THE TYRANT OF THE POOL 27 



and the Thin Scorpion hold up their front 

 legs in the same crab-like manner, and by 

 this peculiarity we can tell they are relations. 



CHAPTER IV 



THE TYRANT OF THE POOL 



WHO is this fine, big fellow swimming so 

 quickly and strongly across the pool ? Let 

 all little Whirligigs and other small fry beware, 

 for this is the great Brown Water-beetle the 

 Tyrant of the Pool. 



He wears a coat of chestnut brown, so dark 

 as to look almost black in the water, bordered 

 with a narrow yellow line, and his wrists are 

 adorned with a fine pair of frills. 



A mighty hunter is the Brown Water- 

 beetle, feared by all the dwellers in the pool, 

 who flee in terror from before him. And small 

 wonder they do, for this beetle is so fierce 

 and strong that few can escape him. He is 

 over an inch long, and is armed with a strong 

 pair of toothed jaws with which he is always 

 ready to attack any creature that comes in 

 his way, while he himself is so well protected 



