PLUM PICKINGS 2

THE MOOD

A sparkle returned to the lack-lustre eyes and the soul seemed expand as if someone had had got to work on it with a bicycle pump.

RE-ENTRY
He ran for cover at the arrival of his bête-noire. And, presently, the door opened and his head emerged cautiously like that of a snail taking a look around after a thunder storm.

BAD LUCK

It was one of those days when, as my luck runs foul, the horse that I bet on decides to sit down in the middle of the race and take rest.

CHEERED

Earlier, he looked like a sheep with a secret sorrow and now, with positive turn of events, he is beaming like a searchlight.

SHOCKED

He was shell-shocked and his appearance was now rather like one who, picking daisies on the railway track, has just caught the down express in the small of his back.

THE EFFECT

The effect he had on me whenever he appeared was to make me want to slide into the cellar and lie low till they blew the all-clear.

PLUM PICKINGS 1

DUKES AND COOKS

The waiting room of the employment agency was full of dukes who wanted cooks and cooks who wanted dukes.

THE QUAKE

The two warring parties within the family met suddenly and I may say at once that there ensued something in the nature of a family earthquake.

NIAGARA

He was silent for a long time and when he could bear no longer, he plunged into a perfect Niagara of speech.

THE CHOICE

His sternness conveyed the impression that anybody who had the choice between stealing anything from him and stirring up the hornet’s nest with a short walking stick would do well to choose the hornets.

NIGHTLY DANGER

It was a still night with deafening silence. So when she made the loud noise, she was expecting doors to open all over the castle belching forth men with pistols.

THE BIRDS

She was on a park bench reflecting on recent events. For a moment her attention was drawn to a couple of birds who were having an argument in a nearby tree.