50 



FOUR-HANDED FOLK. 



whole performance so sudden, and his face so 

 grave all the time, it seemed as if a spring had 

 gone off inside of him, with which his will had 

 nothing to do. 



A favorite plaything with the lemur was a 

 window-shade. He began by jumping up to the 

 fringe, seizing it and swinging back and forth. 

 One day he learned by accident that he could 

 " set it off," and then his extreme pleasure was 

 to snatch at it with so much force as to start the 

 spring, when he instantly let go and made one 

 bound to the other side of the room, or to the 

 mantel, where he sat, looking the picture of in- 

 nocence, while the released shade sprang to the 

 top and went over and over the rod. We could 

 never prevent his carrying out this little pro- 

 gramme, and we drew down one shade only to 

 have him slyly set off another the next instant. 



Next to the shade, his chosen playground was 

 a small brass rod holding a bracket-lamp. It 

 was not more than half an inch wide, and so 

 sharp-edged that it seemed impossible that an 

 animal of his size and weight could stay on it 

 one minute, especially as it was not more than 

 eight or ten inches long, and held a burning 

 lamp at the end. The lamp was no objection to 

 the always chilly little beast ; he enjoyed the 

 heat of it, and not only did he sit there with per- 

 fect ease, and dress his fur or eat his bread, but 



