"
"He'll have all the more room," said the other, laughing.
I was not heavy, and they chuckled over it since they had three flights
of stairs to descend. As they were seizing me by the shoulders and feet
I heard Mme Gabin fly into a violent passion.
"You cursed little brat," she screamed, "what do you mean by poking your
nose where you're not wanted? Look here, I'll teach you to spy and pry."
Dede had slipped her tousled head through the doorway to see how the
gentleman was being put into the box. Two ringing slaps resounded,
however, by an explosion of sobs. And as soon as the mother returned she
began to gossip about her daughter for the benefit of the two men who
were settling me in the coffin.
"She is only ten, you know. She is not a bad girl, but she is
frightfully inquisitive. I do not beat her often; only I WILL be
obeyed."
"Oh," said one of the men, "all kids are alike. Whenever there is a
corpse lying about they always want to see it."
I was commodiously stretched out, and I might have thought myself still
in bed, had it not been that my left arm felt a trifle cramped from
being squeezed against a board. The men had been right. I was pretty
comfortable inside on account of my diminutive stature.
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