She is bright and a general favorite. Her father keeps a Jersey cow, which has a calf. The calf and little Dillie have formed a mutual affection.

“In the adjoining lot to Mr. Welsh is a mineral well, which has a low opening, and a child can stand and look over it. A few days ago Dillie and her calf were playing near the well when the little girl went too near. She crawled up and was looking over, when the calf came up and held onto her dress with his teeth. She lost her balance and fell over in the mouth of the well. The calf held on to the child's clothes while she was suspended in the air over the water. If the animal had let go the dress, the child would have been drowned. The child was rescued by a servant, and the calf was happy.”

“That's a very pretty story,” said George; “and I have a good one to go with it.” Thereupon he read something which he said was from The Greenville (N. C.) Reflector.

“An amusing incident occurred at the home of Mr. S. M. Jones, near Bethel, recently. Among his cattle was a calf that seemed to possess a very great dislike to being roped at milking time and always made quite an objection. One morning Mrs. Jones went out to attend the milking, and upon looking in the accustomed place for the rope failed to find it. While the search for it was going on the calf thought, perhaps, to get more than his share of the milk, but something seemed to interfere with the imbibing process, and his peculiar actions attracted attention to him, whereupon it was discovered that the calf had swallowed the rope, but failed to make a complete job of it, as the noose was hanging from one corner of his mouth. The noose was laid hold of and a steady pull brought the rope to light. The calf is sufficiently amused and doesn't swallow any more ropes to evade being tied.”

“Isn't it unusual for calves or any of their relatives to display as much intelligence as we have in these two stories?” one of the boys asked.

“Decidedly unusual,” was the reply, “and that's the reason why these performances have been placed on record. But the fact is,” the gentleman continued, “that the ox is not as stupid a creature as is generally supposed. He is patient and slow, and for this reason the conclusion has been arrived at that he is correspondingly dull. The naturalists tell us that some of the tribes of South Africa trust to oxen to care for their flocks, and that the sagacious animals perform their duties in a manner worthy of the highest praise. They are quick to discover the approach of danger, and if the flocks are attacked by wild animals the oxen show a great deal of bravery in defending their charges. But while brave, they are prudent, and will not take any needless risk. When night approaches they drive the flocks to the camp or village, and if any of the sheep are inclined to straggle. The watchful guardians prod them in no gentle manner with their horns and make them understand that they are liable to severe punishment.

“The South African oxen are not only used for teaming purposes like oxen in other parts of the world, but they are excellent for carrying burdens on their backs. African hunters tell how they have used oxen in this way. Andersson, a famous hunter in South Africa, had an ox that he rode more than two thousand miles, and for ordinary traveling preferred him to a horse. When it came to pursuing wild animals, and especially to escape from a furious elephant or lion, he found a great advantage in the superior speed of the horse. His plan was to ride the ox while traveling and reserve his horse for hunting expeditions.

“There are many varieties of bovidae,” said Mr. Graham, “as this family is called, and these varieties have certain subdivisions. The most remarkable are the American bison, commonly called the buffalo, the European bison or aurochs, the yak of Tartary, and the musk ox of the extreme parts of North America. The greatest intelligence of the bovine family is displayed by the wild animals, for the reason that they have been obliged to depend entirely on themselves, while the domestic species have the protection and care of their owners on whom they rely. A domestic ox or cow, when in trouble, will seek the aid of his master when it is possible to do so.

“I was reading not long ago,” said Harry, “of a cow that came from the pasture one afternoon, and called the attention of some of the men about the place in a way which told very plainly that help was wanted. She repeatedly tried to induce somebody to follow her; when she finally succeeded she trotted off and led the way to a clump of trees, where another cow had become entangled in such a manner that she could not free herself without assistance. When the prisoner was liberated both she and the cow that had gone for help fairly danced about the man, and showed in every way in their power how grateful they were to him. They licked his hands with their rough tongues, caressed him with their noses, and when he returned to the barn they trotted along, one on each side of him until he reached the gate. Then they went back to to pasture and resumed their grazing.”

