The Life of the Grasshopper 



once hesitates and draws back his fingers, ap- 

 prehensive of some unknown danger. Old 

 hand as I am, I cannot even now help being 

 startled, should I happen to be thinking of 

 something else. 



You see before you, most unexpectedly, a 

 sort of bogey-man or Jack-in-the-box. The 

 wing-covers open and are turned back on 

 either side, slantingly; the wings spread to 

 their full extent and stand erect like parallel 

 sails or like a huge heraldic crest towering 

 over the back; the tip of the abdomen curls 

 upwards like a crosier, rises and falls, relax- 

 ing with short jerks and a sort of sough, a 

 "Whoof! Whoof!" like that of a Turkey- 

 cock spreading his tail. It reminds one of the 

 puffing of a startled Adder. 



Planted defiantly on its four hind-legs, the 

 insect holds its long bust almost upright. 

 The murderous legs, originally folded and 

 pressed together upon the chest, open wide, 

 forming a cross with the body and revealing 

 the arm-pits decorated with rows of beads 

 and a black spot with a white dot in the 

 centre. These two faint imitations of the 

 eyes in a Peacock's tail, together with the 

 dainty ivory beads, are warlike ornaments 

 kept hidden at ordinary times. They are 



