THE YOUNG NAT U KALI ST. 



70 



none of her companions, and if I take her 

 upon the moors, and place her down upon the 

 heather, she will attract the other sex, and we 

 may catch as many as we like. These 

 are one of the silk-producing moths," con- 

 tinues Spring " and the only representa- 

 tive we have in Britain. You see these 

 cocoons are made of silk, but when the grub 

 is spinning it breaks off the silk every time it 

 comes to this opening, which is left for the 

 exit of the future moth, so the silk cannot be 

 wound off. There are some kinds abroad 

 much larger than these ; one comes from 

 America, which is fully seven inches in ex- 

 panse of wings, and there are others in India 

 eleven inches or more across. I have often 

 kept the caterpillars which produce these 

 moths, they are beautiful creatures— pea- 

 green with red wax-looking knobs, studded 

 with gold and silver. But let us away, or we 

 shall be too late for our train." 



The station was reached just in lime for 

 the noon train, and a two-hour's ride brought 

 the party to a small country station on the 

 borders of the high Yorkshire moors, to which 

 they— Spring, John, and Sunshine made the 

 best of their way. Crossing a ploughed field 

 in the valley before they began to ascend the 

 hill, there were an innumerable quantity of 

 round boulders and pieces of stone, and 

 John was just puzzling himself as to how 

 they came there when Sunshine put the 

 question to her sister. 



"I was just asking myself the question," 

 said John, " here is one of granite even, and I 

 I don't think there is any granite rocks in 

 the neighbourhood, now Spring I know you 

 can tell us something ? " 



" Well, once upon a time (you know that's 

 the way all stories begin) a very, very long ; 

 time ago, long before you or any other man 

 was born, the continent of Europe stretched 

 out beyond the British Isles far into the At- j 

 lantic, and even now the boundary line of that 

 continent can be found sunk beneath the 

 ocean. Mariners know it as the 20 fathoms I 

 line, all inside that line being within 20 



fathoms, while outside it is much deeper. 

 Large and extensive glaciers then existed in 

 J this country, its temperature being much 

 lower than it is now, caused amongst other 

 things by the land being at a greater eleva- 

 tion. These glaciers, or rivers of ice, brought 

 down all kinds of rubbish which got into them, 

 ; and when the ice came lower down, and 

 melted, these boulders were deposited upon 

 the lowlands. I dare say if we were to search 

 we could find some which are scratched by 

 rubbing against some hard rock in their pas- 

 sage down. We will see if we have time when 

 we return." 



" Oh ! I see it now," says John. 

 " Yes, and so do I," says Sunshine, as she 

 beheld a velvet black butterlly, with scarlet 

 bands across its wings, but before the net 

 could be produced it was sailing swiftly out of 

 sight. 



" Here jwe are," said John, as he beheld 

 the wide expanse of moorland stretched out 

 before him, and the three sat down for a few 

 moments to contemplate the valley which lay 

 beneath, so very flat beach-like district they 

 had just left. It was hungry work climbing 

 those hills, so a hard-boiled egg and a piece 

 of dry toast was produced, and quickly extin- 

 guished. Soon the three moved higher up the 

 moor, where they sat down, got there the net 

 ready, and "planted" their female emperor 

 moth. They had not sat long before they saw 

 a male nearly half a-mile distant beating his 

 way against the wind. He struggled on un- 

 til he came close to where they sat, wheeled 

 once or twice round the attractive female 

 moth, and when just about to alight the net 

 was handed to John, and his lordship was 

 taken into custody. 



Many " takes " were made in this way, and 

 when a sufficient quantity had been got the 

 party turned their attention to the smaller 

 moths which flew about in hundreds about 

 the heather, and Sunshine found a titlark's 

 nest which contained a cuckoo's egg, similar 

 in color, but larger than the other eggs. 

 (To be continued.) 



