CHAPTER XII. 



FROGS, BOYS, AND OTHER SMALL DEER. 



"Come hither, boy." 



TzYws Andronicus. 



ON the higher ground aiid the hills near this 

 brook dwell other creatures. In that garden 

 yonder I have often seen the great, yellow, slimy 

 slug, Ariolimax, so frequently found in damp 

 spots along the Pacific coast. I am afraid I 

 stocked that garden with those slugs. Being up 

 among the foot-hills north of here I found several 

 of the slugs, one measuring about four and three 

 eighths inches long. Six or seven inches is a 

 length attained by these creatures sometimes. I 

 captured a big one and took it away with me. 



Little did the people in a certain restaurant 

 that evening think that a prim and proper person 

 sitting at one of the tables, calmly partaking of 

 her supper, had carefully tied up a huge slug 

 from the gaze of the world and now had the crea- 

 ture waiting beside her. But it was even so. I 

 brought the slug home. I think that was about 

 two years ago, and now in the twilight of April 

 evenings, or even occasionally in a September 

 rain, various Ariolimaxes drag their bulk into 



