MOORLAND IDYLLS. 



what strange change had come over him 

 unawares. Six well-formed legs, in place 

 of the creeping suckers on which he crawled 

 in his youth ; and what could these thin 

 vans mean these light and airy vans, that 

 moved so dubiously on his soft woolly 

 shoulders ? 



While his wings remained erect and 

 closed, the under surface alone showed ; 

 and that was chequered green and white, 

 like the flowers he sat upon. Indeed, so 

 exactly did groundwork and insect har- 

 monize with one another in hue and mark- 

 ings, that even a quick eye might easily 

 have passed my orange-tip by unnoticed, 

 were it not for the quivering movement of 

 those uncertain wings, whose opening and 

 shutting betrayed him, as I passed, to my 

 scrutinizing survey. And this in itself was 

 odd. For " How did he know," thought 

 I "he who till lately was but a small 

 green grub, feeding on the lush leaves 

 and stems of cresses that he ought now 



66 



