MOTHS OF THE LIMBERLOST 



to the side of the board, wings Hmp, its abdomen damp. 

 The opening from which it came was so covered with 

 terra cotta coloured down that I thought at first it must 

 have disfigured itself; but full development proved it 

 could spare that much and yet appear all right. 



In the fall I had driven a nail through one corner of the 

 board, and tacked it against the south side of the Cabin, 

 where I made reproductions of the cocoons. The nail 

 had been left, and now it suggested the same place. 

 A light stroke on the head of the nail, covered with cloth 

 to prevent jarring, fastened the board on a log. Never 

 in all my life did I hurry as on that day, and I called 

 my entire family into service. The Deacon stood at 

 one elbow, Molly-Cotton at the other, and the gardener 

 in the rear. There was not a second to be lost, and no 

 time for an unnecessary movement; for in the heat and 

 bright sunshine those moths would emerge and develop 

 with amazing rapidit3\ 



Molly-Cotton held an umbrella over them to prevent 

 this as much as possible; the Deacon handed plate 

 holders, and Brenner ran errands. Working as fast as I 

 could make my fingers fly in setting up the camera, and 

 getting a focus, the second moth's head was out, its 

 front feet struggling to pull up the body, and its antennae 

 beginning to lift, when I was ready for the first snap 

 at half-past eleven. 



By the time I inserted the slide, turned the plate 



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