A BAND OF PIRATES 
“ Suppose we go down to the pond,” sug¬ 
gested Uncle John, wisely taking the initiative in 
choosing a spot for their half-holiday. “ There 
is a host of little people there of whom I never 
tire. First of all, basking in the warm mud 
along the edge are the little frog tadpoles, a small 
black legion of divers interests. Close in among 
the reeds are the little fleets of caddis submarines, 
than which no boat is more ingenious. Near by 
the orange-bellied newt carefully holds to his 
course by means of his broad rudder-shaped tail, 
and in the deep places the water beetles, those 
crafty pirates of the pond, dive alertly carrying 
with them an extra supply of oxygen in an air- 
bubble held at the tip of the wing-cases. Whirl¬ 
ing dizzily on the surface in curious twists and 
curves are the whirligig beetles; while hard by the 
pond-skaters glide swiftly along with funny side- 
strokes such as you boys can never hope to equal. 
Likewise, there also are to be found the water- 
boatmen, those queer creatures whose heads are 
so lightly attached to their bodies that they al¬ 
most seem to float free of them, and the flat- 
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