a mistake and given the cat to it. As 

 soon as we had put puss at the door of 

 the box, she looked in and seemed to 

 think, "Why, there's a bird," and gave 

 a leap. Then the ball of feathers woke 

 up suddenly to the fact that "there's a 



cat." There was a fine assortment of 

 feline yells and a streak of fleeing cat. 

 We enjoyed the surprise even more than 

 the cat, as boys will always do, and we 

 all were witnesses to the fact, also, that 

 the cat had "pitched on first." 



H. Walton Clark. 



THE AUNT JANE STORIES. 



IX. SOME CURIOUS ANIMALS. 

 PART II. 



The following evening the children 

 gathered in the sitting room and called 

 to Aunt Jane that they were ready and 

 waiting to know what animal could pos- 

 sibly begin with I. 



"The Ibex is the only peculiar animal I 

 can think of for our next," said Aunt 

 Jane. "Its horns are so very extensive 

 that at first thought they seem most inap- 

 propriate for a creature who lives on the 

 craggy edges of precipices ; but it is said 

 that sometimes when closely pressed the 

 Ibex throws itself down a steep place, 

 and falling on its long, powerful horns, 

 escapes unhurt." 



"Now, John, you want some Ibex 

 horns, don't you ?" cried one of the mis- 

 chievous girls. "Quills and horns ! How 

 funny your would look. You could, with 

 either of them, gather cherries from our 

 tallest tree with perfect impunity." 



"I think," said John, "that it is far 

 more likely that the Ibex tosses his pur- 

 suer over the precipice with his long 

 horns ; so look out, girls !" 



"The Jerboa is a singular little rodent," 

 Aunt Jane continued. "It has small, short 

 fore legs, which are not used when mak- 

 ing its wonderful leaps, and are often 

 concealed in the hair, so the Greeks, who 

 were wise in giving names, called it Mi- 

 pous,' or two-footed. It is sometimes 

 called the 'jumping hare,' and by means 

 of its very long hind legs, and long, tufted 

 tail, it jumps remarkable distances." 



"Please, Auntie, don't tell the boys how 

 many yards it jumps," said Edith, "or to- 

 morrow, when we want them to go fern- 

 ing with us, they will be sure to say, 

 'Haven't time ; we are engaged on the 

 Jerboa jump.' " 



"Or, perhaps, the Kangaroo leap. Shall 

 I omit the Kangaroo for the same rea- 

 son ?" 



"Do, do," said the girls in chorus. 



" 'L' is our next letter. The Loris has 

 a coat of thick fur, which is unusual on 

 an animal in its tropical home; but it is 

 unusually sensitive to cold. The Loris is 

 remarkably stealthy, and capable of abso- 

 lute silence, even when in motion. The 

 arteries and veins of the Loris are dis- 

 posed upon a different plan from other 

 animals, and this is thought to account 

 for its power of silent movement." 

 ' "Commend the silence of the Loris to 

 the girls for imitation," interrupted How- 

 ard, "but isn't the Loris a Lemur, and 

 isn't the Lemur a Monkey?" 



"Yes, the Lemur is a form of Monkey, 

 and is placed by naturalists at the end of 

 the monkey tribe." 



"I'm so glad you have come to 'M'," 

 exclaimed Madge. "Now please talk 

 about Monkeys, the queer little creatures. 

 What is the difference between an Ape, 

 Baboon and Monkey? Why do some 

 Monkeys have such long tails? 



"Hold, hold!" responded Aunt Jane, 

 "What a volley of questions, which I can- 

 not answer now, as the Monkey must 

 have a whole evening to himself. 



" 'O' is our next letter." 



"What does Ocelot mean?" Howard 

 asked. 



"The animal has its name from the Latin 

 word ocellus, which means eyes ; but the 

 word does not refer to the eyes of the 

 animal, but to the spots or marks upon it. 

 The Platypus is a more singular creature. 

 It has a body like the Otter, and the 

 broad bill of a duck. When young, the 



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