The Kangaroo Rat 



ful eyes and long feelers were to help him in 

 the unlighted corridors of his subterranean 

 house. 



It may seem a ruthless deed, but I was so 

 eager to know him better that I determined to 

 open his nest to the light of day as well as keep 

 him a prisoner for a time, to act as my professor 

 in Natural History. 



I transferred the plush-clad atom of life to a 

 large box that was lined with tin and half full 

 of loose earth. Then I went out with a spade, 

 carefully to follow and pry into the secrets of the 

 Brownie world of which my captive was a native. 



First I made a scaled diagram of the land- 

 scape concerned, for science is measurement, 

 and exact knowledge was what I had sought 

 since I made my choice of trails. Then I 

 sketched the plants on the low mound. There 

 were three large, prickly thistles, and two 

 vigorous Spanish bayonets, or soapweeds, all of 

 them dangerous to an unwary intruder. Next, 

 I noticed there were nine gateways. Nine — I 

 wonder why nine. Nine Muses? Nine lives? 

 No, nothing of that sort (Perodipus does not live 

 in the clouds). There were nine simply because 



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