20S 



CIia7'lcys Wonderful Jo7i7'iicy. 



ing bodies; but by eating and converting it 

 into plant food, they prevent waste as well 

 as keep the air pure." 



The sun was now long past the meridian. 



Leaving the ants to dissect the squirrel and 

 dispose of the fragments, Ghopal shoul- 

 dered his now familiar burthen and set out 

 for Mora. 



CHARLEY'S ^V O N D E R F U L JOURNEY, 



'• '\/'0U appear to be a stranger to these 

 X parts," said the Kangaroo, as he 

 suddenly halted before Charley, " why, I 

 declare I never saw anybody like you be- 

 fore." 



*' I know you very well, sir," said Charley, 

 raising his hat politely, "you're the Kan- 

 garoo." 



"Well, I suppose we are all Kangaroos, 

 e.xcept the opossums and the birds. Every- 

 body that jumps on two legs must be a 

 Kangaroo. But sakes alive, I never saw 

 anybody like you behind! AVhat on earth 

 have you done with your tail? How can 

 you jump without it ? " 



"We don't use tails for jumping with," 

 said Charley. 



" Then what do you use them for ? " asked 

 the Kangaroo. 



"Why, for making soup principally," said 

 Charley. 



" Making soup with your tail! " exclaimed 

 the Kangaroo, "why, I never heard of such 

 a thing. How do you make it?" 



"Oh, you put the tail into a pot with 

 some water and boil it, and then you put 

 some salt in it and some onions, and when 

 it is boiled long enough it is ready to eat." 



"And did you make soup of your tail and 



eat it?" asked the Kangaroo somewhat in- 

 credulously. 



"I? Oh no, I never had any tail," said 

 Charley, " boys and girls do not have tails." 



"Then how could you make tail soup, if 

 you never had any tail?" asked the Kan- 

 garoo. 



"Oh, we use oxtails at home," said Char- 

 ley, "but I have read that kangaroo tails 

 make the very best soup." 



"Well, we're never too old to learn," said 

 the Kangaroo, "but what puzzles me most 

 is how you manage to jump without your 

 tail. Come along and let me see how you 

 do it." 



The Kangaroo led the way, but Charley 

 was alongside of him in an instant, and 

 jumped a neck and neck race with him. 

 The Kangaroo put up steam and increased 

 his jumps from ten feet to fifteen; Charley 

 revelled in the new mode of progression 

 and was not to be beaten. A river barred 

 the way, and the Kangaroo in the excite- 

 ment of the race went for a broad place, 

 and landed so close to the edge of the bank 

 that the earth crumbled beneath him; but 

 Charley landed well up the bank, and seiz- 

 ing the Kangaroo's arm as he did so, saved 

 him from falling back into the river. The 

 next moment they emerged from the timber 

 into an open plain, and there before them 

 was a whole colony of Kangaroos playing 

 leapfrog, a long line of them stretching 

 away as far as the eye could reach. 



" Keep still," shouted Charley's compan- 

 ion, as the nearest Kangaroo, having been 

 vaulted over by all in succession, was about 



