MONGOLA AND HIS BROTHERS 



broad arch. Since the loss of his companions 

 he became very dear to me and seldom left my 

 side of an evening when I was at home. Skunks 

 are nocturnal animals and spend most of the day 

 in sleep. I made a little willow basket for Mon- 

 gola to sleep in and placed an old feather cushion 

 in it for a bed. One Sunday evening, while en- 

 tertaining the Methodist circuit preacher in our 

 house, we were disturbed at tea, in the midst of 

 an interesting experience which our good-na- 

 tured guest was relating, by seeing feathers flying 

 in all directions, lighting on our hair, floating in 

 our tea and resting on the butter and jam ! 

 Mongola had torn open the feather cushion to 

 satisfy his curiosity and his head and paw had 

 become entangled in the cover. He tossed the 

 pillow frantically about in an attempt to free 

 himself. Round and round he turned scattering 

 the feathers about, greatly to the discomfort of 

 my mother and the merriment of the preacher. 

 I left the table to release the skunk and thus 

 prevent the room from being covered with the 

 remainder of the feathers. Mongola disap- 

 peared under the indignant gaze of my mother 

 and the threats of my father. When I went to 

 ['95] 



