214 



THE TRIBES ON MY FRON1IER. 



on her head and kick the ball along with her hind feet ; 

 and at this exercise I found her, panting and perspiring. 

 At length she reached a pit which she had dug before- 

 hand, and there she proceeded to bury the ball and cover it 



with earth ; the 

 Major, mean- 

 while, turning 

 over in his 

 thoughts the 

 relative advan- 

 tages of the 

 Army and the 

 Civil Service as 

 a sphere for his 

 } first-born, and 

 wondering, pos- 

 sibly, whether 

 the Church 

 would suit his 



THE BREAD-WINNER. 



second boy. Of course, the Major does not care a straw 

 what becomes of the dirty little beetle and its vile grub ; on 

 the other hand, it is a matter of the profoundest indifference 

 to the beetle whether the Major's son runs away with an ac- 



