jelly-like colony of cells with a fibrous skeleton," the
boy explained; "the outside of him is toward the water and is full of
small pores which branch all through his flesh and open at last into a
big pore leading to the outside. All these pores are lined with tiny
hairs that make a current of water go through the jelly-like flesh,
which absorbs any microscopic life there may be. The water is taken in
through the little pores and sent out through the big ones. Some sponge
forms are of one animal, most are of colonies. But they are all on the
same pattern, pumping water in and out again."

"Then is a growing sponge all full of jelly?" asked Paul.

"All that I have seen are," Colin replied.

"How do they get it out?"

"I c'n tell you 'bout that," interjected Pete. "A sponge is all slimy
an' nasty. Yo' put him in de sun an' he dies quick an' all de slime runs
out. Den yo' buries him in san' 'til his insides all decay. Den you puts
him in a pon' an' takes him out, an' beats him wif a stick, lots o'
times oveh, maybe, 'til all de jelly an' all de san' an' all de muck am
out ob him. Den yo' wash him in fresh wateh 'til he's clean an' lets
him dry an' he's done."

"But if sponges will reproduce themselves," the capitalist said,
returning to his former point, "what is the need of planting them?"

"You don't have to work that way on their own beds, sir," the boy
answered, "planting is done to get more out of the industry, using the
sea bottom in shallow waters which now is lying unused."

"And you say only rocky land will do?"

"Any bottom that's hard enough to keep the sponge from being covered up,
Mr. Murren. Soft sand will wash, mud will ooze up, and rank marine grass
or seaweed will smother the young cells. But any hard bottom in warm
salt water with a current is good for sponges."

"I see," was the rejoinder. "As you say, the situation is not unlike
farming. You can either farm cultivated sponge land or plant
uncultivated land."

"You can get land suitable for sponges for almost nothing, I suppose,"
Colin said, "and then if you had a small sponge ground you could plant a
larger area from it."

"What do you think of this ground?"

The boy hesitated.

"I hardly think I know enough about it to say, Mr. Murren," he said;
"you ought to get an expert."

"I'll get an expert before I pay cash," was the prompt answer, "but I
want to know what you think."

"Well, then, sir," Colin answered, "I think it's good gro