t 

 TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 65 



then suddenly stretching his legs, he leaped forward 

 in order to seize it. 



But the Sepia, too quick for him, ejected by its tube 

 a thick black ink, that completely inundated the un- 

 fortunate Black. 



The dog fled howling away, and without looking 

 to right or left, made straight as an arrow for home. 

 The two cousins were ready to die with laughing. 



"Ah, ah!" cried Kene, "a useful lesson. That 

 shows what one may get by quarrelling with those 

 one does not know! Poor Black, discomfited and 

 dyed by a cuttle-fish. However, come here, doggy, 

 and I will console you. Black, Black ! " 



But the dog did not hear him. Continuing his head- 

 long course, he was already disappearing amongst the 

 first houses. 



"I must not say much about it," added his master, 

 " for I must admit I might have been similarly taken 

 in myself. Who could have guessed that such a crea- 

 ture contained in its inside a syringe full of ink, ready 

 for use against any rash person ? There must have 

 been at least a shilling's-worth. But I should like to 

 know whether one could write with it." 



u So well," replied Leon, "that in point of fact, the 

 ancients scarcely knew of any other ink. It is only 

 since their time that the progress of chemistry has 

 enabled us to obtain other means of a more accessible 

 and less costly nature for use on paper. Cuvier, I 

 F 



