Shouts of laughter burst forth here; but the lady (who was No. 5) put
up his hand, and called out in his own natural tones:-

"Stop! I haven't got to the end yet!"

"Order!" proclaimed No. 4 immediately, in a very commanding voice,
and thumping the table with the head of an old wooden doll to enforce
obedience.

And then the sham lady proceeded in the same mincing voice as
before:-

"Well!--dear me, I'm quite put out. But however, you see--what was
to be done, that was the thing. It wanted only half an hour to
dinner-time, and there was the meat roasting away by itself, and the
potatoe-pan boiling over. You never heard such a fizzling as it made
in your life--in short, everything was in a mess, and there was no
cook.

"Well! I basted the meat for a few minutes, took the potatoe-pan off
the fire, and then ran up-stairs to put on my bonnet. Thought I, the
best thing I can do is to send somebody for the policeman, and let
HIM find the cook. But while I was tying the strings of my bonnet, I
fancied I heard a mysterious noise coming out of the bottom drawer of
my wardrobe. Fancy that, ma'am, with my nerves in such a state from
the cook being lost!"

No. 5 paused, and looked round for sympathy, which was most freely
given by the other ladies, in the shape of sighs and exclamations.