the insects' egg-boats," said the Scoutmaster.
"Speaking of the latter, I saw a
curious one yesterday upon a stagnant
pool over on the other side of the lake;
perhaps the visitors would be interested in@
it."

The visitors were interested in the bare
mention. Warming equally to comfort and
excitement again, they clamored--Pem-rose
and Una--for a sight of that raft
of gnats' eggs, so cunningly formed and
glued together, minute egg to egg, hundreds
of them, that it was a regular lifeboat--no
storm could sink it, and pressure only
temporarily.

Yet, after all, Pemrose only half heard
the Scoutmaster's explanation of how the
insect chose a floating stick or straw as a
nucleus, placed her forelegs on it and laid
the egg upon her hind ones, holding it there
until she had brought forth another to join
it, gluing the two together by their sticky
coating,--and so on till the broad and
buoyant boat was constructed!

[[202]]

p201 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p202w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p203

v?