28 FARM SPIES 



"My teacher told us that bugs lived during the 

 winter in a quiet, sleepy condition called hiberna- 

 tion/' Johnny replied; "during the winter , she said 

 that they did not have to have food, and that from 

 the bugs that stay over winter the insects come the 

 following year." 



"All right, Johnny," said his father with a laugh, 

 "I give you a job for next Saturday. You go over 

 the old corn stubble in the field back of the barn, 

 cut them open and examine them closely to find 

 out if there are any bugs in them." 



"I'll do it/' answered Johnny. They all laughed, 

 and no more was said about the subject that evening. 



On Saturday morning, Mr. Drake saw Johnny 

 going across the field. "Where are you going, 

 sonny?" he called. 



"I am going to hunt for the bugs you told me 

 about the other evening," Johnny answered. 



Mr. Drake, laughing with a "guffaw," said, 

 "Well, well, boy, go easy now and don't catch them 

 all, because if there happened to be no bugs next 

 year it would surprise me so that I could hardly 

 get down to. business, and then the weeds would 

 cover my cornfield." 



"That is the time I would plow the corn for you," 

 Johnny answered, laughing, and walked on. 



When he arrived at the cornfield he confessed 

 to himself that he had little faith in finding bugs in 



