`We may then be weary and out of spirits,' added she, `but
I have something to tell you that will make you all merry again.'

"I could not help admiring the good sense and patience of my wife, thus
reserving pleasant news for a time when they might be more available in
producing a happy effect.

"As we were marching through a small glade, talking and laughing in high
glee, an animal leaped out of some bushes before us, and ran slowly off
to one side. It was a beautiful little creature, about the size of a
cat, with dark glossy hair, spotted about the head and neck, and with
clear white stripes running along its back. It did not go far before it
stopped; and, throwing up its long bushy tail, looked back at us with
the playful and innocent air of a kitten. I knew very well what the
pretty creature was. Not so the impetuous Harry, who, thinking that
here was the very `pet' he wanted, dropped his pole, kettle, and all,
and made after it.

"I cried out to him to desist; but the boy, either not hearing me--on
account of the yelping of the dogs, who had also started in pursuit--or
being too intent on making a capture, ran on after the animal. But the
chase did not last long. The little creature, apparently not the least
frightened at the terrible enemies that were so close upon its heels--
stood near the edge of the glade, as if to await its pursuers Harry, as
he ran, was all the while eagerly scolding off the dogs. He wanted to
take the little beauty alive; and he feared that the mastiffs would kill
it before he could come up. It looked, too, as if they would, for they
were now almost on top of it yelping with open mouths. Just at this
moment, the strange animal was seen to elevate its hind-quarters, throw
its long tail forward over its back, and give a sudden jerk of its body,
as if by way of an insult to its pursuers. But it meant something more
than a mere insult. It meant to punish them for their audacity. The
effect of that singular movement was at once apparent. The dogs
suddenly wheeled in their tracks. Their victorious yelping was changed
to a fearful howling; and both of them ran back thrusting their noses
into the grass, and capering over the ground as if they had either been
stung by wasps, or had suddenly fallen into convulsions! Harry stopped
for a moment wondering at this. He did not stop long. The next moment
we saw him throw his hands up to his face, and uttering a cry that
betokened pain a