361 



NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



5. It would be wrong to infer that Nasua's prying pro- 

 pensity never got her into trouble. In the following in- 

 stance, speaking metaphorically, she p>ut her foot into it : 

 The old cat had just finished her nap, and was stretching 

 herself, an operation which means that she stood with her 

 four feet close together, the limbs elon- 

 gated, the back rounded up like that of 

 a camel, the head erect and drawn back, 

 and the mouth yawning widely. Such 

 a sight Nosie had never seen, hence it 

 must be looked into. So in a trice, erect, 

 and resting flatly on her hind feet like a 

 little bear, she put her arms round Tab- 

 bie's neck, and, reeking with nicotine, 

 down went that inquisitive nose into the 

 depths of the 

 feline fauces. 

 This unwarrant- 

 able intrusion 

 was met by a 

 reception more 

 feeling than fe- 

 licitous, judging 

 from the haste 

 in which Nasua 

 withdrew to a 

 corner of the 

 Coati-Mondi. room to rumi- 



nate on the un- 

 toward incident. Her method of relieving the injured 

 member was itself original. She placed it between her 

 paws, holding it tightly, then jerked it through them, 

 giving a violent sneeze every time it came out. That 

 sneezing was genuine, because it was involuntary. Both 

 hartshorn and nicotine had signally failed to get up any- 



