she--the Royal mother--could desire for her.

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[_The Illustrated Interviews will be continued as usual next month_.]

* * * * *



_Zig-Zags at the Zoo._

XIX. ZIG-ZAG BATRACHIAN.

[Illustration]


The frog and the toad suffer, in this world of injustice, from a
deprival of the respect and esteem that is certainly their due. In the
case of the frog this may be due largely to the animal's headlong and
harlequin-like character, but the toad is a steady personage, whose
solemnity of deportment, not to speak of his stoutness, entitles him to
high consideration in a world where grave dulness and personal
circumference always attract reverence. The opening lines of a certain
famous poem have without a doubt done much to damage the dignity of the
frog. "The frog he would a-wooing go" is not, perhaps, disrespectful,
although flippant; but "whether his mother would let him or no" is a
gross insult. Of course, it is a matter upon which no self-respecting
frog ever consults his mother; but the absurd jingle is immortal, and
the frog's dignity suffers by it. Then there is a certain pot-bellied