Los Angeles herald., 1905-04-23

all built of glass. In here were, first
of all, some turtles. OF course the
Wasp had seen pond turtles, but he
had never seen turtles as huge as
these. One of these would have been
taken for a large bowlder II he had not
( moved. He was as long as fifty wasps
and hundred honey bees flying in a
line. Talking to this turtle the Wasp
learned that he could walk about COM
fortably with two giants on his back,
that he could bite through any thin
board or through tin basin and that
he was so old 1t would take two thou
sand wasps' lives, end to end, each life
being sixty sunsets long, to span his
age.
He lived as long as seven giants
lives. And he ate nothing but vege-
tables and fruit. Finally this aston
ishing tortoise declared that the land
he lived in was so small he could walk
across it while the sun rose and set
twice, and that 1t was entirely sur
rounded by water
"How, then" ventured the Wasp,
could you get here, If there is water
all about your homer"
THAT" remarked the Turtle, "Is
simple. I was brought by the giants
in floating nest"
In a glass box not far off was piece
of dead tree, surrounded by a vast,
motionless body, which the Wasp
thought was a very brightly colored
|
as the Bee buzzed before it, it moved.
1t was a snake. The Wasp had seen
snakes large enough to capture and
swallow squirrels, but this marvellous
snake was nearly as thick through as
small cedar tree! And when the
as long as a cedar tree is tall. Its eyes
were larger than ten bees standing
with their heads together, and its
| tongue was divided in two at the end
and as long as the creatures head. The
| Wasp learned that the snake could fold
| itself about a man, a pony or a calf
and crush them to death. 1t could
choke a horse, a COW or a fierce BULL
and for its food it enjoyed dog or
cat or a few rabbits swallowed whole.
| In another part of this new and
strange land the Bee showed the Wasp
pure white bird, like a chicken;
whereupon the Wasp buzzed up
angrily: "You call that chicken Won
der! Why, it has not even spurs"
mo-" hummed the Bee, but it Is
marvel; for it lives in land without
hI1c Ix,ha ie
always so cold that the snow is forty
times as deep as we ever saw the grass,
and where the giants burrow under it
to keep warm. This bird lives there
in comfort, for it's feet, body, neck,
head and bill are covered by thick
feathers. A deep ruff of feathers is
upon each leg; a collar of feathers also
about it's neck"
"Where 1 came from" said this
pretty bird, "the nights and days are
as long each as a whole winter or sum-
mer here. l can go many days without
eating, and my worst enemy is a little
beast smaller than dog. All the ami
mails in my country are the color of
snow.
The Wasp about this time felt so
very foolish that he refused to see
more wonders that day. So he and the
kindly Bee returned homeward.
Now the Wasp was so full of the
matter he had seen that he forgot the
anger of his brother wasps until he
reached the nest. A swarm of angry
wasps descended upon him to punish
him for his pride and boastfulness.
But the Wasp told them he had no
pride left in his makeup, which, of
course, led to his telling his interesting
travels. But alas! the wasps decided
he was telling falsehoods, and had 1t
not been for his friend the Bee the
vainglorious Wasp would not have en-
joyed another day of sunshine. Which
points plainly to the moral that the
wise are humble and the foolish vain.
Can you guess what these strange
creatures were?
1. The Elephant, of Africa.
2. The Ostrich of Africa.
8. The Apteryx, of New Zealand.
4. The Cassowary, of Ceram, East
Indies.
5. The Condor, of South America.
6. The Giant Tortoise. of Galapagos
Islands.
Z. The Boa Constructor, of Brazil.
8. The Ptarmigan, or Arctic Pheasant.