Page:The New-Year's Bargain (1884).djvu/37

 swer, but went on with his tale. He had learned to dance. He could pick out the Ace of Hearts, and A, B, and Z from the alphabet. He could jump over a stick. This last he did on the spot, to show them how it went; and, in the middle of the jump, Snap noticed something which made him cry out, 'O Greedy! your poor paws! What is the matter with them? They're all brown, and dried up?'

"Greedy looked foolish. 'Oh!' he replied, 'that's nothing: they—they—got a little burnt one day,—that's all,—on some hot iron. Stoves are very hot in Germany.'

"Mamma looked queer when she heard this, and relieved her feelings by a low growl. The little ones could not tell what to make of it.

"When asked how he managed to get back, Greedy explained it in this way: 'He was travelling,' he said, 'with some friends. They were in a cage together, which was the fashionable way of going about just now. By an accident, the cage upset and some of the bars broke; and,