“Many stories of the same kind have been told about domestic cattle, all of them showing the reliance that these good-natured animals place upon man.

The time when they were first domesticated is unknown; the Egyptians had their herds of oxen and cows, and some naturalists think the ox was a domestic animal while the dog and cat were still in a wild state, in other words it was the earliest animal which submitted to the control of man. Centuries of domestication have made him the patient and gentle animal that he is, but he retains enough of his original instincts to be made wild again without much difficulty. A herd of cattle turned loose and allowed to run free for a single season are half wild at the end of it, and very difficult to manage. A few seasons make them fully so, and the calves that grow to maturity without any association with man seem to have lost everything that came from centuries of domestic ancestors. The wild cattle of South America are descended from tame ones and the same may be said of wild cattle in most parts of the world.”

George asked if the buffalo of America was anything like that of the old world. He said he had read about the differences between them but couldn't remember what they were.

“The name of buffalo,” said Mr. Graham, “is improperly applied to the bison, whose scientific name is Bison Americanus. The American bison is rapidly becoming extinct, and it is quite probable that there will not be one of these animals alive at the end of the present century. Fifty years ago there were countless millions of these animals, and as recently as twenty-five years ago vast herds of them roamed the western prairies from Texas to the Saskatchewan.

At this moment their numbers have diminished to a few dozens, or at most a few hundreds; if I have read correctly there are only two or three small herds known to exist, one of them being in the north of Texas and the other near the boundary between Canada and the United States. An effort is being made to capture the few remaining bison and keep them in reserve fields or pastures, but it is doubtful if the experiment succeeds. The bison does not thrive in captivity, and as for taking him alive that is a very difficult matter. The calves and cows may possibly be captured but as for the bulls I would rather not be the one to attempt to take them.”

“They are hard fighters; I suppose,” said George.

“When driven into a corner and forced to defend themselves,” Mr. Graham answered, “they do so with great vigor. Properly speaking, the bison is not a ferocious animal: he does not wantonly attack man but on the contrary will always flee from him if he has the opportunity. His fighting qualities come out when he is obliged to defend himself or when men get in the way of the herds in their movements across country. The fiercest and strongest bulls are always in advance: they turn aside if they can do so in time, but if men get in their way and attack them they dash on without regard to circumstances. A man who is thrown down in front of an advancing herd has very little chance of escape. The herd passes on and tramples him to death, even if he escapes the advance guard of bulls.”

“I have read,” said Harry, “of a man who was in front of a herd of buffalo when his horse stumbled and fell. The man had the presence of mind to draw his revolver and fire it several times, not at the herd or any animal in it, but straight up in the air. If he had wounded one of the bulls he and his horse would have been gored to death; the sound of the shots caused the advance to divide and leave him unharmed. The rest of the herd followed the example of the advance and for several hours the man and the horse lay there like a little islet in a vast river of buffaloes. When the last of the herd had passed, the man mounted his horse and rode away, very thankful to have escaped unharmed from so great a danger.”

“Incidents of the same kind have occurred in stampedes of cattle in the far west of our country and in Australia,” said Mr. Graham.

Harry asked what a stampede was.

“Cattle and horses are said to be stampeded,” Mr. Graham answered, “when they take fright at anything and run away. The word is of Spanish origin and seems at present to be regularly adopted into our language. When a large herd of half-wild cattle is stampeded it is very apt to run over anything that comes in its way. Sometimes the herdsmen are thrown from their horses right in the midst of a frightened herd and trampled to death; if it happens that the herd separates at the moment a man falls the rest of it will do likewise and nothing serious occurs.

“Returning to the bison,” continued Mr. Graham, “the animal looks much more fierce than he really is. His head is large and carried quite low, his eyes are small and piercing, and his head and shoulders are covered, with long shaggy hair that make the forward half of the animal look very heavy. He has a hump on his shoulders which consists partly of fat and partly of strong muscles, the amount of fat varying according to the season of the year and the condition of the animal. The flesh of the bulls is so tough and strong that only a very hungry man can eat it, but that of the young cows is rich and juicy like good beef. The choice parts of the buffalo are the hump and the tongue, the latter being the greatest delicacy of the buffalo country. You see I have fallen into the universal practice and speak of the animal as the buffalo, when he is really the bison, as I have before told you.

