we need little air at this time, else we 

 had choked. Then there followed a 

 new kind of experience, a short ride in 

 a lumber wagon over a sandy road, 

 which brought us to the shores of a lake. 

 Across this we were carried with the 

 baggage in a boat, to an island, which 

 was destined to be our home for some 

 weeks. And the weeks that followed 

 were the most interesting in our career. 

 Eating early, and late except when we 

 were quietly resting, we grew at an enor- 

 mous rate. Our bodies had become a 

 beautiful light blue-green, with red on 

 the anterior tubercles and yellow on the 

 posterior, while the lateral ones were 

 pale blue, and all bore short black- 

 bristles. 



Now that we were settled for the sum- 

 mer the cover was removed from the tin 

 box, our cage, and glass put over us in- 

 stead. We were placed where we had 

 the subdued light and cool air from a 

 north window overlooking the water. 

 Each morning we were taken out care- 

 fully, clinging to the twigs, our house 

 was swept out, and fresh food was given 

 us, always willows, the freshest green 

 tips dipped in water. As our appetites 

 grew our day's supply was often nearly 

 exhausted before the next day came. 

 When clinging by our legs and props 

 lengthwise of a twig, even a strong wind 

 could scarcely have blown us away had 

 we been living out of doors. 



Our heavy bodies did not facilitate 

 rapid movement, and we were quite con- 

 tent to stay where there was safety and 

 food. About this time we became con- 

 scious of the presence of a neighbor and 

 near relative, a Sphinx Moth Caterpillar, 

 raised like ourselves from the egg in cap- 

 tivity, and kept in a box near ours. I 

 must say he was rather plain-looking, as 

 indeed are all his family. He did not 

 fulfill the promise of his early youth ; 

 lor from a beautiful green like ours he 

 changed rapidly at one of the later 

 moults to a dirty brown ; and as time 

 went on developed strange uncanny 

 snaky looks. There was a large tubercle 

 like an eye on the end of his body, in 

 place of the little horn he had at first. 

 Then markings appeared which looked 

 like a serpent's scales. And strangest 



of all, he could make a squeaky noise 

 and rear the tail end of the body in the 

 air when disturbed. Of course, these were 

 all innocent little devices to frighten 

 birds, but they did not add to his at- 

 tractiveness. He was restless and want- 

 ed to move about. His long, lithe body 

 would wriggle itself out over the top of 

 the box whenever by chance he saw a 

 crack. One night the wind pushed the 

 glass cover off, and out he crawled, 

 bound on a foraging expedition. He was 

 never seen again, though every crack and 

 cranny of that room was searched. He 

 probably met the fate he deserved for 

 this ingratitude to his keeper, who had 

 so generously given him his summer 

 outing free of all trouble and expense 

 to him. 



When we were two months old and 

 had reached the magnificent length of 

 three inches, we made our last moult. 

 Our old skins, as usual, became dingy, 

 and a tight feeling kept us very quiet 

 for about twenty-four hours before the 

 event. I, the last of the brood to change, 

 was the only one who did not avoid an 

 audience at this critical time. Two hu- 

 man spectators I had; they laid aside all 

 work for the morning to watch me. But 

 watched or not, the change must be 

 made. Hanging head downward from 

 the side of the cage, I waited till the 

 skin along the back had split. The cov- 

 ering of the head is always heavy and 

 hard and it drops ofif like a mask, the 

 horny jaws with it. Then the prop legs 

 can be pulled out. and finally, in a few 

 hours, the cast skin, with the linings of 

 the intestines and trachea or air-tubes, 

 IS wriggled off, and lies a whitish, stiff, 

 and wornout coat beside us. 



A few days after this event, our trav- 

 els began again, for this busy time of 

 ours was vacation, it seems, for our fos- 

 ter-mother, and summer was nearly 

 over. We finished this journey with 

 good appetites and in the best of health, 

 and found ourselves back again to the 

 place of our hatching ; but how changed 

 from the tiny little black mites we were 

 when we left two months before. 



And now we were near the end of this 

 the second stage of existence, the lar- 

 val. Its approach we knew by the fail- 



43 



