A Fishing Party.
I saw a fishing party to-day. There were twenty fishers in it. They were all dressed in white coats. They all sat on one stone.
“What a big stone!” you cry. You had better say, “Oh, what little fishers!” For, to tell you the truth, I covered the whole party up with one of my hands!
Was this a fairy fishing party? No; it was a barnacle fishing party. I will tell you about it.
The sun shone on the water, the sea was still, and the tide was slowly going out. It was half-low tide. A gray rock lay in the water. The water was yet about two or three inches above the top of the rock.
On this rock were about twenty stemless barnacles, clean, white, and acorn-shaped. They were of the size of small acorns. You must know that barnacles grow. They are of many sizes. Some are the size of a small glove-button. Others are of the size of a small acorn, or of the end of your little finger.
As I looked at these twenty little fishers, the plates of the shells were opened a little. Out of the top of each shell came a fine little plume, like five or six tiny feathers.
This plume waved up and down in the water. It seemed to open and shut gently, as you would open and shut your hand.
Every now and then this little plume was drawn quite back into the shell. In a minute out it came again and waved as before. What did all this mean?
It meant that the barnacles were having a fishing party. They were catching their dinner while the tide was over their shells. Mr. Crab gets his dinner at low tide, and hides at high tide. Mr. Barnacle fishes and eats at high tide. At low tide he shuts his shell house and clings to his place. He is waiting for the tide to come up and cover him once more.