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Show p? Daddy 5 LS&eiii ; Fairy Tale VRY GRAHAM Fx.N.N" 1 ARRIVAL OF PLATYPUS j "I arrived." Knid the l'latypus, "some j time ago. My home used to be In I Australia. I ' had a most interesting and com- I fortnhie suite of my own in which to j travel, and this of course was put! upon a large ship. i "There was a place where I could j walk end a sieeping room with nice. I warm hay upon which to lie. "There was a swimming tank really every comfort. ''1 hi y w ere most anxious to have me here, and of course people heard that I was arriving ut the zoo and came in great numbers to see me. : "My keeper realized that I was nervous and so only let me see people for a little while at a time. "Then one of the keepers would tell about me. so that the people wouldn't make me too nervous by shout ing questions ques-tions at the keeper all the time. "He told them about me. He said 1 liked shrimps and that he gave me a shrimp .'-upper twice a week. "He told tl.cm that I liked nice earthworms, grubs, water Insects and oysters. "Now- maybe you think It's a queer diet, but I think It's perfect. "I used to let the people look at me while I showed off a bit, and then I ! would go through the little holes of ! the bank of my swimming pool and wipe off the water as I went, and then go for a nap on my warm, dry hay. "I dry myself off, you see, before I go to the inside part of my home, just as I hear children are told to wipe off their feet before they go into houses. "Yes, I rhall tell you more about myself. I'm what Is known as a duckbilled duck-billed platypus, and I'm a most unusual un-usual animal. "In fact, I'm as queer as queer can be. "You will seldom, if ever, find anything any-thing as queer as I am. "I lay eggs. That in Itself Is not so queer. But hearken to what else I do, and what 1 am like. "I have a flat hill. "I have no teeth. "My feet are webbed. "When I am free I live In a river "You See How Unusual I Am." and sleep in the river's banks where it is dry. "I don't care much about the land, but I halcn out the eggs which I lay by curling about thera and keeping them warm. "When a little baby platypus is born it is only an inch long and hasn't a hair on its body for several months. "No one but a mother platypus could love such a curious little object. "A mother platypus gives it milk to drink by letting milk ooze through her skin. "You will notice that I have a good lall for swimming, and nice toes for digging and climbing. My claws are excellent, too. "When I am In my native, or home, country. I have two entrances to my river home, one above and one below. "The one above the water is where you will lind a nice comfortable bedroom bed-room filled with dry leaves. "They've put up a sign here about people keeping quiet. "Ah. that shows how they respect me. "And when I was being brought here they stopped off when they reached j land to get me fresh supplies of j worms. j "Oh, yes. they went to a lot of i trouble getting me here, but you see 1 how unusual I am. 1 "Don't you think I was worth the ' trouble?" I "I do." said F.illie Brownie. "You're ! one of the queerest objects I've ever ' seen. Certainly you're worth seeing." |