orb,
a long dark line, like a sea-serpent of a hundred joints, coming down
the street towards them, and soon discovered that it was a slow
procession of animals. First came Mistress Stephen, Stumpin Steenie the
policeman's cow, with her tail at full stretch behind her. To the end
of her tail was tied the nose of Jeames Joss the cadger's horse--a
gaunt sepulchral animal, which age and ill-treatment had taught to move
as if knees and hocks were useless refinements in locomotion. He had
just enough of a tail left to tie the nose of another cow to; and so,
by the accretion of living joints, the strange monster lengthened out
into the dim fiery distance.

When Mrs Stephen reached the square, she turned to lead her train
diagonally across it, for in that direction lay her home. Moved by the
same desire, the cadger's horse wanted to go in exactly the opposite
direction. The cow pulled the one way, and the horse pulled the other;
but the cow, having her head free, had this advantage over the horse,
which was fast at both ends. So he gave in, and followed his less noble
leader. Cow after horse, and horse after cow, with a majority of cows,
followed, to the number of twenty or so; after which the joints began
to diminish in size. Two calves were at the tail of the last cow, a
little Highland one, with a sheep between them. Then came a goat
belonging to Charles Chapman the wool-carder, the only goat in the
place, which as often as the strain on his own tail slackened, made a
butt at that of the calf in front of him. Next came a diminishing
string of disreputable dogs, to the tail of the last of which was
fastened the only cat the inventors of this novel pastime had been able
to catch. At her tail followed--alas!--Andrew Truffey's white rabbit,
whose pink eyes, now fixed and glazed, would no more delight the
imagination of the poor cripple; and whose long furry hind legs would
never more bang the ground in sovereign contempt, as he dared pursuit;
for the dull little beast, having, with the stiffneckedness of fear,
persisted in pulling against the string that tied him to the tail of
Widow Wattles's great tom-cat, was now trailed ignominiously upon his
side, with soiled fur and outstretched neck--the last joint, and only
dead one, of this bodiless tail.

Before Mistress Stephen had reached her home, and just as the last link
of the chain had appeared on the square, the mirth was raised to a yet
higher pitch by the sudden rush of s