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colored larva came back to the brook again. You 

 would not have known it if you had seen it, for it 

 was no longer a larva. It had changed to a fine, 

 large beetle. 



It swam about for awhile with the whirligig 

 beetles on top of the water. Then suddenly it 

 broke through the surface film and dived down to 

 the water weeds below. The dun-colored larva was 

 still feeding there. It did not know the beetle as 

 its old friend, the mouse-colored larva, in a new form. 



"So, here you are still," said the beetle. "I 

 was just wondering about you, and I thought I'd 

 come down and see if you were here." 



" Wondering about me ! " said the larva. " How 

 could you wonder about me ? You never saw me 

 before." 



" Never saw you before ! " cried the beetle. 

 " Well, that's a good joke. Though to be sure I 

 have changed since you saw me," and it swelled it- 

 self with pride. " I'm that mouse-colored larva 

 that used to live down here and eat snails." 



The larva could hardly believe it. 



" This was the way of it," said the beetle. " You 

 remember the day I left here ? " 



Yes, the larva remembered. 



