Among the Pond People
BY
Clara Dillingham Pierson
Author of "Among the Meadow People," "Forest People," etc.
Illustrated by F. C. GORDON
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY
31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET
Copyright, 1901
BY
E. P. DUTTON & CO.
The Knickerbocker Press, New York
TO
JOHN W. S. PIERSON
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED
Dear Little Friends:—When theten Polliwogs came to spend a day withme, some two years ago, I promised totell you stories of how they and theirneighbors live in the pond. I wanted totell the stories at once, but this is a busyworld and story-telling is only play, sothere were many things to be done beforeI could sit down to my desk and hold mypen while the stories slid out of it ontopaper. I wonder where all my ten Polliwogsare now!
One cannot come to know pond peoplequite so well as those who live in the forestor in the meadow, yet down in the shiningwater they live and build their homesand learn much that they need to know.And wherever people are living, andworking, and playing, there are stories[Pg vi]to be found. The pond people cannotbe well or happy long away from thewater, and you can only come to knowthem by watching the ponds and brooks.If you do that and are very quiet, theMinnows will swim to where you are, theMud Turtles will waddle out on the logsin the sunshine, and you may even see aCrayfish walking backward along the sand.
But if you should see a very large, blackbug with fore legs which open and shut likejack-knives—then keep away from him,for that is Belostoma. Some time youmay see him under the electric lights inthe city, for he likes to sprawl aroundthere, and you can look at him on land,but let him alone.
Remember that the Dragon-Flies andmany of their friends who seem to donothing but play in the sunshine, havelived long in the dusky pond, and thatthis life in the air comes only after a longtime of getting ready. Remember that[Pg vii]if you pick up a Turtle or catch Minnowsin a net, you must not leave theTurtle on his back or keep any water-breathingpeople, like the Minnows, inthe air. Watch them for a little whileand then let them go free.
And then remember, be sure to remember,this: that you are not to getacquainted with the pond people by tumblinginto the water or by going into itwith your shoes and stockings on. Ifyou do that, your mothers will say,"We wish that Mrs. Pierson had neverwritten about the pond people." Andif they s