70 INSECT LIFE IN POND AND STREAM 

 CHAPTER IX 



THE WISE CADDIS-WORM 



" Three wise old men were they, were they, 

 Who went for a walk on a summer's day ; 

 One carried a gun which did nothing but snap ; 

 One had a club and a cricket cap. 

 But the wisest one to keep oft' the heat 

 Wore an ulster down to his feet." 



THE water world is really such a dangerous 

 place for all tiny, soft, little insect folk that 

 when they go for a swim or a walk, like the 

 three wise old men, they certainly do need 

 something to protect them from all the 

 dragons, the tyrants, and the ogres of the pool. 

 To be sure they do not carry guns and clubs 

 to ward off the attacks of ferocious creatures, 

 but many tiny, defenceless insects have all 

 sorts of tricks and dodges by which they try 

 to scare away or outwit their foes. Some 

 shoot jets of horrid stuff in the faces of their 

 enemies ; others have long, waving tails and 

 bristles with which they lash the water, 

 hoping in this way to startle prowling monsters 

 and make their escape in the confusion ; but 



