is subject. He said: "I
wish I could have seen George Washington and Israel Putnam; but I'm
glad I didn't, for if I'd been alive then, I should have been dead
now."

There is enough in that boy's remark for a whole composition, if any
one chose to write it.

THE GIRAFFE.

[Illustration]

Some one once called the Giraffe a "two-story animal," and the remark
was not altogether inapplicable.

As you see him in the picture, lying down, he seems to be high enough
for all ordinary purposes; but when he stands up, you will see that
his legs--or his lower story--will elevate him to a surprising height.

The ordinary giraffe measures about fifteen feet from the top of his
head to the ground, but some of them have been known to be over
sixteen feet high. Most of this height is owing to their long necks,
but their fore-legs are also very long. The hind-legs seem much
shorter, although, in reality, they are as long as the fore-legs. The
legs and neck of the Giraffe are made long so that he can eat the
leaves from the tops of young trees. This tender foliage is his
favorite diet; but he will eat the foliage from any part of a tree,
and he is content with the herbage on the ground, when there is
nothing else.

He is not a fighting animal. Those little horns which you see on his
head, and which look as if they had been broken off--although they are
really their full size--are of no use as offensive weapons. When
danger threatens him he runs away, and a funny sight he is then. He
can run very fast, but he is very awkward; he goes like a cow on
stilts.

But when there is no chance for him to run away, he can often defend
himself, for he can kick like a good fellow. His hind-legs fly so fast
when he is kicking that you can hardly see them, and he has been known
to drive off a lion by this means of defence.

When hunters wish to catch a giraffe alive, they generally drive him
into a thick woods, where his great height prevents him from running
very rapidly; and as soon as they come up with him, they endeavor to
entangle him in ropes, to throw him down, and to put a halter round
his neck. If they only keep out of the way of his heels, there is no
need of being afraid of him. When they have secured him they lead him
off, if he will come; but if he is an old fellow he will not walk
after them, and he is too strong to be easily pulled along, no matter
how many men may be in the hunt. So in this case they generally kill
h