sparkling eyes; he was a fine handsome man of about forty-five, and gave me the idea of looking as if in the midst of a tremendous battle.
Anything but a bloodless battle for me; my bottom was soon dripping with the ruby drops of my young blood, the sight of which seemed only to exasperate him still more.
"Ah! You little wretch. Scream away!" he exclaimed. "It's a beautiful sight to see you writhing and plunging under every scathing cut. May it do you good, and draw the imprudence out of your tail. Will you? Will you, try and behave better, or shall I send you off to the convent at once, in their holiday time? There! There!! There!!!"
He finished with three tremendous cuts, without waiting for my reply, and sank back, gasping for breath, into an easy chair.
It was quite a minute or two before my screams and moans of agony subsided. Then Miss Birch coming in, released my
