cocoon made. The silk is so
loosely spun that it cannot be wound at all, and is good only for
floss."

Pierre shook his head despairingly.

"I thought I knew quite a lot about cocoons," he said. "But by the time
I go home I shall feel I don't know anything. Why, I never could learn
to sort all those kinds if I kept trying for years."

"Only those who have handled thousands of cocoons can," returned his
guide consolingly. "I couldn't begin to do it. Here is a pile now! They
have a hole in the end and cannot be reeled because every time the
thread comes to the perforation it is broken. Probably the moth was
allowed to escape and injured the filament. They must be used for floss,
too, for they are good for nothing else."

The boys wandered on down the room.

"In this pile you will see what we call _good choquettes_," resumed
Henri. "I must tell you about them, for the species is peculiar. The
worm inside them died before finishing its work and stuck onto the
inside of the cocoon." He took one from the heap and shook it. "It does
not rattle, you see. Nevertheless the filament on it is of excellent
quality--not very strong, perhaps, but of fine texture. In contrast to
these good choquettes is this tableful of _bad choquettes_. Like the
others the silkworm died during his spinning, but this time he rotted
away inside, leaving the cocoon black and mottled."

"Healthy worms make the best cocoons, of course," Pierre rejoined.

"Not at all," contradicted Henri. "Here is what is known as a calcined
cocoon made by a worm which had a peculiar disease that turned it to
powder. You would not think that such a creature could spin the best
quality of silk there is, would you? Yet it is so. Listen to the queer
rattle the cocoon has."

Holding it to Pierre's ear he shook it gently.

"These cocoons not only have excellent silk on them, but they have more
of it than if they had been spun by a healthy worm. As a result they
command the highest price and buyers are eager to find them."

"I guess I don't know anything about silkworms or cocoons either,"
announced Pierre in dismay.

Both boys laughed.

"It is amazing how much there is to know about almost anything when you
once start to learn about it from top to bottom," declared Henri. "I
came into this filature when quite young, and it has taken me years to
find out even the little I know now."

"I think you know a lot," Pierre returned admiringly. "I'd be happy if I
knew e