THE ARMADILLO 
23 
“Shall we take this one home with us?” Buck 
asked, pointing to the baby rolled into a ball. 
“No. He does no harm. It would be cruel to take 
him into captivity, wouldn’t it?” 
“Yes, sir,” said Buck, instantly sorry. 
The three hikers walked on and talked a great deal 
about these odd animals. Uncle Ely said that the little 
armored fellows are found only in Texas, and in the 
neighboring country of Mexico. They have come 
into Texas from Mexico, and have not yet spread to 
other states. 
The children and their uncle were almost home 
again when Ginger suddenly thought of something. 
“Uncle Ely, you forgot to tell us the little armored 
fellow’s name! What is he called?” 
“Armadillo. Say it slowly: ar-ma-dilho. The name 
is as odd as the animal.” 
The children practiced saying it. “What does the 
name mean?” Buck asked. 
“It is a Spanish word, meaning little armored feh 
low,’ ” Uncle Ely explained as he smiled at the chih 
dren. “So you see, Ginger, I really had told you his 
name, after all.” 
