"The next thing I saw upon the ground was a soft-looking little creature that crawled along with a round ball upon the middle of its back, of a beautiful white color, with brown and red curling stripes. The creature moved very, very slowly, and appeared always to follow the opinion and advice of two long horns on its head, that went feeling about on all sides. Presently it slowly approached my right forepaw and I wondered how I should feel or smell or hear it as it went over my toes; but the instant one of the horns touched the hair of my paw, both horns shrunk into nothing and presently came out again, and the creature slowly moved away in another direction. While I was wondering at this strange proceeding--for I never thought of hurting the creature, not knowing how to hurt anything, and what should have made the horns think otherwise?--while then I was wondering at this, my attention was suddenly drawn to a tuft of moss on my right near a hollow tree trunk. Out of this green tuft looked a pair of very bright round small eyes, which were staring up at me. "If I had known how to walk I should have stepped back a few steps when I saw those bright little eyes, but I never ventured to lift a paw from the earth since my Mother had first set me down, nor did I know how to do so, or what were the proper thoughts or motions to begin with. So I stood looking at the eyes and presently I saw that the head was yellow and that it had a large mouth. 'What you have just seen,' said my Mother, 'we call a snail; and what you now see is a frog.' The names however did not help me at all to understand. Why the first should have turned from my paw so suddenly and why this creature should continue to stare up at me in such a manner I could not conceive. I expected however that it would soon come slowly crawling forth and then I should see whether it would also avoid me in the same manner. I now observed that its body and breast were double some-how, and that its paws were very large for its size, but had no hair upon them, which I thought was probably occasioned by its slow crawling having rubbed it all off. I had scarcely made these observations and reflections, when a beam of bright light breaking through the trees, the creature suddenly gave a great hop right up under my nose; and I, thinking the world was at an end, instantly fell flat down on one side and lay there waiting!"-- With this glimpse of an old-time modern animal tale we shall have to say with "Mr. Titmarsh," "Those who wish to know more about him must buy the book for themselves,"--and add: Or they must get some enterprising publisher to reprint it. A Few Romantic Tales[16] _Puss-in-Boots and Lord Peter_