Maybe Earl Emerson doesn't know ferrets after all!  In one of his
Seattle-area mysteries (sorry, forget which one) he talks about curious
rubberneckers driving past a scene, gawping "like ferrets waiting to be let
out of a box"--and I was impressed.  .  .BUT.  .  .
 
on p. 247 of his latest, "The Million-Dollar Tattoo," he writes:
 
"Haldeman knocked softly and entered my office like a ferret who knew
there was a serpent in the room."
 
Excuse me?  Ferrets and snakes?  Do you think Mr. Emerson was thinking of
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi?  His metaphors and similes are usually superb, but for
some reason this one didn't work for me.  .  .
 
Kate Pappas, owned by Emmett Kelly, part-owned by Booker R. Cat
[Posted in FML issue 1857]