THE GRASSHOPPER 
31 
The car and trailer roared on for a half mile when 
Mother Blair, who was in the back seat, suddenly 
cried out. The children turned to look at her. 
“There's one in here now!” Mother cried. “Two 
of them. Fan them out, son.” 
The insects hopped up and out the car window. 
Others could be seen outside. 
“Look,” Ginger pointed, “they're flying. I thought 
grasshoppers hopped. I didn't know they could fly, 
as birds do.” 
Uncle Ely answered her with a chuckle, “Surely 
they can fly. Just look at them. Why, we're in a 
swarm of them!” He leaned down a bit to peer out 
through the windshield at the sky. 
“They look like butterflies. See that great big one 
with the lacy wings!” exclaimed Ginger. 
More grasshoppers were splattering against 'the 
windshield. Mother quickly closed the windows to 
keep them out of the car. Uncle Ely was muttering 
to himself, and staring at the sky again. “Millions of 
them,” he was saying, “millions, and getting thicker.” 
Everybody began to look at the sky. The travelers 
suddenly remembered that they had been moving 
through a swarm of grasshoppers for several mim 
utes, and the swarm was getting thicker. Uncle Ely 
