The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-06-19
THE STORY OF LIZBETH AND THE
BABY.

| LIE O1Uh1 VI LIADEIh AND 1HE
BABY.
ONE Monday morning last June 1
drew the chair up to my office desk, and
prepared to begin my weeks work.
First, [ opened and read the letters
two. three, four, five, six, seven-O!
too many to count; then L cut open all
the newspapers-the were enough to
paper the front of the building; and at
last | came to strange round parcel,
and wondering what could be in that, l
took off the pink string and wrappings
that surrounded it, when out rolled a
tin mustard box, with four holes
punched in the lid. What to make of
this l didn't know l tried to twist off
the cover, but it would not stir. Then
| raped it gently with ruler, when,
all of sudden-pop! off came the lid,
and out sprang wad Of cotton wool,
and a queer little drab and yellow
thing, three or four inches long, that
squatted down among the papers.
-Four small legs, big tail, a head
with six horns, and coat of many
colors: that seemed to be all of it. L
waited for it to move, but it kept
still, so very still that l thought it
must be dead, so gave it poke with
my pen handle, when "PtSchn away
it ran, like a mouse, over papers and
| letters, down to the carpet, across the
| floor, and into dark corner behind
! the safe.
Thus was 1 introduced to "Lizbeth,
the horned lizard, or horned toad,
which my friend, the Professor, had
sent me from Colorado.
| carried her home with me that
night, and in few days she came to be
looked upon as one of the family. She
took possession of one of the broad
window-seats in the library, where she
had a cigar-box for her house and a
hickory twig for furniture. Here she
spent most of her time. In the morn
ing she lay in the sunshine, or chung to
the window-sill to look out at the allan
tus-tree opposite. She showed only
one bad trait-she would not eat, and
for five weeks she was never known to
take any food or drink. But this didn't
trouble her as much as it did the rest
of us. She continued to look plump,
and the Professor tells me that she
could have tasted for six months with
out starving. One night l put four
beetles in the cigar-box with her, fast
ening down the cover; in the morning
they were gone, and from that time she
had good appetite, and devoted most
of her waking hours to appeasing it
with such flies, ants or beetles, as came
within reach of her. / once counted
fifty flies that went into her mouth with
in as many minutes.
And she always was ready for contri-
buttons of insects, but they must be
alive. If you took fly by one wing
and held it, buzzing, two or three
inches from her mouth, suddenly out
flashed small stubby tongue, with a
sort of mucilage on the end of it. and
before you knew Just what had hap
pened, the fly was swallowed.
LiZbeth soon learned to recognize the
members Of the family, and would oft
en- follow as from room to room. She
showed intst.S'nce In many ways; we
taught her' = ara tricks, such as "
ing on her bags 3. 4 dead, and sitting
on her launches with back against an
inkstand, and demurely holding a
tooth-pick in one of her small hands,
and when hungry for a meal, she would
come to us with open mouth, as a sign
of readiness. She was always pleased
to have her neck scratched, or to be
held in ones hand, when she would
snuggle down into the warm palm and
60 to sleep.
One day in September, three months
after Lizbeth's arrival, a very import
ant event happened. There came an
other tin mustard-box from the Profess
sor, who was then with the Wheeler
Exploring Expedition in California, and
in it was a baby companion for Lizbeth
according to the Professors standard
of beauty, the prettiest creature alive.
1t was three inches long, and had five
gold bands across its back, black shad-
ing just before each, and a beautiful
white stomacher.
So now there were two heads that
peeped out from the library window at
the ailantus-tree, and two hungry
mouths to fill with flies and beetles.
Baby soon became the favorite. The
color of her coat was prettier, and
she had no horns on her head. You
may wonder what Lizbeth's horns
were for. | hardly know, unless as a
substitute for shovel in digging in
to the soil, but she used hers very skill
fully to pry open the lid of her CIGAR
box.
Lizbeth was the livelier of the two.
While lady caller, one evening, was
seated near the comfortable, Lizbeth
sprang out of a hat and alighted on he1
hand uttering q shrill ''PtSchp' and
giving her fright and hatred of the
'beasts' Gas she called them), from
which she never fully recovered. A
Danish gentleman, who visits us some.
times, nearly tainted when he first saw
her approaching, and ever afterward,
when he called he used to push his
head through the half-open door, ask.
ing, ''Where are dose reptles?'' and