FROGS, BOYS, AND OTHER SMALL DEER. 189 



the creature home and look at it, a thing I had 

 wanted to do from the first. I had an idea that 

 my booty might possibly be Arctia virgo, the Vir- 

 gin Tiger-moth. But it was not. It had pecti- 

 nated antennae, yellow fore wings marked with 

 rectangular blocks of black, its abdomen marked 

 in the same style, while on the hind wings was a 

 tinge of red, in addition to the dark marks. Hav- 

 ing observed so much I let the poor thing go free. 

 " I wept when I was born, and every day shows 

 why/' says old George Herbert. Perhaps moths 

 also groan to themselves about the bitterness of 

 life. If insects could express their feelings to- 

 ward their human persecutors, I think sometimes 

 the creatures would join in something like the old 

 French song : 



" Ah, a ira, a ira, a ira, 

 Les aristocrates a la lanterne." 



I am afraid that the attractions of this brook 

 prove too great for the integrity of the boys at 

 times. 



" Somebody 's playing hookey," I heard one 

 boy say, as he came up to a group of three others 

 under some willows. 



" So 're you." 



" 1 'm not," 



And the accused boys both repudiated the sug- 

 gestion with virtuous scorn, although a minute af- 

 terward I heard the school-bell ring and no one 



