WONDER 01' LONG LEGS. 99 



"Tipula," " Crane-fly," "Jenny Spinner/' "Tailor/' or 

 " Daddy Louglegs," it was nothing but his legs which made 

 him, in our childhood, an object of wondering notice ; and it 

 is at this prodigious length of shank that some grown-up 

 people may be apt to wonder still ; to wonder also for what 

 purpose it was given ; to wonder, thirdly, why the legs, which 

 seem in truth hardly to belong to their owner, fall off so readily; 

 and to wonder, lastly, at the unimpaired activity which he is 

 accustomed to evince under the loss of one or more of his six 

 unstable supporters. 



Now, with reference to wonder the second and inquiry the 

 first that, namely, about the use, to its possessor, of an extra 

 length of limb no very probable solution is likely to present 

 itself while we merely look at Father Longlegs when we happen 

 to encounter him on stairs or in chambers, which, whether 

 " my lady's " or " my lord's/' are places where, in fact, he has 

 no business where he is nothing but an intruder a stranger 

 and where, like other awkward creatures in strange society, 

 he is never to be seen to the best advantage. But let those 

 who would have a shrewd guess at the use of his ungainly 

 members, take a peep at Mr. Lougshanks when he is at home 

 in his own element and in the indulgence of his own habits ; 

 for which purpose they can hardly do better than accompany 

 us, this fine September evening, to some pleasant meadows 

 watered by a running stream. 



Here then we are, with the sun about to set in all his 



