"But I cannot pull him out," she added.

"He is so big!" She got upon her feet, and together, without much difficulty, the two dragged the chest of drawers away from the wall, and then bent down behind it, with the candle, to look at the dead animal.
"It is quite dead," said Elettra.

"Poor beast! What can have happened to it ?" Veronica was really sorry, but of the two the maid had been the more fond of the cat.

"It must have eaten something." Elettra looked up, suspiciously, and Veronica drew back a step, half straightening herself.

Her foot touched something close to the wall.