38 UP AND DOWN THE BROOKS. 



had been living in a brook and forced to seek his 

 meals for himself, he could have succeeded in 

 catching anything. I was his devoted slave and 

 feeder. Everything he ate I put into his mouth. 



It was not that the Fittest was not willing 

 enough, but he was clumsy. He waddled, with 

 the hinder part of his body held above, much 

 after the manner of a misdirected parasol, while 

 his six legs paddled through the water, and his 

 horns turned stupidly toward any prey that he 

 dimly saw. He had caught his brethren because 

 they were as stupid as he, but many things were 

 quicker. Mosquito larvae utterly foiled him, dart- 

 ing by before he could begin to turn his horns in 

 their direction. 



The black-headed worm had a trick that always 

 completely fooled the Fittest. No matter how vig- 

 orously that worm had been wriggling, if it came 

 next to the Fittest's horns it remained perfectly 

 still ; and the Fittest, with that sublime stupidity 

 that characterized him, would pass that worm 

 by as though it were not alive. In fact, I began 

 to think that the only thing the Fittest did per- 

 ceive was motion ; shape was beyond his mental 

 powers. If a thing wriggled, he thought it was 

 food ; if not, it was nothing of interest to him. 

 The black-headed worm was infinitely ahead of 

 the Fittest in intellect. 



The only way I made sure that my captive 

 had any food was to take a straw and carefully 



