'
'Has it not another name, sir? A short or a long one, more or less
syllables!'
'Camelopard. A polysyllabic word, certainly,' said Algernon, looking
with a puzzled expression at the laughers behind; and almost
imagining it possible that he could have made an error, he repeated,
'Camel-le-o-pard. Yes, it is a polysyllable'--as, indeed, he had
added an unnecessary syllable.
'Most assuredly,' said the showman, looking daggers at his
suffocating sister. 'May I ask you to describe the creature?'
'Seventeen feet from the crown to the hoof, but falls off behind,'
said the accurate Mr. Dusautoy; 'beautiful tawny colour.'
'Nearly as good as a Lion,' added Gilbert; but Algernon, fancying the
game was by way of giving useful instruction to the children, went on
in full swing. 'Handsomely mottled with darker brown; a ruminating
animal; so gentle that in spite of its size, none of my little
friends need be alarmed at its vicinity. Inhabits the African
deserts, but may be bred in more temperate latitudes. I myself saw
an individual in the Jardin des Plantes, which was popularly said
never to bend its neck to the ground, but I consider this a vulgar
delusion, for on offering it food, it mildly inclined its head.'
'Let us hope the present specimen is equally condescending,' said Mr.
Ferrars.
'Eh! what! I see myself!' said Mr. Cavendish Dusautoy, with a tone so
inappreciably grand in mystification, that the showman had no choice
but to share the universal convulsion of laughter, while Willie
rolling on the floor with ecstasy, shouted, 'Yes, it is you that are
the thing with such a long name that it can't bend its head to the
ground!'
'But too good-natured to be annoyed at folly,' said Mr.
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