194 Three Young Crusoe s 



as the boys joined Edna in the summerhouse. He 

 insisted on stealing our croquet balls." 



''Well, it isn't much of a game, anyway, for peo- 

 ple with muscle," remarked Henry. ''What's that 

 on the table, Edna?" 



"That's a queer lichen I found in the woods yes- 

 terday. Do you know anything about lichens?" 



"Only two things; that the reindeer lives on rein- 

 deer moss, which is not a moss but a lichen, and 

 that the manna that the Children of Israel lived on 

 in the Wilderness was a lichen that blew down from 

 the hills during the night." 



"You know more than I do about them." 



"And I know a reindeer storv, too. A Swedish 

 servant applied for work at a service bureau in New 

 York. 'Can you cook?' 'No.' 'Clean?' 'No.' 

 'Wash?' 'No.' 'Well, what can you do?' 'I 

 can milk reindeer.' 



x^t this point, William interrupted. "And I 

 know," he said, "that the ruby-throat humming- 

 bird covers its little nest with lichens to make it 

 look like a knot, and it nearly always uses the same 

 kind of lichen. It seems to me a lot of unnecessary 

 trouble, because I have hunted for days and never 

 found but one hummingbird's nest." 



"Lichens seem to me so different from other plants," 



