“It is still working away. It is a remarkable toiler. Now it has succeeded in bending back the point of the leaf and has fastened it down with bits of thread.”
“It has curled the leaf until it looks like a little tube with a very round hole at each end,” said Tiny, much interested.
“Caterpillars make houses of leaves,” explained the opossum.
“How very odd!” exclaimed the squirrel.
“That depends upon the point of view,” repeated the opossum. “Insects breathe through holes along their sides. You have lungs. Through these lungs you breathe. Both of these methods of breathing might seem very odd to the fish, who breathes through his gills.”
“How can the caterpillar turn around in such a small house?” asked Tiny.
“It doesn’t wish to turn around,” said the opossum. “The caterpillar does not wiggle so much as the squirrel. It knows that big houses are seldom half as cozy as smaller ones. As soon as it gets settled down to housekeeping, it begins to eat its little green house.”
“How funny!” chuckled Tiny.
“Before very long it eats itself out of house and home,” said the opossum.
“What would you do if a hunter were to steal up and club you?” asked Tiny, more interested in the quadruped than in the worm.