74 TENANTS OF AN OLD FARM. 



ciated ; for, with all her excellencies, our cook carried 

 a sharp tongue, and Avas prone to use it freely, as Dan 

 had more than once complained, upon ''de kitchen 

 folks/' 



''Uan Davis," cried a wrathful voice from out the 

 shadows of the kitchen, "you'd better curl up a rod or 

 two of your own tongue, I reckon." 



Dan hitched his cricket around, half rose, and looked 

 into the kitchen. " Tore goodness sake, Sarey Ann, I 

 nebber s'posed you's a lestenin' to our nonsenses 'bout 

 the bugs. Hi den ! You've been keepiu' the lef year 

 open all de time ?" 



"Sit down, Dan," I said. "I'll intercede for you 

 with Sarah, although you certainly deserve a little 

 tongue -lashing this time. Let us get back to our 

 crysalis. It remains in the ground through the winter, 

 below the reach of frost, and in the following spring the 

 crysalis-skin bursts open, the large moth crawls out of 

 it, comes to the surface of the ground, and, mounting 

 upon some neighboring plant, waits until the approach 

 of evening invites it to expand its untried winus and 

 lly in search of food, which it sucks from the tlowers by 

 means of its tongue. The tongue can be unrolled to 

 the length of five or six inches, but, when not in use, is 

 coiled like a watch-spring, and is alniost entirely con- 

 cealed between two large and thick feelers, under the 

 head. The niotli measures across the wings about live 

 inches ; is of a gray color, variegated with blackish 

 lines and bands, and on each side of the body there are 

 live round, or rectangular, orange-colored spots en- 



