-cloth blacker than
ever with the extraordinary footmarks, she was greatly puzzled. Who
could have done it all? Not the cat, who came mewing out of the
coal-cellar the minute she unlocked the door. Possibly a rat--but then
would a rat have come within reach of Tiny?

"It must have been Tiny herself, or her puppy," which just came rolling
out of its basket over Cook's feet. "You little wretch! You and your
mother are the greatest nuisance imaginable. I'll punish you!"

And, quite forgetting that Tiny had been safely tied up all night, and
that her poor little puppy was so fat and helpless it could scarcely
stand on its legs, to say nothing of jumping on chairs and tables, she
gave them both such a thrashing that they ran howling together out of
the kitchen door, where the kind little kitchen-ma