"Papa is right about that, Mr. Barnum," said Shem. "The whole Saurian tribe was a fearful nuisance. About four hundred years before the flood I had a pet Creosaurus that I kept in our barn. He was a cunning little devil--full of tricks, and all that; but we never could keep a cow or a horse on the place while he was about. They'd mysteriously disappear, and we never knew what became of 'em until one morning we surprised Fido in--" "Surprised who?" asked Doctor Johnson, scornfully. "Fido," returned Shem. "'That was my Creosaurus's name." "Lord save us! Fido!" cried Johnson. "What a name for a Creosaurus!" "Well, what of it?" asked Shem, angrily. "You wouldn't have us call a mastodon like that Fanny, would you, or Tatters?" "Go on," said Johnson; "I've nothing to say." "Shall I send for a physician?" put in Boswell, looking anxiously at his chief, the situation was so extraordinary. Solomon and Carlyle giggled; and the Doctor having politely requested Boswell to go to a warmer section of the country, Shem resumed. "I caught him in the act of swallowing five cows and Ham's favorite trotter, sulky and all." Baron Munchausen rose up and left the room. "If they're going to lie I'm going to get out," he said, as he passed through the room. "What became of Fido?" asked Boswell. "The sulky killed him," returned Shem, innocently. "He couldn't digest the wheels." Noah looked approvingly at his son, and, turning to Barnum, observed, quietly: "What he says is true, and I will go further and say that it is my belief that you would have found the show business impossible if I had taken that sort of creature aboard. You'd have got mightily discouraged after your Antediluvians had chewed up a few dozen steam calliopes, and eaten every other able-bodied exhibit you had managed to secure. I'd have tried to save a couple of Discosaurians if I hadn't supposed they were able to take care of themselves. A combination of sea-serpent and dragon, with a neck twenty-two feet long, it seemed to me, ought to have been able to ride out any storm or fall of rain; but there I was wrong, and I am free to admit my error. It never occurred to me that the sea-