42 



FOUR-HANDED FOLK 



with curious effect. Whether he was lying 

 quietly on one's knee, standing, sitting, or in 

 whatever position, on being alarmed by an at- 

 tempt to capture him, or by an unexpected 

 sound, he instantly disappeared, — sideways, 

 backward, or forward, — without in any way 

 making ready, or getting upon his legs. It was 

 as if his body were a spring, or as if he were 

 flung by some force outside of himself ; he sim- 

 ply went. A curious fashion he had also of 

 leaping against the bare side wall of the room, 

 which he struck flatly with all fours, and then 

 bounded off in another direction. I have seen 

 the same thing done by a squirrel, and also — 

 strange as it seems — by a bird. 



