A FIGHTING CRAWFISH 
Buddy and Fred were wading in the shallow water 
of the creek. Fred stubbed his toe against a large stone. 
Then they tried to turn it over. 
“I see something moving!” cried Marylee, from the 
bank. 
“So do I. There it goes swimming away!” shouted 
Bess, as she ran along. 
How it did dart through the water! Fred and Buddy 
dropped the stone and hurried after Bess. 
“It hid under that other stone,” said Bess, as she 
pointed into the water. “It stirred up so much sand that 
I could not see it very well, but it was swimming tail 
first.” 
“Oh, then, I know what it is,” said Buddy. “It is a 
crawfish. They always swim backward.” Buddy boldly 
put his hand under the stone, and felt around. Suddenly 
he cried, “Ouch! It’s biting me!” 
He jerked back. The crawfish was holding to his 
finger with one of its front feet that looked like a pair 
of pincers. But it dropped off into the water and darted 
back under the stone. 
“Wait a minute,” said Uncle Jack, as Buddy again 
started to reach under the stone. “I shall tell you how to 
catch it and not get pinched. Lift up the stone with one 
45 
