Produced by La Monte H.P. Yarroll and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net [Illustration: IT WAS A RACE TO PICK THE LEAVES] The Story of Silk BY SARA WARE BASSETT Author of "THE STORY OF WOOL" "THE STORY OF LEATHER" "THE STORY OF IRON" "THE STORY OF GLASS" "THE STORY OF SUGAR" "THE STORY OF PORCELAIN" ILLUSTRATED BY HATTIE LONGSTREET PRICE THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY PHILADELPHIA 1925 COPYRIGHT 1918 BY THE PENN PUBLISHING COMPANY _To the Boys and Girls of Auburndale, Massachusetts, this book is affectionately inscribed_ Contents I. The Bretton Family 9 II. The Silk House 22 III. Pere Benedict 34 IV. A Supper Party 52 V. The Silkworms 63 VI. Busy Days 76 VII. The Silk Harvest 90 VIII. Pierre Makes a Friend 100 IX. Henri Makes a Suggestion 120 X. The Awakening of the Chrysalis 133 XI. Pierre Takes Another Journey 144 XII. The Home-Coming 156 XIII. Pierre Takes the Helm 172 XIV. Pierre as a Teacher 182 XV. The Great Surprise 206 Illustrations PAGE It Was a Race to Pick the Leaves Frontispiece "It Is Like a Fairy Story" 46 He Led the Way Into a Long Room 108 "Go on Tiptoe" 140 A Royal Feast 169 "I Shall Do My Best" 190 [Illustration] THE STORY OF SILK CHAPTER I THE BRETTON FAMILY Madame Antoinette Bretton went for the third time to the door of her tiny cottage and, shading her eyes, looked anxiously up the side of the ice-capped mountain that flanked the garden. There was still no one in sight, and with a shake of her head she returned to the coarse grey socks she was knitting.