In the commotion of the cook pulling off his pants, the boy darts out of the pants leg, across the floor, and into a sack of potatoes. The cook starts to slap his legs, so as the waiters laugh and the cook yells, the boy scampers all the way up his leg and down the other. In a panic, he runs up the pants leg of one of the cooks. The boy drops to the ground and runs around in a flash, part of his tail is cut off by a waiter. In his enjoyment, the boy had forgotten he was a mouse until a waiter yells, "A mouse! Look at that dirty little mouse!"(p.162) The waiters are thrown into an immediate frenzy trying to catch the boy. Proud and relieved, the boy swings by his tail from handle to handle of the saucepans stacked on the high shelves. A moment later, a waiter pours a large amount of soup into the basin as well and then puts the lid on it, preparing to take it out to the women. He quickly scampers over so that he is directly above the pot and pours the formula into it. The boy sees them place a huge silver soup pot on a bench and springs into action, swinging himself from his tail so that he landed on a high shelf. Next, a waiter comes in and announces that all of the women from RSPCC, that is, the witches, want soup. The waiter replaces the food but then has all of the other kitchen staff spit on it before bringing it back out. He enjoys swinging for a while until he is distracted by a waiter coming in with food a customer has sent back. He sees a handle sticking out above him and flips himself so that he swings by his tail. Once in the kitchen, he hides for a few minutes to get his bearings. As soon as they have all passed him he crosses the doorway and scampers into the kitchen as a waiter enters. He runs along the wall and is about to cross the main entrance to the Dining Room when all of the witches pour in. A waiter approaches and after she talks to him she quickly releases the boy. The grandmother sits down at their usual table and sees two long tables with the sign "RESERVED FOR MEMBERS OF THE RSPCC" (153). As she drops the boy into her bag, she reminds him that since he's a mouse, he should be able to use his tail to grab things and swing around. At 7:30, the grandmother departs for the Dining Room with the two boys in her handbag.