“I wonder what makes that hard spot?”
“Oh, see, Joseph! Its body has two sides. The side lying in the deeper piece of shell is larger. Down the middle is a division and the edges come together something like the cover of a book. Over all is a white covering with such pretty frilled edges. See, I can roll it back quite a little way.”
“That is so. How pretty it is. It has no head. Does it eat? I wonder if it has a mouth.”
Willis searched carefully for an opening. At last he found one near the hinge.
“What is this?” asked Willis, handing his playmate a little doubled-up thing about as large as a pea.
After examining it carefully for a moment Joseph exclaimed: “You must have found its mouth. This is surely a baby crab which has been swallowed. See its little legs drawn up to its body.”
Both agreed that they had found a crab. They again turned their attention to the oyster’s mouth.
“What a large mouth for such a little animal! See how far I can put the point of my knife into it. It must have some bowels. I wonder if its bowels are here at the larger end. It looks puffy and dark inside. The thing is so slippery that I can scarcely handle it.”
“Can it see, Willis?”
“I can find no eyes.”