BY THE WAYSIDE. 
87 
sky, and then returned wearily to our cave to 
pick the last bone. 
The next morning, just at dawn, he returned 
with a delicious marketing,—he said it was 
a butcher, I think, though it may have been 
a judge, the flavor is much the same. Then 
when we had retired to the darkest, dampest, 
cosiest corner of the cave, he told me very 
modestly the story of his great achievement. 
“Your brave father, children, had been down 
to where the whole swarm of men lived, and 
actually had beaten to pieces one of the wooden 
caves! He made light of his exploit, and only 
rejoiced in it because, as he said, he had no 
fear now of famine or even of scarcity. We 
I sat up late that happy morning, enjoyed a 
delicious supper, and slept soundly until night¬ 
fall. 
“We arose with the moon, and after a hasty 
but effective toilet on his new sandstone, your 
father advanced glidingly toward the mouth 
, 
of the cave, when suddenly there presented 
itself a dark object with a shiny coat, much 
like that of a dragon. Indeed, we thought 
for a moment it was some neighbor who had 
dropped in to breakfast. But in a few seconds 
I we saw that it was what is called a knight. 
A knight, children, is an animal which, though 
edible, is noxious, and * sometimes dangerous 
to young or careless dragons. I have heard of 
such being even killed by this spiteful little 
pest. They are found among men—in fact, 
i they are a species of men that has a hard shell. 
You know there are hard-shell crabs and soft- 
shell crabs, and so, likewise, there are hard 
and soft shelled men. Our visitor was a hard 
! shell who had, while prowling about, found our 
cave either by accident or willfully. 
“I do not deny that I was a trifle anxious; 
but your father was merely angry. Giving a 
great roar, he blew out a mass of dark smoke 
and scarlet flames at the unfortunate little 
knight. 
“But, though small, the knight was plucky 
and showed fight. As your father carelessly 
leaped toward him, the knight scratched dear 
Papa slightly with a long hard stick, on the 
end of which was a bit of very hard shell. 
Then the knight rode out—for he had enslaved 
an unfortunate horse, as these cruel men do, 
my pets, and by means of a contrivance in its 
mouth, he made it carry him about wherever 
he chose. 
“ 'Tour father eagerly followed, though I 
sought in vain to restrain him. ‘No, Scalena,’ 
said he, ‘This is a question of principle! As 
a true dragon and your loving mate, it is my 
duty to destroy this dangerous little fellow. 
Do not be foolish; I will bring you the body 
of the fierce creature. They are excellent eat¬ 
ing. But you must sharpen your claws, my 
dear, for the shells are exceedingly hard to 
remove and most difficult of digestion.’ 
“I obeyed him, for your father is always 
right, and out he flew with a rush of smoke and 
flame.” 
“Oh, Mother, and was father killed?” asked 
one of the youngest, little Tommy Dragon. 
“Of course not,” replied his elder brother, 
scornfully. “Don’t you see him sleeping over 
there, all safe and sound? Don’t be so silly!” 
“You must not speak so sharply to ^our 
little brother!” said Mrs. Dragon, “or I shall 
end the story at once!” 
“Oh, please go on,” exclaimed all of the 
young dragons; “it is just the most "interest¬ 
ing part!” 
Pleased with their eagerness, she resumed: 
“I did not see the hunt, but your father has 
often described it to me. The knight came 
wickedly at him, hoping to scratch him with 
the sharp stick; but with one whisk of his 
long green tail, your father broke the thing 
into small pieces! So you see, Sam,” said this 
thoughtful parent, turning slyly to her eldest 
son, “it is most important to practice your tail¬ 
whisking—and I hope you will not forget it 
when you go to your next lesson.” 
Sammy Dragon turned saffron with con¬ 
fusion, but it was evident that he resolved to 
profit by the little moral so ingeniously woven, 
by careful Mrs. Dragon, into a mere man-story, 
“After the stick was broken,” she went on, 
“the vicious little knight snatched out another, 
