116 FARM SPIES 



When they had crossed the wire fence they were 

 in a thick growth of bermuda grass. "It looks to 

 me," said Mr. Minter, "as though this would be a 

 good place for them to spend the winter." 



"Under the ice?" the boys asked, surprised. 



Mr. Minter explained, "There are many tufts of 

 grass here that have not been soaked by the weather 

 and under them the bugs find shelter. Put your 

 sticks into action and make a search." 



With the sticks they had cut when they started, 

 they whipped the ice from the tufts of grass, then 

 got down on their hands and knees to make a careful 

 examination. After they had worked on that grass 

 for a while Sammy called that he had found one. 

 They all ran to the spot, and after they had compared 

 the bug which Sammy found with those IQ their 

 bottles they all agreed that it was a chinch-bug. 

 Not being able to find more there, they crossed 

 another fence into Mr. Blakeley's old corn-field, 

 full of stumps. Around every stump there was a 

 mass of weeds and old dead grass and many of the 

 stumps were covered with loose, shaggy bark. The 

 boys were now happy, for they soon saw that their 

 ride was earned. Under rubbish, matted grass, under 

 stones and in the refuse on the terraces and in the 

 field they found the chinch-bugs in abundance. 

 Willie Foy found a lot of them in the old husks and 

 behind the dried leaf boots of old corn-stalks that 



