The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-09-28

under the big oak tree at the
Zoo. Nurse was waiting for the
~ big, blond Keeper to come along
and chat with her. Donald was wait
ing. curled up on shawl spread upon
the ground, for his eyelids to grow
heavy with sleep for his afternoon
nap.
Not that he liked to sleep-oh, no!
But then, you recall, he very often
encountered his queer little friend,
the Old Man of the Woods and went
with him on pleasant jaunts among
the animals-when he was asleep, and
only when asleepl
Presently, Donald dozed off into the
Land of Nod and then--out of no.
where-sprang up the Old Man. Such
a queer old man he was, too, with
his humming-bird feather coat, fur
trousers and wrinkled smiling face.
Good afternoon. my boy" he said.
Come, sit on this magic leaf and
we'll sail away to the cage of the
kangaroo in the far corner of the
Zoo. l have most interesting story
to tell you about kangaroos. Come
-quick-we're off"
And in less time than 1t takes you
to open and close your eyes the leaf
had carried them through the air and
deposited them gently on the ground
by the side of the enclosure in which
the kangaroo was disporting himself.
Once upon time, long before
there was any such creature as Man
on the earth" said Donald's strange
companion, the Kangaroo came to
me weeping and wailing and begged
me to help him. AS you will recall,
Donald. I was the king of all living
things then, and they all came to me
to settle their disputes and bind up
their wounds.
well, the Kangaroo then did not
look like kangaroos do now, Donald
No indeed. Now, you see. they have
little, short, weak fore-legs and big
long, powerful hind legs - strong
enough to kick out with and knock
a man senseless. Besides, there is
that thick. tremendous tail. tapering
out to such a small point.
but at that time, Donald, the Kan
garoo's hind legs were no longer than
his front ones; and his tail was about
the size of that of a rabbit Even
then he was a swift runner, though
he did not hop along in great, bound
ing leaps. as he does now
oh, oh, oh, Mr.. Old Man of the
Woods walled the Kangaroo can
remember even now how silly he
sounded-'please, please help me to
get that Sweetumbiter
What? l exclaimed 'Sweetum-
bite? What In the world is that?'
The Kangaroo stopped wailing,
dried his eyes and put IT absurd
little pocket handkerchief back in his
pouch--yes, in those days all kanga-
roos had them-and looked at me in
surprise.
'Sweetumbite' he exclaimed.
Don't you know a Sweetumbite when
YOU see one. Mr.. Old Man of the
Woods?
No! I do not! 1 replied some
what testify, I'm afraid, and 1 don't
believe you do, either!'
:" Come with me, please-and I'll
show it to YOU he declared.
Il was so amazed I could scarcely
scramble to my feet to follow him.
A Sweetumbit Could it be that
there was something new in the for
est. something that 1 knew nothing
about? Well, hardly OF course you
know what a Sweetumbite is, Dom
aid d?"-and the Old Mans eyes twink
led rogufshly for a moment or two
as he chuckied over the blank, puz-
zled expression that had settled upon
little Donald's face. There, there"
he continued presently. don't try to
remember. Donald. for you never did
even hear of Sweetumbite, much
less see onel
After a while Kangaroo stopped
by the side of some very tall bushes
and pointed upward with one of his
short. stubby little forelegs