She kin save him from us, I reckon. We can't go ag'in' her, none of us." "Take de corn, take de corn!" moaned the farmer. "I would shust die in dat jail. I would nefer gome pack. Take de corn, and gif it to dem beoples dot makes de trouble mit me. Dat will makes dem all up." "We'll leave you one crib," said Doc Briskett; "and your daughter has the pay for the rest. Now, old man, we 've heard that you have said you will break in Dellabella. Don't try it. The Valley folk will hang you up, for they love her. Treat her right. Give her to Ben, and let her live out her good life here with you. You want to stay here, don't you, Dellabella?" "Tell the hull truth an' shame the old Nick," suggested Pa Gladden, airily. Dellabella, with apron jingling, stepped to her father's side. "Daddy hain't no one but me, an' I 'm only a hill gal. Whut 'd I be anywhar else? I warnt ter stay right here an' hev folkses' good feelin'. Ef Ben an' daddy kin mek out, Ben kin come back ter farmin sometime. I hain't in no hurry erbout thet. But my place air in the hills, I believes." Pa Gladden wrung her hand, with the tears running down his cheeks now. "Lord's child, how it all hev turned out jes right! Lord's own child!" A THE TASMANIAN WOLF I. BY CHARLES R. KNIGHT S a survival of an ancient type, this animal fills a rather conspicuous place, and while no actual counterpart has been found among the fossils of this country, many similar forms are continually coming to light. By some authorities, the Tasmanian wolf is supposed to be a semi-plantigrade animal, which would seem a correct view if one studies simply the bones and the anatomical character. I could distinguish very little of this formation in the living specimen, the legs of which appeared to be almost as straight as those of a dog. There is no doubt, nevertheless, that at one time it may have rested on the whole foot from the heel to the toe, just as a bear does at the present time. The pads of the foot, which in a dog cover only the bottoms of the toes, are in this instance continued in the fore foot to the wrist and in the hind foot to the heel, a narrow strip of naked skin showing in each case. The drawings on the next page of the skulls of the opossum, Tasmanian wolf, and timber-wolf indicate the size and power of the teeth in the latter animal as compared with the tiny dentition of the THE two marsupials. The tail and hind quarters are very characteristic features, and serve at once to distinguish it from the true wolf. There seems to be a certain stiffness in the region of the flanks, the tail itself being covered with very short hair and carried as if it were made of a solid bone instead of being jointed. There appears to be no visible joining of this member with the body, as in most modern animals, and it serves only to balance the creature when running. The large dark eyes, placed very far apart and surrounded by a deeper color than the rest of the head, give a curious expression to the face, while the jaw is very long and slender and the gape unusually wide. It is difficult to understand just why the name "tiger-wolf" was applied to the animal, for, although the back is covered with a few stripes, growing broader and longer as they approach the tail, they in no wise resemble the markings of the great feline. Nevertheless they do serve to remove it further from the dog-like form which has been ascribed to it, as in no instance is this style of adornment found in the true canine race. II. BY ANNIS HARDCASTLE KNIGHT HE island of Tasmania, lying one hundred and fifty miles south of Australia, is the home of this very unusual animal commonly called the Tasmanian wolf. The head is somewhat like that of the wolf in shape, and the general color is gray. It follows its prey by scent, and, until the introduction of sheep into the country, fed upon weaker marsupials; since then the ravages made upon the flocks have caused the government to place a. price upon its head, and the merciless hunting by the natives will soon cause the total extermination of the animal. Sleeping in daytime among the caverns and rocks of the higher mountain-ranges, the creature is not often visible, and is very difficult to trap, and for the same reason it is rarely seen in captivity. The Washington Zoo possesses three, a mother and two babies, which arrived some weeks ago in very poor condition as the result of a month's voyage from Australia in the confined limits of a box too small for the adult even to turn round in. Consequently her sides were badly rubbed and her legs were cramped. She lay listless the greater part of the time, and, when she did move, appeared to do so with difficulty. The little ones recuperated more quickly than their mother, and tried to engage her in their sport by jumping upon her back and rolling down her sides. She is now beginning to take a livelier interest in things, and will occasionally run with the cubs, and leap in the air much as a kangaroo would do. At first the little ones traveled around in their mother's pouch, sometimes with their heads stuck out, as if they were curiously investigating the country as they went along. They entered it also frequently when feeding, and at such times there was always a scramble for first place. Though these animals are said to be very vicious, this particular one is perfectly harmless and wholly indifferent to the presence of man. The keeper enters the cage to treat her wounds when she is feeding, and the only notice she takes of him is, when stung by the application, to walk quietly to the other side of the cage and then return immediately to her food. Her face never assumes the ugly snarl of a wolf, but always bears a blank, stupid expression, from which one might judge that the intelligence is of a much lower order than that of the wolf. The call is a peculiar coughing sound, which, until recognized as a note of affection, gave the keepers grave concern regarding the condition of her lungs. The sound was easily understood when it was observed that the mother, in giving vent to it, was immediately answered by her cubs. Often when sleeping she will rouse for a moment, and, after making this peculiar cry, listen expectantly until she hears the diminutive counterpart, whereupon she will let fall her head and rest content. When lying in this way, with her face toward you, nursing her little ones, she gives the impression of a wolf suckling tiger cubs, as the black stripes on her back in this position are entirely hidden, while shown conspicuously upon the young ones. THOMAS ARNOLD THE YOUNGER BY WILLIAM T. ARNOLD Y American friends assure me that children, all of them perhaps endowed M'Dr. more the average, of gotten by the American than by the English public. They are confident that his intellectual and moral influence still persists on their side of the water as on ours, and, moreover, that much the same, mutatis mutandis, may be said of the brilliant and taking figure of Dr. Arnold's eldest son. Matthew Arnold, indeed, whether in England or in America, is only now slowly but surely coming to his right place. As he himself wrote of others in "The New Age": Now strifes are hush'd, our ears doth meet, of one who was well content to leave his work to the ripening judgment of time. But Matthew Arnold was one of nine richly inheriting the gifts and characteristics of their parents. This article is intended to gather together a few memorials concerning especially the early life of Thomas Arnold the younger, the doctor's second son, separated only by eleven months from his elder brother Matthew. He himself published a short autobiography called "Passages from a Wandering Life" not long before his death. But there is much else to be told, and among the papers left to his children at his death there are many letters which seem to them of public interest, especially for those who already know and love his father and brother. In youth "Tom Arnold" was a delicate and thoughtful child, whom his father cherished with special tenderness. |