Eagle River Democrat. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1893-1896, 1895-07-22
The Bow and the Butterflies.

| Felix Leigh IN New Orleans Plcayune.
The Boy and the Butterflies.
| ooh, there goes another one! See how
pretty it is, mamma. It's all yellow and
black. I'll catch it in minute"
Cali right" said his mother, looking up
for a moment from her book. Don't
mash it until see it,
| So julius picked up his butterfly net
and ran after the pretty insect, which
foated from flower to flower on beauti-
| little boy about years old, with long,
| fair curls, and bright, blue eyes, and was
dressed in becoming sailor suit of white
| linen. He made a charming picture as he
raced after the butterfly through the
grass, studded with wild flowers, and his
mother thought so. as she sat on the
bench under the tree with her book in
her hand and watched him. A small
piece of board lay on the bench near her,
land ON it were a number of butterflies
of various sorts, with pins stuck through
| them.
Presently julius came running back
with the butterfly III his net, which was
| shaped like bag and fastened TO the
end of a pole.
'See, mamma he cried; taking the
poor, futtering insect from the net, and
holding it up for her to look at. "Ain't
it pretty?"
eyes, I think it is the prettiest one
you've got" she replied, looking at his
eager face and sparkling eyes more than
at the butterfly. "Now pin it carefully to
your board"
Eyes, / will.:,' said julius. 81 like to
see it wriggle.'
| So he took a pin, thrust it through the
| body of the unlucky creature just behind
| the head. and pushed it into the board
little way. The poor butterfly writhed
in agony. twisting its body this way and
| that, and futtering it's wings in vain at
| tempts to escape from it's torment. Julius
watched it with a satisfied smile on his
| face. Though he was such pretty boy,
he had cruel disposition and really en-
| joyed the sufferings of the wretched little
insect, instead of plying them.
Il wonder how much it hurtS?" he said.
"Ain't it nice to see it twist around that
way. reckon it must hurt real bad /
! know it would hurt to have a real big
pin stuck right through me-"
He watched the contortions Of the but
terhy little longer, and then taking a
pin, he pricked his own finger on pur-
pose, just to see how it hurt.
| "Ouch!' he said, putting the finger, on
which a tiny drop of blood appeared, into
his mouth. '"That hurts like everything,
and it must hurt the butterfly a heap
worse, for the pin goes clear through his
body. Amt it nice!' and he watched the
sufferings of the little thing with still
greater satisfaction as he realized the
| torture it must be in. Oh, what cruel,
| hard-hearted boy he was!
| Presently the struggles of the butterfly
| tionless, except for a trembling Of it's
antennae, which showed its hopeless
| pain. Its about dead,' said julius, II
| must go and catch anOther!' and away
he ran, returning presently with another
| victim, to be impaled on the board for
4 l.
| an hour, julius torturing the helpless
little butterflies and enjoying their suffer
| ings, and his mother idly watching. HE
| will learn something about entomology"
| she thought to herself. But julius was
not thinking. about entomology, that is,
| the knowledge of bugs and flies; he
hardly noticed that one Of his butterflies
was different from the other. All he
thought about was to make them suffer
| and take pleasure in their pain. Pres
emily julius mother went into the house,
| telling him not to go away anywhere, and
| the butterflies, laid down on his back in
the grass under the tree. He was think
| ing about the butterflies, and how much
| they suffered, and how nice it was to
see them writhe in agony. and he said to
himself, Gone of these days I'm going to
| get a great big nail and drive it right
| through mammals little kitten, and see
| how much it will hurt | bet it will
| squall!' The thought made him smile
| sleepily and he closed his eyes, still think
| ing about the sufferings of the kitten and
| of the butterflies.
Presently he saw a great. big, butter
| fly, the largest that he had even seen,
| and the prettiest. It's wings were all
| gold and silver, and blue and red, and
| all the colors of the rainbow. There,
| I'll catch that one and stick a pin
| through himr' he exclaimed, and jumping
| up he seized his net and ran after the
| butterfly. The beautiful creature float
| ed away and settled down on flower.
ward it. Down came the net over the
flower, but the butterfly was not inside.
| 1t futtered away, and rested on another
a little way further. Julius followed, but
| just as he thought that he was within
reach of his prey the insect flew further
| away. Again and again julius tried to
| catch it, and sometimes felt sure that it
was inside his net, but it never was. It
| flew on from flower to flower, and over
one fence and another, until julius noticed
| that he was in a place where he had
| never been before, and began to feel
| alarmed lest he should not be able to
| find his way home again, but there was
the splendid butterfly only few yards
| away, Huttering over bunch Of wild
| flowers, and julius resolved to have him.
''You wait till / get your he cried,
angrily, annoyed at the trouble the little
with a pin through your Just then Ju-
Illus thought he heard queer little bit
! of laugh, and a fine, shrill voice pipe.
Eyes, just wait till you dov' He looked
around, little frightened, but there was
nothing there oXceDt a great big grass