THE MERRY-GO-ROUND 125 



covers. They had shown great presence of mind, 

 it seemed to me, and all in no time at all. The air 

 bubbles ' gleamed like drops of quicksilver down 

 among the feathei-y water plants. 



"Let's catch one and see about that double-eyed 

 efifect!" cried the Frivolous One, true to her tradi- 

 tions even within the sacred halls of her alma mater. 

 And she seized the first one which came to the 

 surface. It was indeed true and we were all con- 

 vinced of the usefulness of the big gray book over 

 which the Bookworm was so constantly poring. 



"Let's hear the rest of that," said one; and we 

 returned to our mounting while the reader pro- 

 ceeded. 



"The eggs of the whirligig beetles are laid in 

 parallel rows on the leaves of water plants. The 

 larvae are long and narrow and flat. They breathe 

 by means of tracheal gills. When full grown they 

 leave the water and spin a thin cocoon in which 

 to spend the pupa stage. So far as is known the 

 pupa stage lasts about a month. The adults return 

 to the water immediately, never leaving it, except 

 long enough to fly to another pond or stream. 

 Those species which have been observed spend 

 the winter as adults. They have been seen even 

 in very cold weather exercising on the surface of 

 the water at some air-hole in the ice." 



We looked incredulous at this, but the Book- 

 worm assured us that Thoreau and Gibson said 

 the same thing, whereat we were silenced, partly 

 by the fact and partly by his superior knowledge 

 of the literature of the subject. 



