Before the Professor could answer, George caught sight of the flag.
"What! The flag! Where did you get it?"
"Ask Angel."
The boys laughed, and George actually hugged the animal, in his delight. Did Angel know what he had done? Ask those delvers into the mysterious realms of thought, what prompted him to search for and restore the flag? Is that any more remarkable than the recorded tricks of dogs and many other animals?
You know just how boys can laugh when they are really happy. Angel imitated that laugh, and he had not been taught to do it, either. It came without teaching.
When the Professor had wiped away some of the tears which had come from the excess of laughter at the imitating efforts of the animal, he said:
"Did it ever occur to you why Angel has always had a solemn look? The facial expression seldom, if ever, changes, and they rarely ever exhibit mirth. You may imagine the condition of those animals, living in the forests, with enemies all about them, and the struggle for existence an everlasting one. They have never known amusing incidents as we understand them. Naturally, the muscles of mobility in the face, which express pleasure, never have been exercised, and those indicating fear and anger unduly developed. Here is Angel, in a new atmosphere, where he sees delight depicted on the countenance, and, gifted as he is, with wonderful powers of imitation, has learned to actually laugh, and to enjoy the scene."
"Well, Professor, as we have one of the guns polished up and completed, wouldn't it be well to make the bullets?"
"For that purpose I suggest that we make the molds out of a metal or alloy which has a higher fusing point than lead."
"What is best for the purpose?"