98 FARM SPIES 



After careful examination they found some of the 

 insects still alive, one eating another grasshopper. 



"This is the limit ! ! ! " cried Willie. "They are 

 cannibals. Why, Freddie, there is no knowing what 

 they might not be guilty of." 



"To kill them you would have to put one in a cage 

 without any kind of plants or other insects, " said 

 Freddie. 



"That would not do," retorted Willie; "they 

 would gnaw the wood. It would be necessary to put 

 one in a metal cage." 



"There is one use we could put that old pile of tin 

 cans to," said Freddie. 



! "What do you mean?" asked Willie. "Put a 

 bug in each tin can and let it starve? " 



"Yes," replied Freddie. "If I got near enough 

 to catch him I would 'lambast' him with a stick and 

 it would beat your method." 



:< What beats me is the way they live," explained 

 Willie. "They don't live like common folks, but 

 they remind me of those rich people just outside of 

 Waverly. They eat a late breakfast and then eat 

 again in the middle of the afternoon, while the 

 working-man eats three square meals a day. These 

 grasshoppers prefer the tender buds and leaves 

 and remain near the tops of plants from early morn- 

 ing till about ten o'clock; then they leave for the 

 lower portions of the plants and remain there till 



