129 



Then the beetle went on to say how all that day it 

 had been longing to get out of the water. But 

 even when it went at last, climbing up the bank and 

 into the air, it was not comfortable. It wanted to 

 get in the dark and sleep, so it burrowed down into 

 the damp earth beside the brook. There it curled 

 up and slept. 



When it awoke, it felt as though its skin were too 

 tight for it. " Ugh ! but that was a horrid feel- 

 ing," said the beetle. " I wouldn't like to feel it 

 again." 



However It stretched and stretched itself, and 

 presently, crack ! its skin split right open. Then it 

 crawled out of its skin, but it felt very weak and 

 strange. 



It stayed down in the dark there for quite a 

 while until it was strong again. When It crawled 

 out, behold, It was a fine, big beetle ! 



"Why, I can fly about now wherever I like," 

 said the beetle, "but I don't care about It. I'd 

 rather be down In the water. That upper world 

 they talk about Is rather a poor place in my opinion." 



But the larva began to pant with eagerness. 

 " So you changed ! " it cried. " You changed into 

 a beetle. Oh, do you — do you suppose, that if I 



Pyie's Humble Friends. — g. 



