Tales out of school

by Frank R. Stockton

Iturim and Miniqui found shelter in her father’s house until they should be able to have another house of their own. Iturim set at once to work snaring birds, and catching monkeys, that he might take them down the river and sell them at a large settlement, whence they would be carried over the mountains to the coast. This was a profitable business, provided he was able to get his birds and monkeys there safely.

When he had got together some twenty birds, and three or four monkeys, he made up his mind it was time for him to start upon his journey, and he considered what would be the best way to carry his menagerie. He hit upon the brilliant idea of building a raft, and taking them down the river in this way.

It seemed as if Iturim was again to be lucky in his ventures after fortune, for just as he had everything prepared to start, two English travelers arrived in the Antis country, and were glad enough to make a bargain with Iturim for a passage down the river for their baggage. He, on his part, was very glad to take the cargo, for there were a great many bundles and packages, and the sum paid him was as much as he expected to make from the sale of his animals.

He embarked at a place several miles below the Antis settlements, and, from that point, had a river clear of rapids, and made a safe and prosperous voyage. He had no difficulty in disposing of his birds and monkeys, and the proceeds of this sale, with the money the two Englishmen paid him, enabled him to load his raft with a variety of cooking utensils and other things for his house, and he returned safely to Miniqui with all the merchandise.

So, when the new house was built under the palms, it was almost as richly furnished as the first one had been, and Iturim came to the conclusion that he had again made his fortune. And he was right. He had all he wanted, and that is a fortune, always.

LARGE HOUSES FOR SMALL TENANTS.

In Australia there is a bird—the Megapodius—that builds for its family an enormous dwelling. It is not a large bird, being about the size of our partridge, but it seems to have very lofty ideas. If a man built a house in the same proportion to his size, as that of this bird is to its size, his house would be twice as large as the Great Pyramid of Egypt. It would be very inconvenient to have such residences as these, and they would be very difficult to keep clean, to say nothing of the great expense of building them. A man would have to call in the aid of hundreds of workmen, and pay them well, and years would be required to complete such a mansion, and a great many different instruments would be called into use. Whereas two of these birds will build their huge dwelling in a few weeks, with no tools but their own beaks and claws, and with no expense whatever.

The Megapodius does not believe in gay clothes, and is always dressed in plain and sombre brown. It is an intelligent, patient, industrious, persevering little creature, as you will see from the way it constructs its nest.

It begins by gathering together a mass of leaves, branches, and plants. With these it spreads out on the ground, in the place it has selected for its nest, a thick bed of a circular form. Upon this it heaps up earth and stones, and packs them well together, continuing to labor perseveringly until it raises a mound from eight to fourteen feet high. Some of these mounds measure a hundred and fifty feet round the base, and as much as twenty-four feet up the slope. A circular opening is left in the center of this mound, and extends from the top to the ground.