love the
sunlight. These kinds are remarkable for the great length and
slenderness of the legs, which they part with readily when handled! Most
of these long-legged species are brightly coloured with black and yellow
stripes or spots. In their native haunts these creatures may be seen
darting about after their prey in the sun, heedless of the notice they
attract by reason of their pretty colours. Few birds or beasts would
think of eating them, for these creatures have a providential instinct
which tells them that the gaudily-coloured animals are generally very
nasty to the taste!

W. P. PYCRAFT, F.Z.S., A.L.S.

[Illustration]

THE MAN WITH THE GLASSES.

So common is short-sightedness nowadays that military officers, and
sometimes private soldiers, are allowed to wear spectacles. Formerly
this was not the case. Where, by special permission of the authorities,
exceptions had been made, the unfortunate wearers of glasses in the army
came in for the ridicule of their comrades.

At the time when the French were fighting the Algerian chief,
Abd-el-Kader, there was in a battalion of foot-chasseurs a spectacled
adjutant named Duterbre. His companions made great fun of him. A man
who wore glasses could not, in their opinion, be much of a hero. One day
Duterbre, engaged in a reconnoitring expedition, was slightly wounded,
and taken prisoner by the enemy. He was brought before the Arab chief.
The remainder of the French force had, in the meantime, taken refuge in
a walled enclosure close by.

'Go to your companions,' said Abd-el-Kader to Duterbre, 'and tell them
that their lives shall be spared if they will surrender. Yours, in that
case, shall be spared also. But if they refuse to surrender, I will
utterly exterminate them, and I will have you beheaded. And understand
this clearly: I send you to your people on one condition--that whether
or not they accept my terms, you are in any case to return to me. Do you
accept my conditions?'

'I do,' replied Duterbre.

Duterbre left the Arab camp, well aware that his only chance of life lay
in the surrender of his battalion. If the French soldiers resolved to
fight on, he was bound in honour to go back to death.

Duterbre returned to his companions. He had always been a man of few
words, and he said very little on this occasion. But what he said was to
the point. It was this: 'Chasseurs! If you do not surrender, the Arabs
are going to cut off my head. Now die rather tha