346 NA T URE-ST UD Y RE VIE W [15 :6— Nov. , 1919 



Something must have happened for Abimelech did not seem to 

 want to leave us even for a short time. 



At last he grew restless and started to wander from one end of 

 the box to the other hunting hunting for something we knew not 

 what. Finally he stopped in the best comer and swung his head 

 around and around and as we watched, we saw that a long golden 

 thread was coming from his mouth and was being fastened at 

 right angles in the comer. With interest we watched and the 

 threads kept coming faster and faster until Abimelech had made 

 for himself a golden tent. 



We watched as long as we could. At last the tent cover became 

 so heavy that it was impossible for us to see him at work any longer 

 and we had to guess at the rest. Would he make it as it should 

 be made? He had not been taught to weave, he had never even 

 seen another worm work for he was the first in the box to want 

 his own home. Even had he been the last it could not have been 

 otherwise for poor Abimelech was blind. 



He had now reached the third stage of his life and we knew 

 that for a few days we would see him no more. The other worms 

 hearing what Abimelech had done, decided as usual to follow him 

 and make houses for themselves too, until the boxes became little 

 settlements composed of houses haphazardly arranged. We watched 

 the box with longing hoping that the worms would soon reappear. 



One day a great fluttering was heard, and on looking we saw 

 that Abimelech was no longer the worm that we had grown to 

 know and love but a beautiful white moth. His body was soft 

 and downy. His antennae were long and feathery, his wings 

 were wet but we knew they would become dry and strong enough 

 to carry him hither and thither that he might see the beauties of 

 the world for the first time. For Abimelech now had eyes. I 

 put my finger in and let him crawl upon it, and as he stood there, 

 holding tightly to it, he waved his wings gently to and fro. It 

 was marvelous how quickly the wings dried and I was afraid if I 

 kept him on my finger much longer that he would fly away, al- 

 though I knew that he would probably not fly until night. I 

 wanted all the family to see him and so I carried him through the 

 house on my finger. After they had seen and admired him, I 

 took him back to my room. 



Do you know how hard it is to deliberately hurt those you love ? 

 I had felt Abimelech holding to my finger and felt the flutter of 



