I
found in my cage. Having finished my repast, I was alarmed at
hearing the voice of Thomas, (whom I wished at York,) bawling to
his sister, "Shall I bring him down;" and still more alarmed by
hearing her squeaking voice (which I wished at Dover) pronounce,
"Yes." I sat in my cage trembling, every minute expecting to be
taken down and exercised; but was relieved by hearing Tom fall
almost from the top of the stairs to the bottom. In a minute the
whole house was in an uproar. Mr. and Mrs. Howard came running
out: she applied the hartshorn to his nose and temples; the
servants were running some one way, some another. Sophia, too,
was not silent. At last, when poor Thomas was lifted up, and his
wounds examined, there was nothing found but a great bump on the
back part of his head; which, when he found out, he gave a loud
laugh, and ran up stairs as fast as he did before. Now I was more
alarmed than ever, imagining that, as he had fell down in coming
to fetch me, he might look upon me as the cause of his fall, and
might therefore use me with greater violence. When he came up, he
took me in my cage into the parlour. Here I had an opportunity
of seeing the company: at the top sat Mrs. Howard; on her right
hand Miss Sophia Howard; next to her sat Tom Wilkins, one of Tom
Howard's schoolfellows; at the bottom sat Mr. Howard, next to him
Miss Eliza Wilkins, and next to her Tom Howard. I was now made to
exercise again, for the amusement of the company; who, in return,
very generously gave me cherries, and any other nice thing I chose
to eat. At last they ventured to let me out, and Tom Howard forgot
to put my chain on. The love of liberty being too strong in me,
I jumped off the table without farther ceremoney. All the company
rose up, (which, by the bye, had they not done, they might have
caught me much sooner than they did,) and ran after me. The room
not being quite wide enough to admit so many as tried to pass
by the table at once, Eliza Wilkins tumbled and tripped up Tom
Howard, who was behind her, and could not stop himself. Sophia was
very near down, but saved herself at the expence of young Wilkins,
whose waistcoat she caught hold of, by which he fell on young
Howard and Eliza. While they were in this confusion, I jumped upon
a pier-glass which hung in the room, where I sat all the time.
When they had all scrambled up they began to look for me again,
but in a more cautious manner than they had done before. At last
Wilkin