you the body of the fierce creature. They are excellent eating. But you must sharpen your claws, my clear, for the shells are exceedingly hard to remove and most difficult of digestion.
"I obeyed him, for your father is always right, and out he flew with a rush of smoke and flame."
"Oh, Mother!—and was Father killed?" asked one of the youngest—little Tommy Dragon.
"Of course not!" replied his elder brother, scornfully. "Don't you see him sleeping over there, all safe and sound? Don't be so silly!"
"You must not speak so sharply to your little brother," said Mrs. Dragon, "or I shall end the story at once!"
"Oh, please go on," exclaimed all the young dragons; "it is just the most interesting part!"
Pleased with their eagerness, she resumed:
"I did not see the hunt, but your father has often described it to me. The knight came wickedly at him, hoping to scratch him with the sharp stick; but with one whisk of his long green tail, your father broke the thing into small pieces! So you see, Sam," said this thoughtful parent, turning slyly to her eldest son, "it is most important to practise your tail-whisking—and I hope you will not forget it when you go to your next lesson."
Sammy Dragon turned saffron with confusion, but it was evident that he resolved to profit by the little moral so ingeniously woven, by careful Mrs. Dragon, into a mere man-story.
"After the stick was broken," she went on, "the vicious little knight snatched out another, made entirely of the hard shell with which the first was only tipped. With this he tried his worst to break some of your father's lovely scales. Think what a ferocious animal this knight must have been! I cannot see what they are
