AN INSECT TAILOR 
85 
It was two o’clock before the summons came, 
and Alice found Tommy and Max fairly holding 
their breath in pleased anticipation before the 
large, roomy jar, which held a bunch of leafy 
twigs and the busy little tailor. Moreover, the 
latter had just begun to cut into his “ cloth,” 
which was, of course, one of the nice green leaves. 
Nor was he bothering anything at all about a pat- 
tern! With his strong jaws and sharp little 
teeth, he slashed straighter across the leaf than 
either of the children could have done offhand 
with the best pair of scissors on the place. 
“ There isn’t even an awkward notch,” mur¬ 
mured Tommy, admiringly. “ His line is as 
straight as though he had followed a mark pre¬ 
viously chalked off with a ruler, and of course he 
did nothing of that sort. I was right here all the 
time, and he never even sighted the line before he 
began to cut! ” 
“ Hi! see what he has done now! ” Max ejacu¬ 
lated excitedly. 
With a quick movement of his unique little 
scissors, the industrious tailor had shaped his coat 
by cutting out a triangular notch, thus making 
two little flaps that were ready to turn down and 
fasten beneath the stem. And, marvel of mar¬ 
vels! without a pattern, or hint of any kind for 
guidance, the two pieces were cut exactly the 
same size and shape. They fitted together per- 
