g," said the Terror.

"You're jabbering yourself now," said Erebus unpleasantly.

Ruffling his fair hair in the agony of composition, the Terror
continued: "'The quantity of kittens that are drowned is
horrible'--that ought to fetch her; kittens are so much nicer than
cats--'and I have been thinking'--Oughtn't you to put in some stops?"

"I'm putting in stops--lots," said Erebus contemptuously.

"'I have been thinking--that if you wanted to have a cats' home
here'--What's the right word for 'running a thing,' Wiggins?"

Wiggins frowned deeply; a number of his freckles seemed to run into one
another.

"There is a word 'overseer'--slaves have them," he said cautiously.

The Terror sought that word painfully in the dictionary, spelled it
out, and continued: "'I could overseer it for you. I have got my eye
on a building which would suit us tremendously well. But these things
cost money, and it would not be any use starting with less than thirty
pounds'--

"Thirty pounds! My goodness!" cried Erebus; and her eyes opened wide.

"We may as well go the whole hog," said the Terror philosophically.
"Go on: 'Or else just as the cats get to be happy and feel it was a
real home--' What's the word for 'bust up,' Wiggins?"

"Burst up," said Wiggins without hesitation.

"No, no; not the grammar--the right word! Oh, I know; 'go
bankrupt'--'it might go bankrupt. So it you would like to have a cats'
home here and send me some money, I will start it at once. Your
affectionate nephew, Hyacinth Wolfram Dangerfield.' There!" said the
Terror with a sigh of relief.

"But you've left me out altogether," said Erebus in a suddenly
aggrieved tone.

"I should jolly well think I had! You know that ever since you stayed
with Aunt Amelia, and taught her parrot to say 'Dam,' she won't have
anything to do with you," said the Terror firmly.

"There's no pleasing some people," said Erebus mournfully. "When I
went there the silly old parrot couldn't say a thing; and when I came
away, he could say 'Dam! Dam! Dam!' from morning till night without
making a mistake."

"It's a word people don't like," said the Terror.

"Well, I and the parrot meant a dam in a river. I told Aunt Amelia
so," said Erebus firmly.

"She might not believe you; she doesn't know how truthfully we've been
brought up," said the Terror. "Go on; sign my name to the letter."

"That's forgery. You ought to sign your name yourself," said Erebus.

"No; you