Any one can acquaint himself with the out-of- 

 doors, if he keeps his eyes and ears open and 

 lives a little while, should his lines happen to 

 fall even in a city. Most cities have parks, or a 

 river, or a zoological garden. A zoological gar- 

 den is not to be despised by the naturalist. 

 About ninety-nine hundredths of every wild 

 animal remains wild in spite of iron bars and 

 peanuts and visitors. 



There is one little creature, however, that you 

 must live at least on the edge of the country to 

 know, for I never saw a zoological garden that 

 had a pit or cage for him. Yet he is not a blood- 

 thirsty nor a venomous beast ; in fact, he is as 

 harmless as a rabbit and every whit as interest- 

 ing as a prairie-dog. Nevertheless it is of no 

 use to look for him in the city. You must go 

 out to the outskirts, to the farms and pastures, if 

 you would meet the wood-pussy. And even 

 here you must not look for him, but go to church 

 or visit the neighbors after dark and let the 

 wood-pussy look for you. It will be alto- 

 gether a rare and interesting experience, an 

 encounter to remember. 



But what is a wood-pussy? That is the 

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