"Yes, my boy—and in a wild state they keep themselves clean, but when domesticated they can't. I think myself there is too much housing of dumb animals. Even in winter my creatures have their freedom for at least a part of the day."
"It's pretty cold here in winter, isn't it?" asked Dallas.
Mr. Devering's black eyes twinkled. "Forty and fifty below zero."
"Why how do you keep warm?"
"It's all a question of food supply. We eat nourishing things and dress warmly. You should see my children and animals disporting themselves in the snow and on the ice—often icicles hanging to them, their breath like steam. Nature provides them with coats of fat or extra hair."
"That is most interesting," said Dallas with a wise air, and putting his head on one side.
Then he listened to his uncle who was singing four lines to him,
"And Nature, the old nurse, took
The child upon her knee