Even though "stalk" can also be interpreted as expression of irritation or impatience, the verb calls to mind more of the walk of an animal, most likely a cat. Looking back to the previous paragraph, the reader can almost imagine "proud, young" Kate as a Siamese cat, in comparison to the girls as tabbies. Earlier in the story Josephine visualizes Con and herself in black gowns and slippers as black cats crawling at night, and Con also displays an interest and concern for the "mice". These feline characteristics throughout the story can perhaps be considered motifs.

The author implements zoomorphism, using the sound of birds to describe how the characters talk: Jose "cooed" liked a dove, Kitty Maitland "trilled" like a warbler, and "'Tuk-tuk-tuk,' clucked cook like an agitated hen." The author also uses a lot of adverbs to modify other verbs, such as "oily", "meaningly", "fondly", etc, I think we could run a parts of speech analysis on the contrast of ways of behaviour between characters from the Sheridan household and the village.