possum should discover it to be "the surest way 

 home " comes as a real surprise. 



I am inclined to think it was a blunder. He 

 happened to walk the fence, climb the stake, and 

 tumble off into a soft spot. And if once, why 

 not again 1 For let a notion get into a possum's 

 head, and there it will stick. You can't get it 

 out, nor get another one in ; there is n't room. 



As an illustration take the case of "Pinky," a 

 little possum we once possessed, who had a notion 

 that he wanted to be domesticated. 



Most wild animals stoutly resist all of our well- 

 intentioned efforts to bring them up in dooryard 

 ways, and take to the woods again at the first 

 opportunity. I have tried one after another, but 

 every one of them sooner or later has escaped to 

 the wilds — every one but Pinky. He refused 

 to stay in the woods even when taken back there, 

 because, forsooth, into the little think-hole in his 

 head had got stuck the notion that he wanted to 

 be a domesticated possum, and that notion could 

 not be budged. 



Pinky was one of a family of nine that I caught 

 several springs ago and carried home. In the 

 course of a few weeks eight of them were adopted 

 [206] 



