AN INSECT THAT PRAYS FOR FOOD 
“ Here’s a queer Dick!” said Tommy, one 
day. 
It was indeed an odd six-legged creature, such 
as they had never seen before. It had a long slen¬ 
der graceful body, with a thorax nearly half the 
length of its abdomen. There were two pairs of 
wings, and the head was a funny, triangular 
shape, with large glossy eyes, so comically staring, 
that when the thing turned its neck and glanced 
back over its shoulder, as readily as you or I could 
do, it was positively uncanny. There were three 
pairs of legs, and the odd part about them was 
that the front pair were several times longer than 
the others and much stouter and stronger. When 
Max put out an inquiring finger toward the crea¬ 
ture up came the front legs in a jiffy, and were 
clasped like pious hands above the insect’s head. 
“ Do look! ” cried Alice. “ He is praying you 
not to hurt him! I never heard of the like. 
What is he called? ” 
“ The praying mantis,” Tommy informed, 
“ but he is not one-half so pious and innocent as 
he seems. Let’s put him outside, and keep an 
eye on him for a while.” 
305 
