One or two small boys
evidently noticed the same thing. I stopped under a lamp-post and
tried to tie it up again. I had a bag and an umbrella with me at
the same time, and the first thing I did was to drop the goose into
the gutter, which is just what I might have expected to do,
attempting to handle four separate articles and three yards of
string with one pair of hands. I picked up about a quart of mud
with that goose, and got the greater part of it over my hands and
clothes and a fair quantity over the brown paper; and then it began
to rain.
"I bundled everything up into my arm and made for the nearest pub,
where I thought I would ask for a piece more string and make a neat
job of it.
"The bar was crowded. I pushed my way to the counter and flung the
goose down in front of me. The men nearest stopped talking to look
at it; and a young fellow standing next to me said -
"'Well, you've killed it.' I daresay I did seem a bit excited.
"I had intended making another effort to sell it here, but they
were clearly not the right sort. I had a pint of ale--for I was
feeling somewhat tired and hot--scraped as much of the mud off the
bird as I could, made a fresh parcel of it, and came out.
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