A TRIBE OF GNAWERS AND THEIR FOOD 75 



on guard to prevent him from biting our fingers 

 while we were placing the food in his cage. 



One day all of us got in a wagon to drive 

 to the nearest market town, and left Robin 

 to watch the house. When we returned it was 

 dark and rainy, Robin was forgotten and the poor 

 fellow's cage hung all night exposed to the cold 

 drizzling rain. In the morning we thought he was 

 dead, but upon removing his wet, dank and chilled 

 body from the cage we discovered a slight move- 

 ment of his hind foot, and immediately hunted up 

 some pieces of warm flannel, rolled him up in the 

 cloth and placed him in the oven of the stove; tak- 

 ing precaution to leave the oven door open so that 

 we could watch and see that poor Robin was not 

 baked alive. 



In a little while our patient began to move, twist 

 and kick, at length he kicked the covers off, then 

 the cook removed him from the oven and going 

 to the closet, filled a spoon with a mixture of "cook- 

 ing" sherry and milk, which she administered to 

 Robin with the belief that the wine would warm 

 him up inside and set him on his feet again; but 

 it set him on every part of his body except his 

 feet. 



As the fumes of the liquor ascended to his 

 wicked little brain, Robin began to make a disgrace- 

 ful exhibition of himself. It was plain to see that 

 he was drunk, outrageously, hilariously drunk! He 

 jumped up in the air and alighted on the top of 

 his head, he stood on his hind legs and whirled 



