THE BLACK BILI^BUG OF CORN 31 



Maybe they do, but their mouths are so small that 

 I cannot see .them. To tell the truth I do not know 

 yet at which end the mouth is located." So Johnny 

 spoke to himself, at the same time carefully studying 

 the beetles. He saw the eyes and feelers, and then 

 was sure that the mouth was at the end of the little 

 beak. Looking at them gravely, he said to himself : 

 "They look like elephants except 

 that they are blacker, much 

 smaller, have no tails, no lopping 



.. T FIG. 15. -"They look 



ears, well, 1 guess they are not like elephants, ex- 

 like elephants after all. Why cept ~ 

 should my looking at them have reminded me of 

 elephants? Oh, I see now, those little beaks did 

 it, because they remind one of elephants' trunks. 

 That is it. Well, well, well," he sighed and looked 

 about him. "I am going to pull some more, and 

 I will surely take some home to show to father. 

 See here, I did not come to practice for a circus, so 

 the next stubble I am going to dig up, and then 

 there will be no danger of my turning somersaults 

 without knowing it until it is all over." He went 

 to a near-by fence, broke off a good-sized sliver, and 

 with it he dug up many more stubbles. With his 

 knife he split these open. Finding beetles in most of 

 them, he was no longer discouraged, but felt that he 

 was being well repaid for his trip. It was a great 

 relief that they could not laugh at him when he 



