Insects 371 



Joe and Patsy loved the locust song, and 

 dared each other often and over to get up 

 early enough to wratch them break out of the 

 shell. But somehow there v/ere always so 

 many other early-morning things to do, they 

 hardly ever got round to it. Still they were 

 distinctly on the locust's side, even when they 

 were plenty enough to spoil the fishing. Fish 

 worth catching would not take other bait 

 when they had all the locusts they could 

 eat for the swallowing. Before the locust 

 dropped too plentifully into the streams, Joe 

 sometimes caught a big fish by putting a 

 locust delicately upon his hook, and dancing 

 it lightly over deep still water. Old man 

 Shack shook his head over' such fishing — 

 " hit wus er clean da'ar ter Provydence," he 

 said. " Locusses wus knowed, well-knowed, 

 ter be pi'son, and besides nigh kin ter witches. 

 Else how-come it, in the Bible they wus sent 

 ter eat outen house an' ' home them thar 

 nigger-kings that would n't let the Childern- 

 'f-Isruul go — not no tetch ? An', furdermo', 

 that wus how-come it, they could kill trees 

 by jest a-stingin' of 'em, up ter yit. As fer 

 fruit, — well, er baby knowed hit wa'nt never 

 safe ter eat no sort o' hit, in er plumb locus' 

 year." 



The blacks had quite the same beliefs, and 

 even greater dread of the locusts. They told 



