94 WESTERN SERIES OP^ READERS. 



takes in much water, and swells up enormously. 

 Then he burrows along under the surface of the 

 sand, vintil he finds a clam living there. The 

 Moon-mollusk wishes to eat that clam, but the clam 

 is not willing to be eaten, and so a strife ensues. 



The clam closes his shells tightly, and the old 

 robber cannot open them, and so Mr. Clam thinks 

 he is safe. Alas! do not be too sure, for the old 

 robber carries a flint drill on his tongue, and I 

 fear that he will use it. 



And, surely, he grasps the poor clam with his big 

 foot, selects a place on the clam's shell just over the 

 heart, and begins to bore. If he does not get scared 

 away, he will stay till he has drilled a hole clear 

 through, — and then it is all over with Mr. Clam. 



Did you ever find clam-shells with smooth, 

 round holes bored in them near the umbo? If so, 

 and they are very common, you may know that 

 Mr. Moon-shell was the culprit, and that the poor 

 clam died a violent death. But soft, — I fear that 

 some of us are just as guilty as the mollusk of the 

 Moon-shell. 



BLACKBOARD WORDS, 



appearance (ap-per'ans), iiiiiseiim (mu-se'Qm), inter 

 esting (in'ter-est-ing), similar (sim'i-lar), Brussels (brus' 

 selz), umbo (Qm'bo), operculum (o-per'cu-ltim). 



