III. 



SHKEWS AND MOLES. 



"A mole I a mole !" shrieked a little boy as a musk- 

 shrew crossed with lightning speed the floor of the 

 low damp room where they he and his private tutor sat 

 one stuffy July evening of the year 1874. Mahendra, 

 for such was the name of the pupil, was an intelligent, 

 bright-eyed, amiable lad of nine. The tutor's duty was 

 to give him lessons at home for an hour or two every 

 evening. Partly from a sense of duty, but greatly forsooth 

 to make a display of his superior knowledge, as he had 

 but recently learnt that a shrew was not a mole, the tutor 

 asked his pupil where he could ever discover a mole 

 in that place. " Why, Sir," readily answered youn^/ 

 hopefuU with an intelligent and knowing look, "that 

 animal that darted out of the room just now was a 

 mole. I know it was : no other animal but a Chhuncha 

 would make such a quick, sharp, squeaking noise, or leave 

 such a disagreeable smell." " It was a Chhuncha to be 

 sure", rejoined the tutor, " but not a mole". The pu- 

 pil was surprised ! His preceptor tried to explain to 

 him that a Chhuncha is erroneously called a mole] it is 

 in reality a musk shrew, so called from the strong musk- 

 iike odour which it emits. Puzzled, but not convinc- 

 ed, Mahendra immediately fetched an old manuscript 

 vocabulary, and after having rummaged over its well 

 thumbed pages for a few seconds triumphantly pointed 



