The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1917-07-07
HOW THE PORCUPINE
GOT HIS SPINES
IA Foolish Animal Story.)

"a Foolish Animal Story.
Once upon time, when the trees
stayed green all the year round,
and the oceans covered almost all
OF your home and mine, porcupines
didn' have any spines. They had
long, soft fur. just like cats, and
they ran around through the woods
like cats.
Great-grand-daddy. Porcupine,
who was a member Of one Of the
oldest families In the woods, and
was proud OF himself because Of it,
was just plain Jimmy Porcupine in
those days. He travelled all night
and played all dav He could jump,
from tree to tree, and spent most
OF his time doing It. And when Big
Bear, the red-eyed, came snuffling
through the woods. Jimmy would
lie very q lily In the sun until he
was almost caught, and then jump
away to the trees, with Big Bear
after him. Up tree the porcupine
would go. and up after him would
60 the bear. but the porocupine
would jump to another just aheaed
the bears paws.
On the very important day when
the porcupine family got his spines,
Jimmy was DOING in the sun, when
suddenly a great shadow lowered
over him. He had slept one sec
ond too long. He was SO scared he
turned cold from head to foot, and
then hot, and then both hot and
cold at once. He, couldn't move.
His hair all rose on end and just
sat there and waited to become
bears dinner, with his head tucked
under his paws.
Big bear was enjoying himself.
He thought of the delicious taste
Of young porcupine, and his mouth
! watered. He stretched it very wide,
licked all his teeth to see that they
were sharp, lowered his jaws over
Jimmy Porcupine, an closed them.
Young porcupine reit Big Bear
snort, then he let go, and made a
great rolling scuffling noise behind
him. He wasn't to be eaten after
all! He jumped for the trees, and
when he got up one, he turned to
see what was the matter with Big
Bear. He was rolling in the ground,
paving wildly at his mouth with all
four paws. He looked SO funny
that Jimmy laughed and laughed,
and laughed. Think of q great big
pig, trying to ram all his feet into
| his mouth!
Then he started home, to tell his
father and. his mother about his adj
venture. But on the way. he bump
ed against tree, and felt the fun
niest tickling, pricking, feeling! 1t
was just as II he had run into a
| pincushiOn. He couldn't imagine
what was the matter.
When he got home, and rushed
in the door, his mother cried:
why, Jimmy Porcupine, what is
the matter with your fur? It's all
sticking on end, like the needles in
cushion!"
He looked at himself In the
looking glass. His hair was allc
Uu CuO. uCn lid MONuCI tOOh
the brush and comb and tried to
smooth it out, but it jumped up be-
hind the brush, just as II it hadn't
been touched. And when Old Man
Porcupine, his father, came home,
he tried to spank Jimmy on gener-
al principles.
He brought his hand down once,
hard. Then he jumped up, and wav-
ed 1t around, and said something
awful. And Mother Porcupine had
to bring the pinchers. and take his
sons bristles out of his hand.
BY that time, Jimmy decided
that having bristles had its advan-
tages. And when he went out next
day, and the biggest young Porcu-
pine bully in the neighborh0od
made fun of the way he looked, he
filled the bully full of bristles, and
went home feeling good. And just
because he could, he licked all the
young porcupines around the neigh
borhood. And one by one, they
couldn't stand him any longer, and
left the country.
So, not having to run, and find
ing plenty to eat, he got fatter and
fatter, and lazier and lazier, and
slower and slower, and all his chill
dren we're like him. And that's
u