“But by whatever name he is known, it is a pity that he is rapidly becoming a creature of the past. Indians and white men have waged incessant war upon him: as long as only the Indians attacked him with their arrows and lances, the slaughter was not sufficiently great to make any impression upon the herds, but when the white men poured into the West bringing their improved weapons, which were speedily acquired by the Indians, the destruction of the buffalo became simply a question of time. When the buffalo became scarce on the plains they were followed to their winter haunts, and killed in the deep snow, where they were unable to make any resistance. Thousands, and we could almost say millions, of buffaloes have been shot for mere sport and left to rot on the ground, not even their hides being taken away. Of late years their hides have risen to high figures owing to their scarcity; 'buffalo robes' were common enough twenty or thirty years ago, but at the present time they are rarely seen.”

“Isn't there a bison in Europe as well as in America?” queried George.

“There is,” was the reply, “and he is known as the aurochs in books on natural history. He is thought to be the oldest of his race, and would have been extinct long ago were it not for the protection he has received. He is found only in a few localities in Russia, where he is protected by the Government, and no animal of the race can be killed under severe penalties except by permission of the Russian Emperor. It is needless to say that this permission is seldom or almost never given. These creatures have never been domesticated, but run wild in the forest, where they eat grass and brushwood, and the bark and twigs of young trees. The aurochs does not reach maturity until its sixth year, and next to the elephant, rhinoceros and giraffe it is the largest of land animals.”

One of the youths asked what was the size of a full-grown aurochs.

“Measured at its withers,” was the reply, “it is nearly six feet high, and it is immensely strong. Its horns are large, round and lateral, and its tail is long with a tuft of hair at the end. The shoulders and all the front part of the body are covered with long coarse hair very much like that of the American bison, and it has a long mane under its throat. The rest of the body has a thick coat of black hair, and altogether the aurochs is not an amiable looking beast.”

One of the listeners asked whether he was fierce or gentle in his ways.

“As to that,” Mr. Graham answered, “he bears a bad reputation. He is very shy, and like the American bison will keep out of the way man face to face, but rushes at him with great fierceness. If captured when young he becomes accustomed to his keepers, but will not tolerate the presence of any one else.

“The aurochs is the urus of the ancients,” continued the gentleman, “his name coming from Ure-ox. Fossil remains of the animal have been found all over Europe, and in the time of Julius CÆsar it lived in Germany. It was a contemporary of the mammoth and is the only existing land animal whose skeleton has been found side by side when he can. He also resembles his American cousin in having a keen scent, so that he can only be approached against the wind; the buffalo hunters will tell you that you cannot get anywhere near a herd if you approach it with the wind, as the animals will scent the danger miles away and start off at a rapid pace to avoid it.

The aurochs also resembles the bison in fighting fiercely when cornered; he is worse than the bison in one respect, as he will not try to escape when he meets a with that of the huge creature whose remains have astonished the scientific world.

“From the bison to the buffalo is a very natural step, and by buffalo I mean the animal to whom the name properly belongs. But before taking him up I will mention the yak of Tartary, which has a flowing tail like that of a horse, a hump on its shoulders, a tuft of hair on its forehead, a mane along its neck and shoulders, and long hair on the lower part of its body which varies in quantity according to the season of the year. He is used as a beast of burden and can carry a very heavy load, and he is as sure-footed as a goat. The Tartars keep large herds of these animals and move about from place to place to find pasturage; they make tents and ropes of the hair of the yak, and clothing out of his skin, and they occasionally eat the flesh of the beast, though they prefer that of the horse. They make butter from the milk, and by putting it in bladders tightly closed against the air they can preserve it a long time.”

“I've been reading about another animal,” said Harry, “that must be a near relative of the yak.”

“What is that?”

“The musk ox of North America,” was the reply.

