A YOUNG XATURALDST. 10 7 



ing down its head uneasily, as quick as lightning it rolled 

 itself up into a ball and glided down the slope. Just at my 

 feet it stopped, and I only had to stoop down in order to 

 pick it up. Gringalet, who then appeared at the top of the 

 slope, was evidently the cause of its sudden flight. 



I rejoined my companions, carrying my prisoner, who tried 

 neither to defend itself nor to escape. Lucien examined 

 with curiosity the scales which crossed the back of the ar- 

 madillo, and its pink transparent skin. I told him that this 

 inoffensive animal, which feeds on insects and roots, belong- 

 ed to the order Edentata mammals in which the system of 

 teeth is incomplete. 



" But," said he, " I have seen pictures in which armadillos 

 are represented with armor formed of small squares." 



"That is another species, which also lives in Mexico," re- 

 plied Sumichrast. 



When we talked about killing the animal, Lucien opposed 

 the idea with great vehemence. He wanted either to carry 

 it away alive or to let it go both being plans which could 

 not be allowed. Gringalet, however, cut short the discus- 

 sion by strangling it, 1'Encuerado's carelessness having left 

 it in his way. The boy, both angry and distressed, was as- 

 tonished at the cruelty of his dog, and was going to beat 

 him. 



"He has only yielded to instinct," said Sumichrast. 



" A fine instinct, truly," replied Lucien, in tears, to kffl 

 a poor beast that never did him any harm !" 



He has saved us the trouble of killing it. Men, and all 

 carnivorous animals, can not live except on the condition of 

 sacrificing other creatures. Didn't yon shoot a squirrel 

 yesterday? And you did not refuse your share of those 

 beautiful birds, the plumage of which so delighted you." 



"Yes, but I did not strangle the squirrel with my teeth. 

 It's a very different thing." 



