CHINCH-BUGS 



IT was on a Saturday afternoon in December 

 when five boys of the neighborhood had gathered at 

 the home of Sammy Sprague. The day was lovely 

 one of those warm, cheerful winter afternoons ; the 

 ground was dry and it seemed that everything was 

 just in the right condition for boys to have a good 

 time. While they were playing in the yard Mr. 

 Sprague came and opened the corn-crib to get some 

 corn for the mules. Billy Burnet, who was near the 

 door at that time, did just what any other boy would 

 have done had he been there instead of Billy, he 

 peeked into the crib. That Billy did that was no 

 sign that he was a bad boy, nor was it a sign of bad 

 manners, but he was a healthy robust boy, full of 

 life, and full of boy-curiosity. Like every other 

 healthy boy he found the world full of interesting 

 things ; he was always afraid that something might 

 happen that he would fail to hear or see. For this 

 reason he was continually peeking into, over, and 

 around everything and continually asking ques- 

 tions. Did you ever see a boy like Billy? 



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