tory into simpler form and speech for the youngest member of
our household, four-year-old Dorothy. Our young people are
enthusiastic in their admiration, and vote to print the book. So
do the others, with the exception of Dan, who is noncommittal.
But the old fellow enjoyed the reading as much as the rest. He
thinks the story a true one, and declares that he has seen the
Brownies! You know his boundless superstition, and his odd habits
of personifying all living things and talking aloud to them as
he goes about his work. I have no doubt that he has peopled his
little world with many queer imaginary creatures who may well
stand to his undisciplined fancy for Fairies and Goblins,
Brownies and Pixies. He has unwavering faith, also, in the occult
influence of such beings and of insects generally upon the
destinies of human kind.

By the way, this unexpected deliverance of Dan's has eased my
mind as to one feature of the story, viz: the manner in which the
life and behavior of the Willes are interwoven with, and
interdependent upon, the movements of the Brownies and Pixies.
Since I have thought more about it, I have greatly abated the
fear that the verisimilitude of such relations might not
sufficiently appear to readers.

In point of fact, the creatures of the Insect World, as
personified in the story, have had and shall have much to do with
determining the lot of man. The plagues of Egypt as written in
the Book of Exodus, furnish an example; as also the incursions of
cankerworm, locust, caterpillar and palmerworm recorded elsewhere
in Scripture. African travelers tell us that the tetze fly has so
circumscribed the geographical bounds within which certain
domestic animals can live, as to greatly limit or modify
civilization. We all know examples of the effects of mosquito
supremacy at certain points of our country in determining the
fortunes of men or places. The familiar stories of Bruce and the
Spider, and Mahomet and the Spider, are also in point as showing
how great interests may hinge upon the behavior of an humble
animal. Here are facts enough, surely, to justify us in facing
the public with Governor Wille and his relations to the imaginary
folk of the story.

In conclusion, I must say that I have been greatly interested to
note how admirably the habits of my spider friends admit of
personification