h, in full view of the passers-by,
were two figures of Hercules, holding clubs, with which they struck on
two bells the hours and the quarters. All children took delight in
watching these gigantic figures, but none so much as the little Marquis
of Hertford, whose kind nurse used to take him to see them--whenever he
was a particularly good boy. Every time that he saw them he would
strike his hands together and declare that as soon as he was a grown
man, he would buy those beautiful giants, and have them all to himself.
Well, strangely enough, when the Marquis grew to be a man, and got
possession of all his property, and built his new villa in Regent's
Park, it happened that old St. Dunstan's Church was torn down, and that
famous clock set up at auction. So, the Marquis, who had never
forgotten his beloved giants, bought them, and set them up in his
garden, where night and day, rain or shine, they still stand, sturdily
swinging their big clubs, striking the hours and the quarters.

St. Dunstan's Villa contains fine marble statues, rare bronzes, vases,
and pictures, and much costly furniture; but nothing in all the house
or grounds was half so dear to the Marquis as that quaint old clock,
and those uncouth giants--for the sight of them always took him back to
the time when he was a happy innocent child, and thought them the most
wonderful things in all the world.

Regent's Park contains The Botanical Gardens, where are to be seen
almost all species and varieties of plants and flowers. In a great
conservatory, I saw the _Victoria Regia_, the largest aquatic plant in
the world. Its vast leaves lie on the water like those of the
water-lily, which they resemble--and so broad and thick are they, that
it is said a little girl of six years may stand on one of them, without
weighing it down enough to wet her feet.

But the most interesting portions of Regent's Park are the Zoological
Gardens, where are kept all varieties of beasts, birds, and serpents.
I had far more pleasure in visiting these gardens than I had ever found
in seeing collections of wild beasts in our own country, because the
animals themselves seemed so much more comfortable and happy. I had
been accustomed to see the lions, leopards, tigers, and bears cramped
up in miserable little grated boxes, and looking as fierce, surly, and
wretched as possible. But here they walked up and down large airy
cages, or stretched themselves out in the sun, or dozed in the