arry them all the way out, mother?"

"Yes," answered Jimmie; "they got a Pullman car for them, and Mr. and
Mrs. Ladybug and family travelled in style."

"Mother, tell Jim to be still." Betty, not unlike other little sisters,
hated to be teased by her brother.

"And now, let me see," said Mrs. Reece. "I don't know that I can tell
you any more until I know more myself. Yes, I do know what baby beetles
are called. They are called grubs, and they live in the ground until it
is time for them to turn into grown-up beetles. While they are babies
they eat as much and as fast as they can, as no baby but a beetle
should. The more they eat the sooner they come out into the bright world
as a June-bug or some other kind of beetle. They eat all the tender
little roots they can find. This is very nice--"

"For Mary Ann, but rather hard on Abraham."

"You horrid boy," said Betty, "you don't even let me hear a story in
peace! It's very nice what, mother?"

"It's very nice for the little grubs, but it's rather hard on the
plants, for if too many roots are nibbled away the plants die. The
caterpillars are great eaters, too."

Betty leaned over and whispered something to her mother; then they both
giggled.

"I know what you're saying," said Jimmie, but after that he was quieter.

"Sometimes a caterpillar will thrive on just one kind of a plant; it may
be carrot, it may be milkweed. On that it feeds until it has grown as
large as possible. Then it spins itself a nice silken cocoon, or rolls
itself up in a soft leaf and takes a long, long nap. And now it is time
for us to take a nap, too, for we shall soon reach Bemis, and then there
will be still two long lakes to cross and a carry to walk."

II

RANGELEY VILLAGE

The next morning great was the stir in the town, for it was known by the
village children that Betty and Jimmie had come, and by the grown-ups
that Mrs. Reece was there. All winter long the children had looked
forward to their coming, for it meant jolly times: picnics, parties,
expeditions, and games. Then, too, Ben Gile would begin to tell them
wonderful things. Through the winter he had been teaching school, and it
was only when the ice broke up in the big lake and the beavers decided
to stop sleeping that Ben Gile came back to his guiding.

There was great excitement about Turtle Lodge. Lizzie kept flying out
with rugs, and then forgetting they hadn't been brushed and flying in
again. The cat was playing