Timothy was our pet hedgehog. I bought him in Leadenhall Market, brought him home, and put him into the back-garden, which is walled in. There, to that extent, he had his liberty, and many, and many a time did I watch him from my study window walking about in the twilight among the grass, searching for worms and other insects. And very useful was he to the plants by so doing. When the dry weather came food got more scarce; then Timothy was fed with bread and milk from the back-kitchen window, which is on a level with the stone. Soon he came to know that when he was hungry there was the supply; and often he would come and scratch at the glass or at the back-door for his supper, and after getting it, walk off to the garden beds to make himself useful. Few people know of the great use of a hedgehog in a garden, or they would be more generally kept. Our Timothy, poor fellow, however, in spite of all his good qualities, came to a bad end. A strange dog coming one day, saw him walking about in search of his accustomed food, and pounced on him and bit him; still I had hopes of his recovery, but in a few days he died, and all of us were sorry. [Illustration] [Illustration: GOLD ORE. SILVER ORE. TIN ORE. IRON ORE.] [Illustration: NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN. MONGOLIAN. CAUCASIAN. HEAD OF BELVEDERE APOLLO. CAUCASIAN.--MODERN TURK.] THE BRAVE COCKATOO. One Charles Durand, of whose travels and adventures a book has been written, owned a cockatoo, which he carried about with him on his journeys; the bird's name was Billy, and he seems to have been as wise as he was loving. Charles was asleep in his tent, when he was roused by a sharp, shrill cry of the bird, of "Time to rise! time to rise!" accompanied by a violent flapping of the wings. So awakened, Charles looked around, wondering what had disturbed his feathered friend. The cause was soon plain--a deadly snake lay coiled up close to his bed, prepared to spring on the defenseless man. Just when he thought that all hope was at an end, the brave cockatoo sprang from his perch, seized the reptile by the neck, and held him tight till his master could summon help. [Illustration] HARE TAKING THE WATER. I was pike-fishing one season on the Dorset Stour below Canford Major, when on passing from one field to another, I disturbed a hare. The animal at once entered an open, dry drain, and I lost sight of her. Presently, as I silently made my way plying my rod by the bank, I saw her, this time without any appearance of alarm, take to the water, and making her way through the sedges. She put her head to the stream so that the force of the current, with but slight exertion by swimming on her part, carried her nearly in a straight line to the opposite bank. Here I watched her to see whether she would trundle herself like a dog, but she merely rested a bit, letting the water run from her, and then set off at a rattling pace across the mead, which doubtless soon thoroughly dried her. [Illustration]