The Abbreviated Adventures of Mogey & Smush: Quarantine Episode 2

It was rare, but not unheard-of, for Mogey and Smush to spend a night in the hoosegow. The big house. Lock-up. In short, jail.

Almost every one of these stints began with petty theft of cheese or cheese products. The problem was this: However carefully our pals planned a dairy heist, they simply could not resist the sweet, sweet pull of sampling the goods. And for Mogey and Smush, sampling cheese inevitably became an hours-long affair, plenty of time for the local constable to catch them in the act.

Luckily, Officer Aufesore himself had quite the weakness for velveeta. Not that the man could be bribed - far from it - but he understood the mind of a dairy addict. While he would insist that Mogey and Smush spend a night in the pokey to "sleep off the curd," he always released them the following morning.

On the particular occasion in which we find our pals, however, Officer Aufesore was on vacation: a patrolmen's ice-sculpting retreat. The substitute jailor was a three-legged rhinoceros with a nasty case of lactose intolerance named Pierre Saint-Michel.  

"Same cell as usual, Aufesore-- who in heaven's name are you?" Smush exclaimed when Farmer Braithwaite hauled them in on a citizen's arrest.

"The name's Pierre Saint-Michel," said the rhino turnkey, "and you fellows are going away for a long time." 

"Oh, good," Mogey said, stifling a yawn. "Then will it be camembert for breakfast, or emmental?"

"You want... more cheese?" demanded Farmer Braithwaite, sounding as shocked as a fireman entering a pudding pop factory.

"Good point, Braithwaite," Smush replied, giving the farmer a hearty pat on the back. "Let's make it both, Pierre, and add a bit of stilton too, would you?"