410 FOUR-FOOTED AMEllIGANS 



forgetting himself as to raise a heavy paw and box the 

 ears of the biggest Timber Wolf, and the Dream Fox 

 was obliged to interfere to prevent a free fight. 



The Rabbits, Squirrels, and little Gnawers kept get- 

 ting under the feet of the others, until the Porcupine, 

 as J\Iarshal of his Order, undertook to prod them into 

 place, using his prickl}^ tail as a weapon. As for the 

 Rats and Mice, it was impossible to make them walk in 

 pairs, so they scrambled along to suit themselves, the 

 Jumping Mice and Kangaroo Rats alone keeping in 

 pairs and hopping along hand in hand. 



It was fully nine o'clock when all were ready, and a 

 belated street band on the opposite side o£ the avenue 

 began to play "Dancing in the Barn." 



" How lucky ! " said the Dream Fox. " It is nice to 

 have music to begin by, but after a little while it 

 doesn't matter, for every one dances his own way. 



"Now! One, two, three, four, — face to face, skip 

 — hop ! Across the hall, and upstairs to the very top, 

 and down again." 



The Skunks immediately skipped forwai^, leading 

 the Avay as an advance guard, waving their tails over 

 their heads, the procession following merrily. Strange 

 to say, however, all this multitude of prancing hoofs 

 and paws made no sound. 



" Why didn't they wait for us ? " gasped a Walrus, 

 who had been all this time trying to get out of liis case, 

 to a Seal, who was fanning himself with his flippers. 



" What good would that do ? '' said the Sea Lion ; " we 

 couldn't climb up all those stairs and get down again 

 before da3'light. Suppose we slide down this flight to 

 the basement ; perhaps we can find some water and 



