“Oh,” said Frank suddenly, “I see queer things like grubs, coloured almost exactly like the bark. Some of them are lighter in colour.”
“Look carefully at those lighter ones, and you will find that they are just empty cases.”
“So they are,” said Frank, as he touched one with his finger and saw it crush up.
“Notice how they are fixed to the bark!” said Uncle George.
The boys watched as their uncle placed his pencil under one of the darker coloured objects, and saw that it was slung up to the tree by a loose silken girdle round its middle, while a tuft of fine threads fastened the lower end to the bark.
Suddenly, as if it were annoyed at being touched by the pencil, the lower half of the object moved from side to side with rapid jerks.
“Why, it is alive,” said Tom.
“Yes, of course it is,” said his uncle. “This is another lucky find.”
“What are they?” Frank asked.
“Can’t you guess, Frank? Don’t you remember my telling you that all the insects were asleep in their cases during winter.