"The hookworm eggs are hatched in the sand. The young hookworm sheds its skin two or three times, growing a little larger each time it sheds. "Sometimes it will crawl upon a grass blade, or lie in the sand until a little barefooted boy or girl comes stepping along. (The worm is now so small that it cannot be seen.) The little folks step on the worm, and it pushes its way through the skin. This is when it makes the sores on the feet and between the toes. "As soon as the little hookworms get through the skin they go into the blood. They are carried to the heart and lungs by the veins. They go from the lungs into the wind-pipe, and then crawl from the wind-pipe into the gullet. It is then an easy matter for them to get into the food tube in the body. "The mouth of the hookworm has a sharp hook which it fastens into the wall of the food tube. It hangs there and sucks all the blood it wants. A hookworm will suck a drop of blood a day. In feeding themselves they are slowly bleeding the person, drop by drop. This is the reason the boys or girls who have hookworms look so pale, and feel so tired all the time. The hookworm robs them of the good rich blood, and makes children, and even grown persons, dull and lazy. The disease keeps children from growing. "It is easy to cure the disease, but it is better to prevent it. We can prevent hookworm disease by preventing the ground from being polluted. Polluted ground means that which is made unclean with waste matter from our bodies. The eggs are found in this matter which pollutes the ground. "Now, Will, always wear your shoes, and see that the soles are good and thick. Then, even though the ground is unclean, hookworms can't get to your feet. I am sure, now that you know about hookworms, you will not go barefooted through the lanes again." QUESTIONS 1. What was the matter with Will's feet when he did not want to go for the cows? 2. What caused the ground-itch blisters on his feet? 3. How did the hookworms get into Will's feet? 4. In what part of the body do the hookworms make their stopping-place? 5. How do they get from the feet into the intestines? 6. How may infected persons get rid of hookworms? 7. How may the hookworm disease be prevented? THE LITTLE FAIRIES Once there was a little girl who was very beautiful. This little girl was a princess, and her name was Hilda. Hilda had many servants in her home to do her bidding. She had two little servants to wait on her, and each of these little servants had five other little servants. These little servants were called hands and fingers. She had two little servants to carry her everywhere she wanted to go. These were called feet. She had two little servants to see for her, called eyes, two to hear for her, called ears; one to talk for her, called tongue; and servants to chew for her, called teeth.