or him, though the young fishes who have soft outsides
dreaded their sharp edges very much. There is sometimes some advantage
in having one's skeleton on the surface, like a coat of mail.

And so the crab was rather pleased at the prospect of the tomato can. He
thought the cans grew in the bay, and so he expected presently to be
"biled" in his own home waters. The word "biled" probably meant _dropped
in_. Ignorance is sometimes bliss, indeed.

Poor little Quackalina, however, was getting less comfort out of her
ignorance. She thought "decoy" had a foreign sound, as if it might mean
a French stew. She had had relations who had departed life by way of a
_puree_, while others had gone into a _saute_ or _pate_. Perhaps a
"decoy" was a _pate_ with gravy or a _puree_ with a crust on it. If
worse came to the worst, she would prefer the _puree_ with a crust. It
would be more like decent burial.

Of course she thought these things in duck language, which is not put in
here, because it is not generally understood. It is quite a different
thing from Pidgin-English, and it isn't all "quack" any more than French
is all "au revoir," or Turkey all "gobble, gobble," or goose only a
string of "S's," or darkey all "howdy."

The crab's thoughts were expressed in his eyes, that began coming out
like little telescopes until they stood quite over his cheeks. Maybe
some people think crabs have no cheeks, but that isn't so. They have
them, but they keep them inside, where they blush unseen, if they blush
at all.

But this is the story of the black duck. However, perhaps some one who
reads it will be pleased to know that the crab got away. He sidled
up--sidled is a regular word in crab language--until his left eye could
see straight into the boy's face, and then he waited. He had long ago
found that there was nothing to be gained by pinching the duck. It only
made a row in the basket and got him upset. But, by keeping very still
and watching his chance, he managed to climb so near the top that when
the basket gave a lurch he simply vaulted overboard and dropped in the
field. Then he hid between three mushrooms and a stick until the boy's
footsteps were out of hearing and he had time to draw in his eyes and
start for the bay. He had lost his left claw some time before, and the
new one he was growing was not yet very strong. Still, let us hope that
he reached there in safety.

The duck knew when he had been trying to get out, but she didn't