be
used as hands when he is spinning. Then come the other ten legs, or
holders, which have tiny hooks on them and are the climbing legs."

"But I thought the silkworm scarcely moved," objected Marie.

"Oh, it can move when it wants to. When it gets ready to spin its cocoon
it climbs until it finds a place that suits it. In addition to all
these legs it has wonderfully strong jaws. I suppose the good Lord
bestowed these upon the silkworm because most of its work in life is
done with its jaws--both its eating and spinning. In proportion to its
size the silkworm has stronger jaws than any other of the small
creatures. Underneath these jaws are two very tiny apertures set close
together through which the caterpillar draws and unites into one the two
strands of silk. This is sometimes called the spinaret. The silk
substance, which is really a yellow gum, passes through the two long
glands that run along each side of the silkworm and are fashioned into a
single thread in the spinaret."

"And you say the silkworm goes through the process of changing its skin
four times, Josef?"

"Yes, four times. You can always tell when it is going to moult, because
it raises its head and remains still in that position as if asleep. When
it has grown to the full size of its fourth skin it is ready to spin its
cocoon. This is all very simple when you understand it; and yet strange
and wonderful, too. You'll follow the process more easily when your own
silkworms begin to grow and you can watch them go through all these
different stages."

"I do hope our silkworms will hatch and develop safely," remarked Pierre
anxiously.

"You needn't fear, I guess," was the comforting reply. "I have helped
your father hatch out thousands of eggs, and we seldom have had a bit of
trouble. I shouldn't worry. By to-morrow or the next day I plan we shall
have as fine a crop of silkworms as one could wish to see."

"I hope so--for our sakes and for Father's," said Marie softly.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER VI

BUSY DAYS

The Brettons' silkworms hatched as successfully as Josef had foretold
they would, and soon Madame Bretton and her boy and girl had all they
wished to do. Not that the work was taxing at first. For a while it was
a simple matter to gather the fresh young mulberry leaves and keep the
juvenile caterpillars amply supplied with food. Even the litter of stems
and waste material that had to be cleared away with promptness did not
cause