The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-03-27
Fiske.. Favorite Anecdote.

Much has been written concerning
the extraordinary mental and physical
gifts of the late John Fiske, and his
peculiar glory as popular expositor
of natural science and philosophy has
been discerningly indicated in sundry
brief biographies, says the New York
World. But his lighter side has not
been dwelt upon or any note made of
his entertaining powers of conversa-
ton. Those persons who found his
lectures dry and who were not familiar
with his delightful little books on evo-
luton were only too glad to come in
personal contact with the man.
Prof. Fiske had a keen sense of hu-
NOR. and the memory of his favorite
anecdote is abiding. Perhaps the thing
really happened. Prof. Fiske told it
with great effect, and his auditors
seemed to agree with him that it was
Enthusiastically American.
It seems that q traveller on q railway
train had with him a small wooden
box which he kept on the seat beside
him and which he guarded with jealous
care. From time to time he would pri-
vately and solicitously inspect its con-
tents by raising an edge of the lid an
inch or two. Evidently the object of
his attentions was something out of
the common.
This was too much for the curiosity
of the man across the aisle. When he
could no longer restrain his desire to
penetrate the mystery he leaned for
ward and said: II beg your pardon,
but you'd you mind telling me what is
in that box?"
The owner of it smiled politely. Ger
tainly not" he answered. It's mon
goose" Then he withdrew into his de-
meanor of inscrutability and buried
himself in a magazine.
The man across the aisle looked puz-
zled. Never having read Rudyard
Kipling's jungle Book" and his nat
ural history being a little rusty, the in
formation he had elected was not COM
plete. Mongoose and mandrake! The
chambers of his memory, somewhat
dusty from disuse, echoed family, as
though closed doors, a vague intima-
ton of a long ago acquaintance with
both those words. One of them was
regretable and one animal, but ne
didn't know which. Did the mandrake
have wings, or was it the mongoose?
Or was it both or neither? But he was
not the man to be baked by a show
of reticence. Again he leaned forward.
Il beg your pardon" he said once
more, 'DuI would you NINA IelllnS me
what is a mongoose ?"
The man with the magazine explained
briefly but courteously that the habitat
of the mongoose was India, and that it
was an interesting little quadruped
and useful because of the relentless
war it waged on snakes.
This seemed to satisfy the curiosity
of the man across the aisle-for a time.
AS a matter of fact, however, his curl
osity was only whetted. He returned
to the attack the next time the owner
of the box opened the lid. What are
you going to do with it?'' he asked.
Its rather a private matter" said
the owner of the box, after an awk-
ward pause. THE truth is, my
brother in-law in Chicago is a hard
drinker He has-well there's no use
mincing matters-he has snakes and
I'm taking this mnogoose to him.
The earnest questiOner digested this
information during the ensuing hour.
But somehow it did not seem to put
his mind wholly at ease. AS the train
pulled into the station he preached the
subject for the last time, and appar-
emily with some diffidence.
Il don't quite understand" he said.
''Those snakes of your brother-in-law.
They're not real snakes, you know"
The man of mystery gathered his box
under his arm and prepared to depart.
Well he said, lowering his voice TO
confidential tone, you see, this isn't
real mOngoose, either