48 The Wild-Fowlers 



lot of hippopotami, and it 's very fortu- 

 nate you don't have to do your ' instruct- 

 ing' on your feet, or you 'd never get 

 through one lesson. We may eat and 

 drink a lot, but we can walk, and we 

 don't each of us weigh a ton and feel as 

 though we weighed ten." 



" Say, hold on there, Whipcase," 

 scowled Tom Songster. ' What about 

 your beautiful Doctor Bradley and Doc- 

 tor Corbin ? They 're as fat as Tom 

 Draw." 



" Well, since you mention those two 

 little boys and old Tom Draw I 'm done; 

 besides, my dear boy, I would n't antag- 

 onize you, for you do ride and drive once 

 in a while, and have wind enough to 

 stand your ground ; but your half-ossified 

 friends there," sneered Seth in such a 

 natural way that an outsider would never 

 have believed him in jest, " are helpless, 

 and I 'm not afraid of them. They 

 could n't run across the room without 

 running out of breath." 



