and his whitefurred belly was already distended from it。
〃Take it away from him； Eddie；〃 Brutal said； half…laughing and half…horrified。 〃Christ almighty Jesus； he'll eat till he busts。 I can smell that peppermint from here。 How many have you let him have？〃
〃This his second；〃 Delacroix said； looking a little nervously at Mr。 Jingles's belly。 〃You really think he 。。。 you know 。。。 bus' his guts？〃
〃Might；〃 Brutal said。
That was enough authority for Delacroix。 He reached for the half…eaten pink mint。 I expected the mouse to nip him； but Mr。 Jingles gave over that mint … what remained of it； anyway … as meek as could be。 I looked at Brutal； and Brutal gave his head a little shake as if to say no； he didn't understand it； either。 Then Mr。 Jingles plopped down into his box and lay there on his side in an exhausted way that made all three of us laugh。 After that； we got used to seeing the mouse sitting beside Delacroix； holding a mint and munching away on it just as neatly as an old lady at an afternoon tea…party； both of them surrounded by what I later smelled in that hole in the beam … the half…bitter； half…sweet smell of peppermint candy。
There's one more thing to tell you about Mr。 Jingles before moving on to the arrival of William Wharton； which was when the cyclone really touched down on E Block。 A week or so after the incident of the peppermint candies … around the time when we'd pretty much decided Delacroix wasn't going to feed his pet to de