GRASSHOPPERS 89 



that they would put these eggs in a tumbler so that 

 they might se'e the little grasshoppers hatch. "We 

 want to see them come out of the eggshell/' they 

 said. This done, they tried to find other grasshoppers 

 in the act of laying. They worked all over the garden 

 and found four more egg-chambers, and every one 

 of them was near the edge of the garden. They 

 noticed that they were not laying in the ground 

 that was cultivated and concluded that they must 

 have wise little heads because they would not risk 

 to lay their eggs where they would be in danger of 

 being uncovered by the plow or hoe. After the 

 places had all been carefully marked they put little 

 cages over them just as their father had explained 

 to them. Their mother did not have enough cheese- 

 cloth for all the cages, so they made as many as they 

 could from this material and used muslin for the rest. 

 Their row of cages looked pretty, and many people 

 passing the garden stopped and looked at them. 

 They felt proud when people asked questions about 

 them, but old Mr. Grimes made them angry when 

 he said : "What foolishness is that, boys, putting up 

 a cemetery in the garden? Those little white cages 

 look just like headstones. I would not have them 

 on my place." Although this made them rosy, they 

 could not help looking at each other and grinning, 

 because they recalled their father's remark about 

 nervous people. 



