e
other books, too, that come after this in our _Story-Told Science
Series_ will be every word true.

And we who wrote this book? Well, we, too, have been children. We used
to climb trees and turn somersaults; why--But that is another story! And
we remember so well what it used to be like to have to learn dull things
we did not wish to know. So we said to ourselves, as we looked over our
spectacles at each other, "No, they sha'n't be told a single
uninteresting fact; they sha'n't be dull, poor dears, as we were so long
ago, before we put on spectacles and began to call ourselves wise."

And so, although we sat down and wrote a book just about long enough for
a school-year's work; although we felt very proud because our stories
had more wonderful six-legged creatures than any book written for
children; although we took pains to have in the book only such little
creatures as any one of us could see any day; although we hoped that
mothers and teachers would say, "At last, this is a book the children
and I can like and find useful!" or, "There, that will help as a
starting-point to tell about the bees and the flowers!" or, "This story
about the flies will teach the children what it means to be clean!"
Although, I say, we hoped all these things, yet our chief hope was that
we might give all sorts of children a good time.

So we put our spectacles on and looked very wise, and took a quantity of
ink on our pens and began to write. And we wrote and wrote and wrote.
And part of the time, while one of us was writing and hoping the stories
would be so interesting the children would want to write about them,
too, the other was drawing and labelling each sketch so plainly that any
child could understand it, even if the ears were quite where they could
not be expected to be, or there were more eyes than, seemingly, one
creature ought to have, or wings and legs served to make music, as no
sensible child could possibly guess.

And now we can't do better than wish you a good time before we say
good-bye. We wish you to enjoy all the frolics, to feel how jolly it is
to be out-of-doors in the woods and fields and lakes, climbing,
canoeing, picnicing, and swimming.

But still more, we hope that you will realize that more wonderful than
the most wonderful fairy story ever told is the marvel of the created
life of these little insects; we want you to come to know something of
their joys and troubles; we want you to learn how to be kind t