"It is a short story that I am going to tell, but I wish to tell it. I wish to say that for my part I have never found any good come from knowing how to open doors. Not that I know how, but my mother does. She opened a door the other day to show me some cream. It was butter-cream streaming down a butter-churn. She told me to jump up and lick, and I did, and a man came and boxed my ears and I have not heard well since.

"Another time to please me, she opened a door and let me into a large dining-room that had long curtains just right to scratch and to climb up by, and a funny old feather hung over a funny old clock. I could go up on those good curtains, and jump to the clock and play with the feather. And one day I meddled with the clock to find out where its noise came from, and was caught and got the worst whipping I’ve ever had yet.

"Then here is my brother Bobby hiding yonder behind Black Velvet. Why does he hide? His ears are tied up with strings. Bobby likes work-baskets. He teased our mother to let him into a room where there was a work-basket. He played in it, and the girl tied his ears with strings, and he ran round, and rolled, and could not get them off, and ran into a coal-hole, and stayed till he was very hungry, and when he went into the house he went to a boy that was sitting on the floor eating milk. That boy did not give him any milk. No. He took a great cloth and tried to wash Bobby’s paws in the milk! Bobby got away, and now he has come to this famous party with his ears in strings. A pretty state he is in to come to a famous party! We all know how dreadful it is to have our ears meddled with.

"But all this is nothing to what happened afterwards. My mother opened a door to let me into a room where there was a mouse-hole. Now a boy had put in that room a curious thing. I went close up to it to see what it was. It was a crab, but I did not know that. I was young. I never had seen a crab. I touched it to find what it was made of, and it got hold of my leg just above my paw. I never screamed so in all my life. Oh how I did scream! And no wonder. My leg was broke. My paw had to be taken off, and now I have to be three-pawed. Now I have to go limp, limp, hopperty limp! Only three paws to run away from cruel boys with, and barking dogs! Only three paws to climb with! Only three paws to claw with! No; as for me, _I_ have never seen much good come from knowing how to open doors!”

“‘You had better sit down, Miss,’ exclaimed Black Velvet. ‘Young people should be seen and not heard. We are speaking at this famous party of the good of knowing how to open 

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