em on top of your hay-wagon here when you
went past our house."

"How are you, Will?" shouted Gil, standing up on the hay.

Then, though the people could see nothing of Gil but his head, they knew
at once that Dionysius Bacon had lost his wager. When Farmer Jonathan
and some others had lifted Gil and Dora down to the sidewalk, they told
how they came to be on the hay. Afterward, Farmer Jonathan, Dionysius,
Dora, Gil, and Will headed a procession to Smith's oyster saloon of
those who had heard Dionysius make the wager.

It took forty-two oyster stews to supply all, and if it hadn't been a
market-day, and just about dinner-time, Smith wouldn't have known how to
have served them quickly. Forty-two stews, at a quarter each, you see,
would amount to $10.50, and though Smith only charged Dionysius an even
ten-dollar bill, the latter seemed to think that he wouldn't make any
more wagers that day.

The hay having been unloaded in the mean time, Farmer Jonathan drove
around by Will's home, stopping long enough to tell Aunt Mary about the
ventriloquist, and then continued on to the farm with Gil and Dora.

But the children hadn't been missed, because mamma thought that they
were over at the next farm-house, and she was looking for their return
every moment.

BEETLES.

The great family of beetles is one of the most important in the insect
world. In burning sandy plains, in tropical jungles, in fresh green
fields, in bogs and swamps--wherever there is a bit of earth or
water--there are beetles of one kind or another, following out the
instincts assigned to them by nature.

The beetle known as the sacred scarabaeus was held in great veneration by
the ancient Egyptians, and is carved in great profusion on their tombs.
Small gold and porcelain figures of the scarabaeus, which were strung on
necklaces, and used in other ways for personal ornaments, have also been
found in Egyptian sarcophagi.

The way the sacred scarabaeus deposits its eggs is a wonderful exhibition
of animal instinct. First collecting an ample supply of the material
which the young larvae will need for food, she places her eggs in the
middle of it. She then rolls it into a lump, and starts with it on a
voyage of discovery. She works backward, pushing the ball containing her
eggs behind her, until she finds soil in which she can burrow and
conceal her precious burden. It is said to be for this peculiarity that
the scarabaeus was venerated by the anci