My
curiosity induced me to go into the garden and look at the creature.
He seemed rather threatening at first, but after a while allowed me
to go up to him and stroke him. Then I left the Indian bull and
explored this extraordinary domain. It was full of unkempt trees,
including two fine mulberries, and surrounded by a very high wall.
Soon I came across an object which, at first, seemed a little mass of
black and white oats moving along, but I presently discovered it to
be a hedgehog. It was so tame that it did not curl up as I approached
it, but allowed me, though with some show of nervousness, to stroke
its pretty little black snout. As I walked about the garden, I found
it was populated with several kinds of animals such as are never seen
except in menageries or in the Zoological Gardens. Wombats,
kangaroos, and the like, formed a kind of happy family.
My love of animals led me to linger in the garden. When I returned to
the house I found D'Arcy in the green dining-room, where we talked,
and he read aloud some verses to me. We then went to the studio.
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