As
he sat thus of an afternoon, half a dozen boys gathered round a specimen
from animal-land placed near by.
Boys have few doubts, but these lads had theirs as to the identity of the
beast. They noticed Sir George, and a delegate approached him with the
request, 'Please, sir, can you tell us the name of this creature?' He
turned in the direction indicated, and found, strangely enough, that the
specimen was one which he had sent home from the far south, during his
naturalist's work there. He named it, and the lad followed up, 'Where did
it come from?'; getting the answer.
Next, 'Who killed it?' A pucker gathered upon Sir George's face, and he
hesitated, arguing with himself, 'If I tell them, they'll think me an
impostor, and even discount the information I have given them.'
But the inquisitor waited, and Sir George could do no better than
'Frankly, you know, I believe I killed it myself.'
'Here, you fellows!' the merry voice rang out; 'he says he killed the
beast! Did you ever?'
The other boys left the animal to stare at what they felt to be a greater
curiosity.
'Oh, yes,' Sir George addressed them, as they formed a half-circle before
him, 'what I have told you is quite true. But if you will listen, I'll
relate the whole story, and then you can decide for yourselves.
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