ABALONES, OR SEA-EARS. 57 



that the delicate sea-mosses are stretching out 

 their feathery arms and gently waving their bril- 

 liantly colored branches. 



We know that the scene is full of life and 

 action; that graceful fishes are swimming about; 

 that companies of crabs, clad in red and green 

 armor, are actively marching back and forth; 

 that brilliant sponges are drinking in their food ; 

 that corals and starfishes, and seaworms and 

 sea-cucumbers, and dozens of other sea-creatures, 

 are all alive and active, and that their life is go- 

 ing on as merrily as ours does at a May Day 

 picnic. 



Our particular friends the abalones then ven- 

 ture out of their cracks, and hobnob with their 

 fellows in a sociable manner until an occasional 

 puff of air from above warns them all that the 

 tide is going out, and that it will behoove all that 

 can do so to hie to safe quarters, and all the rest 

 to veil their charms as much as possible. 



And so the sea weeds and mosses lie flat on the 

 rocks, the gorgeous worms creep into their holes, 

 the mollusks into their shells, and the fishes swim 

 out to sea, and when we arrive with our long 

 rubber boots, nearly everything seems to be 

 drooping or asleep. 



But if it is so beautiful when it is at its worst. 



