FAIRIES OF THE DESERT 
velvet knickerbockers was the cutest little silvery white stripe, just like that 
on a trooper’s breeches. His tail . .. was remarkably long, and was deco- 
Tg streamed ete 
A KANGAROO RAT, 
rated to match the breeches with two long white stripes and ended in a 
feather duster, which was very pretty, but rather overdone, I thought, until 
I found out that it was designed for several important purposes. 
“Soft as a shadow, swift as an arrow, dainty as thistle down, bright- 
eyed and beautiful, with a secret way to an underground world where he 
finds safety from his foes — my first impression was not so very far astray. 
I had surely found the Little Folk.” 
These charming fairies of the desert are extraordinarily 
numerous and varied, and find abundant food in the seeds of 
grasses and weeds, and in sundry insects, which they gather 
and carry in their pouched cheeks during the night. By day 
they are hidden in a labyrinth of connected runways beneath 
some hillside, where a large colony dwell snugly all the year 
round, carefully closing the tunnel entrances with loose sand 
each morning to keep out both enemies and heat. Hence 
these most beautiful and lively of our mice are rarely seen or 
even trapped, for they are extremely wary. 
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