THE GRASSHOPPER 
33 
“Oh, yes, they certainly do! This will probably 
get worse.” 
It did get worse. Within five minutes, the sky was 
darkened by the invading insects, and they were set- 
tling down, too. There was no counting them, no 
guessing their numbers. 
Soon the fields near the highway were alive with 
the pests. The fence wires were covered with them. 
The fence posts were “working” on every side, with 
grasshoppers on top of grasshoppers. 
The car was covered. The pavement was “work- 
ing” like the fence posts. The sun was almost invisi¬ 
ble, because the sky was filled with the flying crea¬ 
tures. 
The travelers sat and stared. Buck and Ginger 
were frightened, and Mother herself was quite 
alarmed. Uncle Ely looked at her and said, “Nothing 
to be afraid of. They don't bother people.” 
“But—what do they want, Uncle Ely?” Buck 
asked. 
“Food. They're hungry, very hungry. They'll eat 
almost anything; plants, trees, even posts and hoe 
handles, and clothing, grass, flowers, anything! I've 
seen them like this only a few times in my life. Some 
years they are very bad, then we won't have many 
