Little Busybodies | Page 4

owners of the fruit
farms get rid of the scale."
"Did they carry them all the way out, mother?"
"Yes," answered Jimmie; "they got a Pullman car for them, and Mr.
and Mrs. Ladybug and family travelled in style."
"Mother, tell Jim to be still." Betty, not unlike other little sisters, hated
to be teased by her brother.
"And now, let me see," said Mrs. Reece. "I don't know that I can tell
you any more until I know more myself. Yes, I do know what baby
beetles are called. They are called grubs, and they live in the ground
until it is time for them to turn into grown-up beetles. While they are
babies they eat as much and as fast as they can, as no baby but a beetle
should. The more they eat the sooner they come out into the bright
world as a June-bug or some other kind of beetle. They eat all the
tender little roots they can find. This is very nice--"
"For Mary Ann, but rather hard on Abraham."
"You horrid boy," said Betty, "you don't even let me hear a story in
peace! It's very nice what, mother?"
"It's very nice for the little grubs, but it's rather hard on the plants, for if
too many roots are nibbled away the plants die. The caterpillars are
great eaters, too."
Betty leaned over and whispered something to her mother; then they

both giggled.
"I know what you're saying," said Jimmie, but after that he was quieter.
"Sometimes a caterpillar will thrive on just one kind of a plant; it may
be carrot, it may be milkweed. On that it feeds until it has grown as
large as possible. Then it spins itself a nice silken cocoon, or rolls itself
up in a soft leaf and takes a long, long nap. And now it is time for us to
take a nap, too, for we shall soon reach Bemis, and then there will be
still two long lakes to cross and a carry to walk."

II
RANGELEY VILLAGE
The next morning great was the stir in the town, for it was known by
the village children that Betty and Jimmie had come, and by the
grown-ups that Mrs. Reece was there. All winter long the children had
looked forward to their coming, for it meant jolly times: picnics, parties,
expeditions, and games. Then, too, Ben Gile would begin to tell them
wonderful things. Through the winter he had been teaching school, and
it was only when the ice broke up in the big lake and the beavers
decided to stop sleeping that Ben Gile came back to his guiding.
There was great excitement about Turtle Lodge. Lizzie kept flying out
with rugs, and then forgetting they hadn't been brushed and flying in
again. The cat was playing croquet with the balls and spools of an open
work-basket, and Max had discovered an old straw hat which tasted
very good to him. Only Mrs. Reece kept her head and stayed indoors,
moving about quietly from room to room, putting the house in that
beautiful order which little children never think about.
Out on the grass that sloped down to the street, which, in its turn,
tumbled head over heels down to the lake, Betty and Jimmie were
playing with their playmates. They were all so wild with joy that every
time Jimmie saw another boy he shouted, "Come over!" when the boy
was coming, anyway, just as fast as he could.

Up, up from the foot of the lake climbed an old man; up, up, up the
steep street he came, his white hair shaking and shining in the brisk
June breeze, his long, white beard caught every once in a while by the
wind and tossed sideways.
"Mother," called Jimmie, "Ben Gile is coming!"
Out came Mrs. Reece to greet the old man.
Then, one by one, the children spoke with Ben Gile.
"You're having a good time before you can say Jack Robinson, aren't
you?"
"Yes, sir," came in a chorus of voices. Then, "Tell us a story; tell us a
story!"
[Illustration: A. A few facets of the compound eye of an insect. B. Brain
and nerve cord of an insect.]
"Not to-day," said the old man. "Why, you want a story before you've
had time to turn around."
Betty stuck her head out from behind her mother. "Mother said you
would tell us about crickets and moths, and everything."
"Well, well, well," murmured the old man, "did she? But I can't tell a
story to-day. I'll tell you, though, something, so that when you come to
collect the little creatures you'll know what to do. All sit down."
They all sat down cross-legged on the ground, the old man in the
middle.