Now Sarah had not been aware of the fact that her mistress was within the house. The knowledge, sudden and grim, found her quite unprepared, and coming, as it did, a climax on top of mice, monkeys, cats, dogs, parrots, tortoises, was too much for her equilibrium. Sarah fell with a clatter and a scream, and took the staid hall chair with her. She also took two umbrellas and a puppy. The puppy burst into howls and Sarah burst into tears. Each made a considerable noise, and a mouse fled appalled into Herr Schmidt’s bowler. Some of the O’Briens appeared from the kitchen (Molly had apparently been embracing the coal box). "Here’s the puppy!" The joy in Sheila Pat’s shout was the finishing touch to Miss Kezia’s wrath. It fairly blazed forth; she excelled herself. Her audience consisted chiefly of Sarah, still weeping; Molly, also weeping; and the wise-faced monkey, who sat in Denis’s coat collar and listened with sad attention. For the rest Denis and Nell and the Atom appeared and disappeared at intervals in pursuit of the puppy, the cat, and the mice. Miss Kezia’s peroration was eloquent; wrath lent it fire. But her eloquence began to fail at last, and then she demanded an explanation. Unfortunately, only Molly and Sarah were present at that point. Molly essayed an explanation, but evolved only the following:— "We—we didn’t mean—it—we didn’t. They—they—oh—poor little things—all cramped up—the—the cages were smaller—than themselves—we—we—we—" Then Miss Kezia said something that was not at all like her usual method of speech. In a voice thin and rasped with irritation and much eloquence, she observed:— "Apparently you think you are a pig! Eileen! Eileen! I _command_ you to come here!" Nell, a struggling puppy in her arms, stopped short. She was breathless, untidy, and hilarious. "We’ve got them all now, except three of the mice," she added. The jet ornament in Miss Kezia’s bonnet quivered spasmodically. "Perhaps you will condescend to explain now how it happens that you have turned my house into a menagerie," she said. Nell sat down on the lowest stair and kissed the puppy’s ugly little head. "We are going to send them all to Kilbrannan, Aunt Kezia. Duckie, stay still then! You see—" "You cannot send the missing mice away! They will overrun my house." "They’ll have plenty of room, anyway! If you had seen the cages, Aunt Kezia! This blessed puppy—" "Was in a cage smaller than himself! I have heard that already." There was sarcasm in her tone that was completely lost on Nell. "Yes! Just imagine! Oh, we just had to buy them all. And that poor parrot was eating out of an empty pan! It was cruel! We just went in and bought them all." "Bought—them—all!" Miss Kezia echoed her words quite faintly. "You _paid_ for these—these creatures!"