REYNOLDS] A BOY AND A BROOK 15 



I noticed that it was very tall, thick and spindling and Sis said grass 

 always grows that way where the ground was soft and water 

 was handy. I smelled something like peppermint candy along 

 here and asked Sis. Stire enough, we found the very plant they 

 get peppermint from and right along side of it 'most as thick as 

 the grass was another kind of mint*. Even wild mustard plants 

 like to grow in soft groimd because there was a lot of it. 



Before we went very far we came to two more pockets and Sis 

 told me to notice the sudden drop at the beginning of each pocket. 

 Then she told me how the pockets were made. You see the water 

 rushes along and washes the stones off clean. It is going so fast 

 that it has power enough to carry all the tiny pieces of earth and 

 stones along with it. Then the force of the falling water over a 

 large piece of rock wears out a pocket from the soft ground. The 

 water can't run along so quickly here so it finds its load of dirt 

 too heavy and it dumps it all on the bottom of the pool pocket and 

 leaves the water clear. This layer of dirt is called by a funny name 

 "silt." 



There were queer marks all over the silt so Sis asked me to look 

 out for the cause. Soon I saw some snails ploking along the bot- 

 tom. Then I noticed some little sticks really crawling and mark- 

 ing up the bottom. Sister took one out and showed me how a 

 little worm was tucked away inside. They are called "Caddis- 

 worms". They build themselves little tubes of sticks and moss 

 to live in until they are grown up and ready to come from the 

 water. Their houses are fastened to them, and they carry them 

 wherever they go. Just then a great long-legged bug started to 

 walk along on top of the water. Sis called it a " water-strider" 

 and showed me how its feet were made so that it didn't press too 

 hard on the water and could walk right aiong. 



The brook flowed on from the last pocket very swiftly. Some 

 of the stones at the edge of the brook were moist and must have 

 made a good place for moss to live for there were at least three 

 different kinds on each stone. Sister showed me how weather- 

 beaten (isn't that a funny name?) and worn out the moss made 

 the rocks. We heard a bubbling laugh over in the field beyond, 

 with a plain-enough " Spic spank spink." Sis said they were bobo- 

 links and liked to live down in the grass. 



