“There were, I considered, amongst my guests, varying degrees of guilt. Those whose guilt was the lightest should, I considered, pass out first, and not suffer the prolonged mental strain and fear that the more cold-blooded offenders were to suffer.”
“The festivities are over, night has fallen, the stars have risen in the sky. King Babar and Queen Celeste are indeed very happy. Now the world is asleep. The guests have gone home, happy, though tired from too much dancing. They will long remember this great celebration.”
The narrative is just deadpan enough to highlight the moose shenanigans, and Bridget’s attempts to cope with these unruly guests actually hint in an exaggerated way at what real siblings might be like.
The story falls flat on the scare factor as the wolves are only perceived as the usual unwelcome guests in the family’s home and the story is slow-paced as it took time for the family to decide to rush back to their home.
“A host has to put up with all kind of pests, for a host, above all, must be nice to his guest. So you’d try hard to smile, and you’d try to look sweet and you’d go right on looking for moose-moss to eat.”
“She looked at her nine guests, all of whom now had their eyes obediently closed as they awaited her instructions. Their destinies were in her hands. She was going to change them not just temporarily, but forever.”
“Tom had been preparing himself to play the grateful guest; but-
‘But there are bars across the bottom of the window!’ he burst out. ‘This is a nursery! I’m not a baby!‘”
“As the guest looked at the boy there appeared on his countenance amazement, then incredulity, and finally frozen horror. As the boy looked at the guest there appeared on his countenance amazement, then incredulity, and finally blank dejection.”