"Yes, and perhaps might have been sorry afterwards for the mischief it
had done."

"Very likely; still the point was never clearly explained, and,
whether or no, the elderly lady could not put up with this sort of
thing any longer; she complained so often and so vigorously, that her
troublesome neighbor was served in due form with a notice to quit. The
young scapegrace was determined to be revenged in some way on the
party who was the cause of his being so summarily ejected from his
quarters. Now, right under his window there was a globe belonging to
the old lady, well filled with good-sized gold fish. His eye by chance
having fallen upon this, and spying at the same time his fishing-rod
in a corner, the coincidence of vision was fatal to the gold-fish;
they were very soon hooked up, rolled in flour, fried, and gently let
down again one by one into the globe."

"I should like to have seen the old lady when she first became aware
of this transformation!"

"Well, one of the fish had escaped, and was floating about, evidently
lamenting the fate of its finny companions."

"It was very cruel," observed Mary.

"Elderly ladies who have no family and live alone are very apt to
bestow upon animals the love and affection that is inherent in us
all."

"Which is very much to be deprecated."