n be
taken away and not come back any more?"

"Oh no, I hope not. You must find a quiet place, and hide until you can
take care of yourself," answered mamma.

Accordingly the young crab wandered around, and found a nice quiet place
under the shadow of a large log; here he half buried himself in the mud,
and commenced the operation of changing his clothes. He swelled himself
out until the upper shell separated from the lower, then worked his
claws slowly backward and forward, and expanded and contracted the
muscles of his body; little by little he emerged from his shell, and
finally, with one effort, he freed himself entirely from his old
clothes. He lay back, exhausted by his exertions. While the crab is soft
it is perfectly helpless, and it can be handled without fear of bites.
When it first emerges from its shell it is covered with a skin as soft
and delicate as yours, but if left undisturbed it will soon harden. If
taken out of the water and kept in damp sea-weed, the process of
hardening can be delayed for three or four days, when it dies of
starvation, as it can eat nothing while soft, and that is the way in
which it is brought to the market. But the little crab I saw was
fortunate enough not to be disturbed. He lay perfectly still, and in
about an hour, if you could have put your finger on his back, you would
have felt that it had grown stiff and rough; in between three or four
hours the shell reaches the stage known as "paper shell." It is hard and
coarse, like brown paper, and the crab begins to show signs of
liveliness, and in about seven hours there is no perceptible difference
between our recently reclothed crab and his hard brothers and sisters;
but if you should catch him you would find him to be lighter in weight,
and watery when boiled, and the fat, which in a healthy crab is of a
bright yellow color, like the yolk of an egg, is a greenish-brown. But
no one had a chance to see the color of the fat in the crab which I was
watching, for just as he started to move, a great toad-fish came along
and swallowed him at one mouthful.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

HALF AFRAID.

THE INVENTION OF STEEL PENS.

According to the following extract from a manuscript document in the
library of Aix-la-Chapelle, entitled "Historical Chronicle of
Aix-la-Chapelle, Second Book, year 1748," edited by the writer to the
Mayoralty, "Johann Janssen," it would appear that the invention of steel
pens is of o