AN AUNT JANE STORY. 



SOME JAPANESE PETS. 



They came through the mail, a gift 

 from the government. The children 

 gathered in wonder about the table as 

 the mysterious package was opened, for 

 Aunt Jane had told them that she was 

 expecting the arrival of some "J^P^^^^^e 

 Pets/' 



''Pshaw! is that all?" exclaimed John, 

 as some slips of card-board, covered with 

 tiny, bead-like eggs, were unfolded be- 

 fore his eyes. 



"Oh, auntie," said Bird, in a disap- 

 pointed tone, 'T thought your pets would 

 be alive !" 



''Well, so they are — or will be. If 

 you have patience, you will see some- 

 thing very wonderful one of these days. 

 Howard, get me a tin box and make a 

 few small holes in the lid ; we must keep 

 these little treasures in a cool cellar, safe 

 from mice, for a short time, as I do not 

 wish them to hatch until the leaves on 

 the osage hedges get a little larger, or 

 the wee fellows will die for lack of food." 



The few days seemed a whole year to 

 the anxious children, but, finally. Aunt 

 Jane told them that they might go out 

 to the osage hedge and gather some of 

 the small, bright-green leaves. Unknown 

 to them, she had placed the cards of 

 eggs on a tray in a warm room a few 

 days before, and now had something to 

 show them. 



What a merry race there was to the 

 hedges, and how fast the scissors clipped 

 the tender branches ; then what winged 

 feet went flying back, and up the stairs 

 to the little room where Aunt Jane had 

 established her cocoonery ! 



"My basket is the fullest; let me in 

 first," cried Howard, knocking on the 

 door. 



''No, let me in," screamed John, "for 

 my leaves are the largest." 



But Birdie, with all a girl's impetuos- 

 ity, had turned the door-knob just as 



Aunt Jane unlocked the door from the 

 inside, so she went tumbling in head 

 first. She soon regained her feet, and 

 cried, breathlessly, "Where are they?" 



"Right here on these trays on the 

 table," Aunt Jane replied. 



"Dear me ; those little black specks !" 

 cried Howard. 'Til just run down for 

 g-randmas glasses, or Bird will never see 

 them." 



"You keep still; I do see them," she 

 responded, "just thousands of them. Oh, 

 Auntie, we never saw silk-worms be- 

 fore; do tell us something about them." 



"Certainly, my dear; I would like to 

 have you become so interested in my pets 

 that you wuU watch the whole process 

 of their development. You remember 

 the eggs were nearly the size of pin- 

 heads and were not attached to each 

 other, although they lay so close together 

 gummed fast to the card-boards. Small 

 as the worms now are, they will soon be 

 nearly three inches long. They will 

 be yellowish-gray and creamy-white in 

 color, and will change their skins three 

 or four times. The skins will begin to 

 break in front and will be pushed back- 

 ward by means of the writhing motion 

 of the w^orms. While the skins are new 

 the worms grow with the greatest rapid- 

 ity, but during the various molts many of 

 them may die." 



"How will they look when full 

 grown?" asked Alice. 



"In a few weeks they will be grown 

 and will look — well — a little like a sheep. 

 They have long, white, sheepy-looking 

 faces." 



"Oh, Aunt Jane, you don't mean it?" 

 cried John. 



"Wait and see," she replied. "But the 

 most remarkable thing about the silk 

 worm is the fact that it has two glands, 

 which extend along the body, and end in 



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