BLOWING UP A TREE. 35 



The boring was completed and was rammed full of coarse 

 powder, and the mouth of the hole plugged up with a piece of 

 wood. Through this plug a small hole was bored, and through 

 this a long hollow straw made into a fuse was inserted. 



Setting fire to this, they retired to some distance to await the 

 issue of their experiment. 



There was unfortunately a cow in the same meadow, and this 

 cow was very much interested in their movements ; so when 

 they left the tree the cow approached, its curiosity the more 

 aroused by the smoke rising from the burning fuse. 



" Now there is an instance of unreasoning curiosity which 

 animals possess. That cow will poke her nose into that tree, 

 and get blown up for her pains if we don't stop her. Let's 

 shy stones at her." 



But stones in that marshy meadow were not easy to procure, 

 so they tore up clods of earth and threw them at the cow. She 

 scampered away, but went to the other side of the tree and 

 again approached it. The boys dared not go any nearer to the 

 old willow, because they momentarily expected the explosion, 

 and they were in a great fright lest the cow should suffer 

 damage. Just then, with a loud report and much smoke the 

 powder exploded. They threw themselves down to avoid 

 any errant fragments, and the cow scampered off unhurt, but 

 exceedingly astonished and frightened, jumped the ditch 

 which separated the meadow from the next one, and finally 

 landed herself in another ditch, from which she had to be 

 drawn with ropes and a vast deal of trouble by some of the 

 neighbours. 



The first thought of the boys was to see after the cow, and 

 when they saw she was in a fair way of being pulled out, they 

 returned to their tree, and found it split and torn to pieces and 

 thrown about in all directions. It was quite a chance whether 

 they found any caterpillars in the tree or not, and, to tell the 

 truth, they hardly expected to be successful in their search. 

 What was their delight then to find, that not only were there 

 caterpillars there, but a great number of them. Three or four 

 they found dead and mangled by the force of the explosion, 

 but the many perforations in the wood showed that there were 

 many more caterpillars there. With the aid of a saw and axe 

 they dug out several caterpillars not yet full grown, and also 

 several pupae which they knew would be out in two months' 



D 2 



