THE CATERPILLAR'S PROPHECY 205 



he could observe the final change, the wonder- 

 ful transformation toward which they had 

 been hastening while he had dreamed beside 

 their milkweed. They 

 were supplied with an 

 abundance of fresh 

 leaves from other milk- 

 weeds, but it was not for 

 long. They had eaten 

 their portion of rough 

 herbage and were pre- 

 paring for the day when 

 they should sip nectar 

 from the flowers. The 

 Naturalist was not alone 



I * inverted question marK, a: 



in WatChing tO See What like the Naturalist, trying to peer 



should take place when beyond the veil that hid its future - 

 a caterpillar has finished its portion of rough 

 fodder, but his boys, who by this time were 

 also coming to be naturalists on their own ac- 

 count, were equally watchful. 



At last one after another of the caterpillars 

 stopped feeding and began looking about for 

 a suitable place to don the rich raiment suited 

 to the new life on which they were about to 

 enter. When one found a place to its liking, 

 it prepared a silken fastening and turned itself 



It turned itself into the form of an 

 inverted question mark, as though, 