“Yes,” said Mr. Graham, “he is a relative of the yak, though somewhat smaller, in fact he is so small that he resembles a large sheep more than an ox. He belongs in the cold regions of North America, and is very useful to Arctic explorers, who feed upon his flesh. He has a covering of thick and long hair of a dark brown color, and his horns are thick and large, bending downwards over the sides of his head and then suddenly backwards and upwards at the tips.”

“He looks very clumsy.” said George, glancing at the picture of the animal, “and evidently can't, get over the ground very fast.”

“On the contrary.” was the reply, “he is as nimble as a goat and can make astonishingly rapid speed over the rough and rocky ground where lie lives. The hunter who thinks he can travel as fast as this apparently clumsy animal makes a great mistake.”

“He's not the only animal that deceives us that way,” said George. “Nobody would think the hog could run and yet what a lively chase it is to catch a wild one. But some hogs are swifter than others, and I have heard of parts of the country where hogs were prized not according to their fatness, but for their ability to out-run professional hogthieves.”

The buffalo of Europe and Asia,” said Mr. Graham, “is supposed to be a native of the damp parts of India, whence he has spread over the countries where he is now found. He is essentially a tropical animal and does not thrive in mild climates, and he is fond of wallowing in the mud and lying down to rest there.”

George asked in what the Asiatic buffalo resembled the common ox. Mr. Graham said it was about the size of the ox and had a bulging-forehead with two black horns curved outward. It has a scanty coat and generally presents a very dingy appearance. “It is of an ugly disposition,” continued the gentleman, “and is much inclined to attack strangers. I had an adventure with one of these creatures in Egypt that came near costing me my life.”

“Please tell us about it,” said one of the boys.

“I was taking a walk in the fields a few miles from Cairo,” said Mr. Graham, “and carried nothing except a small walking stick. While I was looking at the grasses and the fields of cotton and douro, and watching the pigeons circling in the air, I heard all at once the shouting of the natives to indicate something unusual. Looking around I saw that a buffalo was coming directly toward me and was not more than a hundred feet away. His head was lowered and it was very evident that I was to be the object of his attack.

“I had to think and act very quickly, as none of the natives were near enough to divert the attention of the brute. There was no fence near and no building or enclosure in which I could find safety.

“Close by me was a field of cotton, the bushes being as high as my head. Into this field I ran, and once in its shelter I doubled on my pursuer and ran the way that both of us had come. Then I met the crowd of natives that were trying to catch the runaway animal and they soon had him secured. A friend of mine in Egypt that same year only saved himself by firing a charge of shot directly at the buffalo's eyes when the creature was not more than ten yards away. He was compelled to pay for the destruction of the animal, as it was very properly argued that he was a trespasser in the field where the buffalo was grazing. You may be sure that he was careful after that not to go where he had no right to be, especially if there was a likelihood of encountering buffaloes.

“A very pugnacious variety of the buffalo is the South African one. He has large horns, that spread out at the base so as to form a sort of helmet that is impenetrable for a bullet or for any other missile smaller than a cannon shot. The African buffalo is found all the way from Guinea to the Cape of Good Hope, and is often called the Cape buffalo. He lives in large herds in the forests, though he sometimes comes into the open plains, where he is more cautious and less quarrelsome than when in the woods. The natives hunt the Cape buffalo, but very often the animal shows so much fight that he becomes the hunter and drives his assailants away. Not infrequently he kills some of them with his powerful horns, and also with his feet, which he uses with great alertness. A single buffalo has been known to resist successfully a hundred natives armed with spears; since the introduction of fire-arms the numbers of the Cape buffalo have diminished, as he is unable to stand against the weapons of civilization any more than can his American namesake.

“We'll go from the cows to sheep at our next talk,” said Mr. Graham to the youths, “and in the meantime please look at the books, and when we sit down to discuss them you may tell what you have found.”

In the language of Parliamentarians “the meeting then adjourned,” and the boys proceeded to look at Cassell's Natural History and other books for information on the topic which they were next to consider.