SPINICUM
A long time ago the Spinicum had two tails. It was his chief claim to social distinction, which means that people invited him out to parties and teas simply because he had two tails, and that started a cheerful conversation when the guests were shy or the tea was late in coming up. He wore his tails on either side of him instead of at the back, and every Saturday he used to curl them with a hot toasting-fork so that he would look smart on Sunday. I do not know why he used a toasting-fork instead of ordinary curling irons, I think it was because he liked the peculiar wave that the fork produced.
One day he was invited to a party and went up to his room to get ready and curl his tails. He could not find the fork anywhere. He ran up and down the house and looked in the cupboards and on the shelves and all the time the clock went on ticking till there were only five minutes left before the party began. Then he saw his nephew was in the garden digging potatoes with it. By the time he had got hold of it and had started to curl it was very late indeed. So he boldly cut off the right hand tail because he did not have time to curl it, and put it on his dressing-table, expecting to sew it on when he came home.
But he never saw his tail again. While he was gone his little nephew took it out to play “dressing up” with it. He was having a lovely time pretending he was his uncle, when a very noisy dog rushed up to him and ran away with the tail in his teeth. Little nephew was too frightened to run after the dog and it was never seen again.
So ever since that day, Spinicum always walks looking at the pavement, hoping that the dog may have dropped the tail by now and that he will find it sometime lying in the dust. Meanwhile he has grown a beard, or has tried to, and hopes it will make up for the tail. But it doesn’t at all.