that you ever were tired."

"I hope so," murmured Pierre wearily. "I get discouraged standing and
hearing them gnaw those leaves. I know they are just making more work
for us."

"You'd have far more cause to be disheartened if you didn't hear them,"
chuckled Josef. "That would be something to mourn over. But you
shouldn't complain at their good healthy appetites."

Cheered by Josef's jests the work went on.

The endless monotony of feeding and clearing up, feeding and clearing up
continued. Sometimes it seemed as if nothing was being accomplished. And
yet when the young silk-growers compared the present size of their
silkworms with that of the early hatched caterpillars the transformation
seemed nothing short of a miracle.

Then came a day when Pierre detected a change in the aspect of his crop.
Gradually the worms had turned to a transparent green color and ceasing
to eat were moving uneasily about. They seemed also to have shrunk to a
smaller size.

In consternation the lad fled to Josef.

"Whatever is the matter with them?" he cried. "Are they ill? Has some
epidemic come at this late day to sweep away all that we have done?"

The boy's face was pale with distress.

"They're all right," answered Josef reassuringly. "They are just ready
to spin, that's all. I did not expect it quite so soon. We must get the
arches up without delay."

Both Pierre and Marie clapped their hands. They knew well what was to
happen next for they had often seen their father arrange the little
arches of brush on which the silkworms were to climb and spin their
cocoons. The placing of these rustic half-hoops was a delicate matter,
since it was necessary to arrange them so that plenty of air might
circulate through the space they enclosed; otherwise the worms would
refuse to spin. Twigs or slender pieces of brush were set along the
shelves in such a way that when bent the shelf above held them in place
and made of them a series of miniature bridges, or arches. For certain
varieties of caterpillars Pierre gathered branches of oak shoots with
dried leaves clinging to them because Josef explained that this type of
silkworm preferred that sort of twig on which to fashion its cocoon;
other brush was stripped of leaves. And throughout the following days
the greatest care had to be taken that nothing should interrupt the
spinning.

The things most to be dreaded were sudden noises; thunder-storms; and
above all a drop in temperature, since