T^oisrsucH 



has its newt, the frog its tadpole, and the land crab 

 has its aquatic zoea. 



Fate had planned through all the eons of life on 

 the earth, since the land crab's ancestors and my 

 own were one, that on this day of this year I should 

 reach the entrance of the tunnel at the exact mo- 

 ment of her emergence. From the date of our com- 

 mon ancestor this would doubtless be something like 

 B.C. 999,998.070 plus, as we artlessly reckon time. 

 A.D. 1931. At any rate here we were face to face, and 

 I saw at a glance that this was not only a large, 

 brilliantly marked land crab, but that a great mass 

 of eggs was guarded beneath the absurdly small 

 tail flap. My own especial ancestors had left the 

 ancient watery medium eons of years before those 

 of my crab, and so I was much more at home on land 

 than she ; also I had gained in stature and in cephalic 

 ganglion content. So I pitted my activity and cun- 

 ning against hers and won. Then I carried her 

 gently to my laboratory and installed her in an 

 aquarium upon several inches of earth and sand, 

 and in the corner I placed a small dish of fresh 

 water. In the latter action I made a mistake. I can- 

 not keep in mind the almost utter lack of natural 

 fresh water receptacles on Nonsuch, and when I 

 offered Her Crabship fresh water it was the uncon- 

 scious gesture of one terrestrial being to another. 



At midnight I bethought me of my lady land crab 

 and visited the aquarium. There was no sign of her 

 for she had dug herself a tunnel, descended it and 

 somehow closed it after her. The water in the dish 



202 



