.
"'Di--de--di--de--di--de.

.

.

." "Where's that hammer?
Oh, yes, here 'tis." "'Di--de--di--de--' "Now where on earth have I put that pencil, Babbie?
Have I swallowed it?
DON'T tell me you've seen me swallow it, 'cause that flavor of lead-pencil never did agree with me." The child burst into a trill of laughter.
"Why, Uncle Jed," she exclaimed, "there it is, behind your ear." "Is it?
Sho, so 'tis! Now that proves the instinct of dumb animals, don't it?
That lead-pencil knew enough to realize that my ear was so big that anything short of a cord-wood stick could hide behind it.

Tut, tut! Surprisin', surprisin'!" "But, Uncle Jed, a pencil isn't an animal." "Eh?
Ain't it?
Seemed to me I'd read somethin' about the ragin' lead-pencil seekin' whom it might devour.