311 LITTLE FOLKS 
moves about in funny jerks, by drawing water inside of his shell, 
and then suddenly spirting it out. 
One of his neighbors, a jelly fish, a lovely creature, shaped 
like an umbrella, that I have told you about, swims about in the 
most graceful way, by drawing in and throwing out the sea water 
under his umbrella. 
That ugly fellow, the lobster, just slaps the water with his tail, 
and shoots off like a dart, while the pretty little sea urchin walks 
in a dignified way on hundreds of little feet, each one of which is 
a sort of sucker, and sticks to the rock, as I've told you. 
The loveliest way of getting on in the water is used by one of 
the tiny atoms of creatures that we can't even see without a micro- 
scope. He is called the wheel bearer, because he has what look 
like two wheels, always turning very fast, and carrying him very 
rapidly through the water. But when those prying men began to 
study the little beauty with their wonderful glasses, they found out 
that the famous wheels were not wheels at all, but rings of hair, 
that bend down and fly back so regularly, that they look exacily 
like a fast-turning wheel. 
What would you say to a fellow that always walks with his 
head down ? I don't mean a fly on the ceiling, but an animal as 
large as a good-sized dog. It is the sloth, and I've told you all 
about him, too. 
The daintiest way of getting about, for one that has no wings, 
is practiced by a tiny speck of a spider. She has a fancy to travel 
up in the air, so she throws out ever so many threads, which she 
spins, keeping hold of one end — of course. When there are enough 
to hold her up, the first breeze carries her off, and away she goes, 
high up in the air, quite out of sight. 
Who would ever suspect a spider of going up in a balloon ? 
