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Show Dadekjs j5V -nAPY GRAHAM BONNER . J iv.s s'-i'H fS':-N - - MRS. WOODLAND CARIBOU "Good-moruing, Mrs. Caribou," said Mr. Caribou, "when did you arrive at the zoo?" '"Yesterday, when you were asleep," said Mrs. Caribou. "I was a present to the zoo." "Hum-hum, very Interesting," said Mr. Caribou. "But just what Is a present ?" "A present," commenced Mrs. Caribou, Cari-bou, "is, well, it is a present." "So I imagined," smiled Mr. Caribou. Cari-bou. "But what sort of a present is a present? Do tell me quickly, or I will be quite mixed up." "I have it, I have it," shrieked Mrs. Caribou will, joy. "What have you got another present?" pres-ent?" "No ! I'm a present myself, though I might have another one lor myself, (hat is true," said Mrs. Caribou. "Will you please explain yourself for I am getting horribly mixed up," said Mr. Caribou. "Certainly," agreed Mrs. Caribou. "A present, Mr. Caribou, Is a gift-something gift-something one gives or presents to some one. "It might be a box of candy, or a big patch of reindeer moss, a book for those who like to read, or lichen for a caribou." "But you are none of these things," said Mr. Caribou. "No, but I, myself, was a great and valuable gift to the zoo. "They can- tell people that I came from Newfoundland, though I believe you came from Alaska, didn't you?" Mr. Caribou nodded his big head, for the Woodland Caribou family are very big with large hea-ds, enormous hoofs and loose joints. "And they will tell the people," continued con-tinued Mrs. Caribou, "that It Is not Mr. Caribou. safe to let us have too much green grass or It would hurt us as we are used to living on reindeer moss, tree moss and lichen grass." "They can also tell the people that we have our own snow-shoes," said Mr. Caribou. "Yes, because of our great hoofs a-nd strong claws we can run over the snow just as though we had regular snow-shoes. "We always have ours ready, you see, for we never leave our feet behind be-hind us !" "Good joke," chuckled Mrs. Caribou, Cari-bou, "and a true one, too. "For no caribou would leave his or her feet behind, and our snow-shoes are our own which can get so easily over the snow I j "But now you know what a present j is," she ended. I "I do," said Mr. Caribou, "and I think we were both nice gifts to the zoo, for now I understand tho meaning mean-ing of the word I realize I was a present, pres-ent, too, at one time. j "Yes, if I do say so myself, I think we were nice presents. ! "Certainly It Is something a good deal more Important to receive a carl-bou carl-bou as a present than a box of candy or a book. ' "Diw, dear me, they're not to be compared. Not to be compared." ! "No certainly not to be compared," said Mrs. Caribou. i . |