MUSIC-MAKING mSECTS. 307 



how he embodies the popular superstition in his httle 

 tale ' The Cricket on the Hearth, ' When the carrier's 

 young wife liears the famihar note iu the chimney- 

 place, she exclaims : ' It's sure to bring us good for- 

 tune, John ! It always has been so. To have a cricket 

 on tlie hearth is the luckiest thing in the world !' That 

 seems to be the most prevalent superstition. I also 

 find reference to the j)eculiar form of tlie superstition 

 which Hugh Bond remembers. Sir William Jardine 

 alludes to it in TJie Mirror as common in Dumfries- 

 shii'e. These are the most interesting points which I 

 have been able to note." 



" Sary Ann !" exclaimed Dan, wheeling his cricket 

 around, and gazing into the kitchen shadows, "Sary 

 Ann, did yo lieah dat ?" There was no reply. 



"■ Sary Ann," persisted the old man, " Is yo' done loss 

 yo' tongue ? W'y doan yo' speak up, den ? Hi ! Didn''t 

 Itole yo'' so?" 



But there was no response. Sarah had appropriated 

 her portion of the decision, and was too well i-atisfied to 

 review the case. Well, she is not alone in this attitude : 

 Why should a man care to hear more testimony, or to 

 have more light, when his opinio i has once been reason- 

 ably well confirmed ? 



Dan, unable to evoke any response from the oracle of 

 the kitchen, turned back to his place, made a significant 

 gesture upward with his eyes and hands, and chuckled 

 softly to himself. 



"Are there any superstitions associated with the 

 katydid?" asked the Mistress. 



