"Mumph," was the most intelligent answer I could come up with on the spur of the moment. "I don't hear anything. Must be the house settling." - I was getting better with excuses. Then came a loud "crash," followed by "squeak, squeak, squeak."

With that, I was wide awake and out of the bed before I even thought about it. I crept down the stairs. The sound was definitely louder and coming from the kitchen. "Squeak, squeak, thud, thump, squeak." "Too loud for a burglar," I thought.

I rounded the corner, flipped the light switch, took one more step and ended up flat on my back on the tiled kitchen floor, with a very loud "thump" of my own and not to mention "OOOFFFF!"

From my new viewpoint on the floor, I could see the lazy susan cabinet in the corner going round and round, propelled by one ferret, while another riding the shelf was busily emptying the cabinet of odds and ends by shoving them out on the floor every time the opening led into the kitchen. Toaster - "clang." Box of pasta - "thump." All this while the lazy susan went "squeak, squeak, squeak."

Looking around some more, I discovered just WHY I was flat on my back on the kitchen floor. Someone (I wonder who?) had gotten the refrigerator open and dumped a bottle of salad dressing out on the floor, along with a few eggs, one dozen ears of corn, and other odds and ends. Ever try walking on salad dressing on tile? Ice has tremendous traction by comparison.

Ferrets are very clever critters.

Dick B.