"It's a fact, Lucy!! And, as you thought of it, I'll call it,—now wait;—what shall I call it? Aha! That's it! I'll call it 'Lucy Zoo'. How's that for quick thinking?"
"My! That's just grand; but what will Papa say?"
Now Gadsby had known Lucy's family from boyhood, so said:—
"You inform your dad that at any sign of balking by him, I'll put HIM in Lucy Zoo, and pay a boy to prod him with a sharp stick, until his approval is in my hands." This brought such a rollicking laugh that a man mowing City Hall lawn had to laugh, too.
Now, (Ah! But I can't avoid saying it!) our Organization was out again; but, now having grown a bit from such childish youths as had, at first stood in its ranks, a boy, now approaching manhood, and a girl, now a young woman, could solicit funds with an ability to talk knowingly in favor of any factor that a hanging-back contributor could bring up in running down such a proposition. You can always count on finding that class in any city or town upon any occasion for public works; but I can proudly say that many saw good in our Organization's plan; and Lucy soon found that out, in Old Lady Flanagan.
"Whoops! A zoo, is it? And pray, phwat can't thot crazy Gadsby think up? If our big Mayor had four sich bys as I brought into this woild; worra, worra! his parlor, halls, dinin' room an' back yard 'd furnish him wid a zoo, all right! Wid two always a-scrappin' about a ball bat or a sling shot; a brat continually a-bawlin' about nuthin'; an' a baby wid whoopin' cough, I know phwat a zoo is, widout goin' to City Park to gawk at a indigo baboon, or a pink tom cat."
"But," said Lucy, trying hard not to laugh; "Mayor Gadsby isn't thinking of putting in pink tom cats, nor any kind of tom cats in this zoo. It is for only wild animals."
"WILD!! Say, if you could look into my back door as Old Man Flanagan quits work, an' brings back a load o' grog, you'd find thot you had wild animals roight in this town, all roight, all roight."
But, as on so many occasions, this charming girl got a contribution, with Old Lady Flanagan calling out from a front window:—