THE STORY OF A STONE. 227 
taking them in, and tried to wall himself up inside 
with them, as a person would “stone a well,” or as 
though a man should swallow pebbles, and stow 
them away in his feet and all around under the 
skin, till he had filled himself all full with them, as 
the man filled Jim Smiley’s frog. 
Little Favosites became lonesome all alone in 
the bottom of that old ocean among so many 
outlandish neighbors. So one night when he was 
fast asleep, and dreaming as only a coral animal 
can dream, there sprouted out from his side, some- 
where near where his sixth rib might have been 
if he had had any ribs, another little Favosites ; 
and this one very soon began to eat worms and to 
wall himself up as if for dear life. Then from 
these two another and another little bud came out, 
and other little Favosites were formed. They all 
kept growing up higher and cramming themselves 
fuller and fuller of stone, till at last there were so 
many and they were so crowded together that 
there was not room for them to grow round, and 
so they had to become six-sided like the cells of a 
honeycomb. Once in a while some one in the 
company would feel jealous because the others 
got more of the worms, or would feel uneasy at 
sitting still so long and swallowing lime. Such 
a one would secede from the little union with- 
out even saying “good-by,” and would put on 
the airs of the grandmother Medusa, and would 
sail around in the water, opening and shutting 
its umbrella, at last laying more eggs, which for 
all we know may have hatched out into more 
Favosites. 
