“GOOD day, dear friend; where do you come from?”

“From the Museum, where I have spent three hours. I saw everything they have there, and examined it carefully. So much have I seen to astonish me that, if you will believe me, I am neither strong nor clever enough to give you the description of it. Upon my word, it is a palace of wonders.

“How rich is Nature in inventions! What birds and beasts have I not seen there! What flies, butterflies, cockroaches, and curious beetles—some like emeralds, others like corals! And what tiny cochineal insects! Why, really, some of them are smaller than a pin’s head.”

“But did you see the elephant? What did you think of it? I’ll be bound you felt as if you were at a mountain.”

“The elephant? Are you quite sure it is there?”

“Quite sure.”

“Well, brother, you mustn’t be too hard on me; but to tell the truth, I didn’t remark the elephant.”