AN INTRUDER. 175 



could, till the porcupine got hungry and had to 

 come forth to satisfy his appetite, when the legal 

 proprietor would be able to re-establish himself in 

 his own domicile. 



This is a painful story, for it teaches that there 

 are rogues among beasts as there are among men, 

 and most unmitigated scoundrels, too ; for here is 

 an instance of an honest ant-eater returning to his 

 home to find it occupied, and a spine as large as a 

 goose's quill stuck in his nose because he remon- 

 strated ; but the mischief does not terminate here, 

 for the porcupine having abdicated, and the original 

 possessor being re-established, it is more than doubtful 

 if he dare go abroad that night to get his dinner, 

 and so had to go hungry to bed, for the reason 

 that if he did so, on his return he might again 

 find his lares and penates in the possession of the 

 stranger. 



