"Yes; and a good deal more besides. Why, if he had asked me, I could have told him what a zygomatic zoophagan is; but he never asked me. Queer, wasn't it?" "Yes," said Jimmieboy. "What is one of those things?" "A zygomatic zoophagan? Why that's a--er--let me see," said the Dictionary, turning over his leaves. "I like to search myself pretty thoroughly before I commit myself to a definition. A zygomatic zoophagan is a sort of cheeky animal that eats other animals. You are one, though I wouldn't brag about it if I were you. You are an animal, and at times a very cheeky animal, and I've seen you eat beef. That's what makes you a zygomatic zoophagan." "Do I bite?" asked Jimmieboy, a little afraid of himself since he had learned what a fearful creature he was. "Only at dinner-time, and unless you are very careless about it and eat too hastily you need not be afraid. Very few zygomatic zoophagans ever bite themselves. In fact, it never happened really but once that I know of. That was the time the zoophagan got the best of the eight-winged tallahassee. Ever hear about that?" "No, I never did," said Jimmieboy. "How did it happen?" "This way," said the Dictionary, as he stood up and made a bow to Jimmieboy. And then he recited these lines: [Illustration: THE CALIPEE AND THE ZOOPHAGAN.] "THE CALIPEE AND THE ZOOPHAGAN." "The yellow-faced Zoophagan Was strolling near the sea, When from the depths of ocean Sprang forth that dread amp-hib-ian, The mawkish Calipee. "The Tallahassee bird sometimes The Calipee is called. His eyes are round and big as dimes, He has eight wings, composes rhymes, His head is very bald. "Now if there are two creatures in This world who disagree-- Two creatures full of woe and sin-- They are the Zo-oph, pale and thin, And that bad Calipee. "Whene'er they meet they're sure to fight, No matter where they are; Nor do they stop by day or night, Till one is beaten out of sight, Or safety seeks afar. "And, sad to say, the Calipee Is stronger of the two; And so he'd won the victory At all times from his enemy, The slight and slender Zoo. "But this time it went otherwise, For, so the story goes, As yonder sun set in the skies, The Calipee, to his surprise, Was whacked square on the nose. "Which is the fatal, mortal part Of all the Calipees; Much more important than the heart, For life is certain to depart When Cali cannot sneeze. "The world, surprised, asked 'How was it? How did he do it so? Where did the Zoo get so much wit? How did he learn so well to hit So fatally his foe?' "''Twas but his strategy,' then cried The friends of little Zoo; 'As Cali plunged, our hero shied, Ran twenty feet off to one side, And bit himself in two. "'And then, you see, the Calipee Was certainly undone; The Zo-oph beat him easily, As it must nearly always be When there are two to one.'