84 MARTIN RATTLER.

knew to his cost; and they usually fix upon the toes
and other extremities. So gentle are they in their
operations, that sleepers frequently do not feel the
puncture which they make, it is supposed, with the
sharp-hooked nail of their thumb; and the uncon-
scious victim knows nothing of the enemy who has
been draining his blood until he awakens, faint and
exhausted, in the morning.

Moreover, the hermit told them that these vampire
bats have very sharp, carnivorous teeth, besides a
tongue which is furnished with the curious organs
by which they suck the life-blood of their victims ;
that they have a peculiar, leaf-like, overhanging lip ;
and that he had a stuffed specimen of a bat that
measured no less than two feet across the expanded
wings, from tip to tip.

“Och, the blood-thirsty spalpeen!” exclaimed
Barney, as he rose and crossed the room to examine
the bat in question, which was nailed against the
wall. “Bad luck to them; they've ruined Martin
intirely.”

“Oh no,” remarked the hermit with a smile. “It
will do the boy much good the loss of the blood,
much good, and he will not be sick at all to-
morrow.”

“Tm glad to hear you say so,” said Martin; “for
oS + ?