138 UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



we begin to wilt, the locust tunes up his 

 twin drums and begins his gleeful song. 

 For here again it is the male that sings, and 

 if you will but catch him you will find his 

 instruments beneath the long flaps of his 

 vest. The wife wears no such vest, con- 

 ceals no such drums, and is mute. If you 

 will bend his body backward and forward 

 at the waist, you can beat his drums at 

 will. You need not hesitate to try this, 

 for he is in truth quite harmless. It is 

 almost impossible for him to puncture the 

 skin, and should he by any chance do 

 so, the result is likely to be far less hurtful 

 than would be the case were you to prick 

 yourself with a pin that had been lying 

 about a city street. 



HIS NAME 



It is rarely that any name comes to have 

 so hazy a meaning as does the word "lo- 

 cust." It is applied by different classes of 

 persons to entirely different insects. When 

 the people at large use it they mean the 

 cicada, either the larger, greenish "harvest- 



