24 FARM SPIES 



"They are not rascals; they are beetles," said 

 Johnny, who was too young to understand how his 

 father felt. If Johnny had been old enough to be 

 responsible for a corn crop, he might have under- 

 stood. 



"What??" Mr. Drake thundered. 



Johnny in his innocence thought that he was ask- 

 ing for information, and so he repeated, "They are 

 beetles. They have hard wing covers and - 



"I don't care what they are they are killing 

 my corn they have killed it, and it made no dif- 

 ference to them what I said or did," his father 

 roared. 



Johnny had by this time realized that he made a 

 mistake when he spoke and that his father was in 

 no frame of mind to listen to a story on insect struc- 

 ture. His father had discovered that these insects 

 had killed his corn, and he wanted revenge. 



"How are they injuring the corn?" Mrs. Drake 

 asked. 



"They are not doing any injury now because the 

 corn is ready to gather, but what they did do is 

 enough. I am going to get ready for war, and if 

 necessary I will catch every one of them and twist 

 their heads off. Yes, sir, that is what I will do," 

 he said, sitting with his chin in his hands and a 

 grouchy look on his face. 



To the children it looked comical, and they would 



