NEVA'S BUTTERFLY. 



"Oh ! Oh ! Auntie, please come here, 

 my foot's caught in this hammock and I 

 can't get out and there's a caterpillar go- 

 ing to crawl right on me !" called little 

 Neva Birdsell in an excited tone. 



Aunt Doris laid down her sewing and 

 went over to where her little niece was ly- 

 ing with her eyes riveted on a caterpillar 

 which was slowly crawling along quite 

 ignorant that anyone was being alarmed 

 by its presence. 



Neva gave a sigh of relief when her 

 aunt picked a leaf from the vine and the 

 caterpillar crawled off on to it. 



"Now what shall I do with him?" 

 asked Aunt Doris as the caterpillar 

 curled itself, up in a little ball. 



"Why, kill it, quick as ever you can," 

 replied Neva promptly, "I don't want 

 horrid old caterpillars crawling 'round 

 me." 



Just then a beautiful butterfly lighted 

 on the vine near by and Aunt Doris ques- 

 tioned, "Shall I catch the butterflv and 

 kill that, too?" 



"O, auntie, how could you kill a beau- 

 tiful butterfly?" exclaimed the little girl. 

 "Catch it, though, I'd love to see it close 

 to. But there, now !" she added in a dis- 

 appointed tone as the butterfly flitted 

 away. "It's gone ; they always fly away 

 from me." 



Aunt Doris went back to her chair 

 carrying the caterpillar in the leaf with 

 her. She seemed to be studying it for a 

 moment and then asked, "Do you know 

 what I have here, Neva? rt 



"Why, that caterpillar," answered the 

 little girl in a surprised tone. Then 

 growing curious she left the hammock 

 and went nearer her aunt's chair. 



"Yes," said her aunt, "you are right, 

 yet if I should keep it long enough it 



would turn into a butterfly just like the 

 one that flew away a moment ago ; but I 

 suppose I had better kill it as you wish 

 me to." 



"O, please don't," said Neva quickly 

 as her aunt started from her chair, "I 

 didn't know 'bout it's ever being a but- 

 terfly. Will it really be like that other 

 one, and could you keep it long enough ; 

 and how can you tell what kind of a but- 

 terfly it will be?" 



Aunt Doris laughed as she said, 

 "Three questions all in one breath. I 

 know it will be that kind of a butterfly 

 because I've studied about butterflies and 

 caterpillars. It has another name beside 

 caterpillar and that is larva. It is a very 

 good name for it means a mask. You 

 know when a thing is masked you can't 

 tell quite what it is by its looks and so 

 you might call this caterpillar a masked 

 butterfly." 



"I think it is a good name," said Neva, 

 " 'cause I never would guess it was go- 

 ing to be a butterfly ; but can we keep it 

 until it isn't masked?" 



"Yes, if you will run and ask Nora for 

 a small pasteboard box we will fix a 

 house for it," said her aunt. 



Neva ran into the kitchen and soon 

 returned with a shoe-box asking, "Will 

 this do? It's the littlest one there was." 



"Yes, that will make a nice, roomy 

 house," replied her aunt, laying the cat- 

 erpillar gently in the box. Then taking 

 a piece of netting from her work basket 

 she tied it over the top in place of the 

 cover. "Now it will have plenty of light 

 and air," she said. "The next thing will 

 be to ^et it something to eat." 



"What do caterpillars like?" asked 

 Neva. 



"Mostly leaves," replied her aunt. 



207 



