Page:The Swiss Family Robinson (Kingston).djvu/159

 “but I cannot think what this animal can be. Examine its teeth, and let us see to what class of mammalia it belongs. We may be led to guess at its name in that way.”

“I see four sharp incisor teeth, father,—two upper, and two under, as a squirrel has.”

“Ah! then he is a rodent. What rodents can you remember, Ernest?” “I do not know them all, but there are the mouse, the marmot, the squirrel, the hare, the beaver, the ——”

“The jerboa!” I exclaimed, “the jerboa! now we shall have it. This is really very like a jerboa, only far larger. It must be a kangaroo, one of the class of animals which has a pouch or purse beneath the body, in which its young can take refuge. They were discovered in New Holland, by the great Captain Cook, and I congratulate you on being the first to obtain a specimen in New Switzerland!” I added, laughing, as I extemporized the name.

The kangaroo was added to the already heavy load on our sledge, and we proceeded slowly, arriving late at Falconhurst, but meeting with the usual bright welcome.

Very eager and inquisitive were the glances turned towards the sledge, for the load piled on it surpassed all expectation: we on our part staring in equal surprise at the extraordinary rig of the young folks who came to meet us.

One wore a long night-shirt, which, with a belt, was a convenient length in front, but trailed behind in orthodox ghost fashion.

Another had on a very wide pair of trousers, braced up so short that each little leg looked like the clapper in a bell.

The third, buttoned up in a pea-jacket which came down to his ankles, looked for all the world like a walking portmanteau.

Amid much joking and laughter, the mother explained that she had been washing all day, and while their clothes were drying, the boys amused themselves by dressing up in things they found while