"Citizens, toss your pens away!
For all the world is mad to-day—
Cuckoo—cuckoo!
The world is mad to-day."
"What unusual words for a pair of street singers!" Miss Bunce murmured, setting down the tea-pot. But as Miss Charlotte was busy cracking an egg, and Miss Susan in a sort of coma, dwelling perhaps on death and its terrors, the remark went unheeded.
"Citizens, doff your coats of black,
And dress to suit the almanack
Cuckoo"
The voices broke off, and a rat-tat sounded on the front door.
"Say that we never give to beggars, under any circumstances," murmured Miss Susan, waking out of her lethargy.
The servant entered with a scrap of crumpled paper in her hand. "There was a woman at the door who wished to see Miss Lefanu."
"Say that we never give" Miss Susan began again, fumbling with the note. "Bunce,
