‘Oh, shut up,’ said Miss Bones, seizing the water-bottle on the table. She drank out of the mouth of it in a very rude manner, and spilt a quantity of it. ‘He doesn’t want you, and you don’t want him, and you’re only shamming. But what’s the matter with me?’ David turned on her. ‘The matter with you is,’ he said, ‘that you’re always eating raw meat. I’d sooner be eaten by the pike than see you eat all day and night.’ Miss Bones put the ox-tail into her mouth again. ‘So that’s that,’ she mumbled. ‘There’s no accounting for tastes.’ Miss Muffet cleared her throat and coughed, holding her hand up to her mouth in the most genteel way. ‘That leaves me,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to be married, as I told you before. But if you’ll beg my dear spider’s pardon, and he says there’s room for you on the tuffet, I’ll forgive you, and you may sleep in the bathing-machine. There! And you can ride the stuffed horse whenever you like.’ The registrar had been drawing pictures of David on the blotting-paper. ‘When I have counted ten,’ he said. ‘You’ve got to choose. If you don’t, I shall choose for you. What’s that?’ he added, looking up at the window. A large mild face was pressed against the glass, and there was the cow outside, moving her mouth round and round, and breathing so heavily against the window that it was almost impossible to see out. Then the glass gave way under the pressure of her nose, and she put her head into the room. ‘Moo! Put my name down,’ she said. ‘I’m incognito, so call me a porter.’ ‘You’re too late for this morning,’ said Noah. ‘No, I’m not,’ said the cow. ‘You are,’ said Noah angrily. ‘Don’t interrupt. One—two—three—four——’ The cow breathed heavily into the room. ‘Why, it’s the boy who went Anywhere,’ she said, seeing David. ‘I never thought the express called here, dearie.’ David ran across to that kind, mild creature. ‘Oh, do knock the whole place down,’ he said. ‘They want to marry me, and it’s all so beastly. Butt at it, as you did at my luggage.’ ‘Five—six,’ said Noah. ‘All right, dearie,’ said the cow, shaking bits of broken glass from her ears. ‘You just get behind the door, and I’ll see to them all. But you must promise not to go milking me again.’ ‘Never, never,’ shrieked David. ‘But be quick; he’s counted six already.’ ‘Seven—eight,’ said Noah. The cow backed into the village street, and David saw her tail fly up with a spring. She put her head down, and came galloping towards the house, and he ran behind the door. ‘Nine—ten!’ said Noah. ‘Choose, or be chosen for.’ At that moment the cow’s head crashed into the wall below the window. Miss Muffet gave one faint scream, and said, ‘Spider, dear!’ Miss Bones whirled her ox-tail round her head like a sling, and, intending to hit the cow, hit Noah the most awful slap on his false whiskers, which fell off. The giraffe’s head went up the chimney with a pop and a shower of soot descended into the room.