JOE MARTIN had been out hunting insects for his biology collection all morning and he was dead tired. Dropping his net and bottle to the ground, he flopped down beside it and rolled over on his back. He thought over the assortment of beetles, butterflies, and spiders, and mentally figured out the way they would lie on the specimen table.
Very idly he plucked pieces of grass and bit their ends off, then reached out for another. He did not notice the little clump of white flowers that grew nearby, and automatically reached his hand into their midst and pulled one up. Joe bit the end off and chewed on the stem.
His eyes popped open with surprise, for a remarkable change was coming over him — he was growing smaller, clothes and all! Struck dumb with astonishment, he couldn’t utter a word, but merely watched the fields about him growing into forests of fern and grass. He scrambled to his feet and clutched at a log. But it wasn’t a log, it was the handle of his butterfly net!
It got bigger and bigger until he could no longer hold on, and he slid to the ground. Looking around in fright, he almost passed out. He was standing beside his collection bottle, but no longer was it filled with harmless insects. Instead, it contained a hoard of primitive jungle beasts. Their bony, plated eyes glared out at him, while huge jaws opened in anger. He let out a groan. What could have caused this? Then he remembered, that flower, that was it!
Not daring to remain in the grass where the horrible beasts lurked, he lit out for a spot that he knew was open dirt. That spot was by the stone he had often used for home plate when they played baseball.
Ordinarily it was a few steps from where he lay down, but now he traveled for what seemed hours without seeing it. A horrible dragonfly swooped down and eyed him hungrily. Its many eyes flashed, and its tail twitched. The thing crouched to spring, but Joe ducked under a rock. A moment later he would have been a meal!
HE was shaken with fright, for all around him were enormous, evil-looking monsters intent upon eating him. Slowly he crawled from his hiding place — right into the face of a black beetle. The huge pincers ground with a sickening crunch, and advanced on him! Never did he run so fast before. He darted through the grass, tripping over tangled vines and tearing his clothes on their thorny projections. It gradually dawned on him that he was lost.
Fortunately, being a scout, he knew that only way out lay in climbing a tree to determine his position, so he chose the tallest stem he could see. Up he went.
It was goldenrod weed, but it suited his purpose. There it was! The open patch he was looking for. He slid down slowly, hanging on tightly to the “trunk.” There was a grunt beside him, and he turned to stare into a pair of hideous, glaring eyes! A tentacle was thrown around him, and try as he might, he was dragged slowly into the jaws of a devil-bug.
Somehow, he freed an arm and snatched out his pocket knife. His biology training stood him in good stead. He remembered that the antennae of the insects were their weak spots, and without them they were helpless. The toothless mouth opened to devour him when the blade whipped out.
Two strokes and the antennae were off! The tentacle unwound and he jumped back, but his foot slipped, and he plunged toward the earth. He came up with a jerk, dangling in midair. In his fall he was hooked by his belt to one of the thorns; another inch and he would have been impaled upon that giant pin!
But he couldn’t remain like this, suspended in space, for any moment one of the denizens of the forest might decide to make a meal of him. He wiggled and squirmed, but try as he might, he couldn’t break loose. There was the rush of powerful wings, and his fears were fulfilled. A praying mantis has spotted him!
The green insect was the terror of the fields, with jaws that could rip and tear ruthlessly. Once those front legs grabbed a victim with their bony hooks, it was death, and now the demon moved toward him!
JOE fought against the thorn holding him until he was exhausted. His only chance in escaping the approaching mantis now was to attempt the drop to the ground. He took a deep breath, then cut his belt. The mantis, sensing his prey was getting away, leaped forward. Joe heard the claws clash together a hair’s breadth above him, and the jaws of the killer closed on the remnants of his belt. The ground “came up,” knocking the wind out of him.
Joe had no time to think; the mantis was behind him. He scrambled into the thick tangle of weeds, casting occasional glances over his shoulder. The green thing was still behind him! What to do?
There was a tunnel slanting down into the ground a little way off and he made for that, and dove in, head first. There was no time to see if it was occupied or not, with the mantis at his heels. The green creature’s intelligence was not enough to locate him, and in a few moments it stalked off. Joe dashed out of the hole and headed in the general direction of the “home plate.”
Every inhabitant of the grass watched him with glassy eyes and waving antennae. Some crawled after him, but with a little clever maneuvering they were outwitted, and Joe went sagely on. The terror was all around, from little wiggly things to giants in armor, with teeth and claws like dragons. Several times Joe almost ran into a clearing where two beetles were fighting to the death. At one place a tribe of ants battled over a huge bread crumb, but were too occupied to notice him.
The heat of the day was terrific. It seemed to bring out every species of life in this seemingly unreal insect world, and Joe stumbled about evading them. Once again, he climbed the stem of a weed, and saw that he was nearing his objective. When he climbed down he was extra careful to avoid the thorny branches, but his luck wasn’t with him. The branch pulled out and he went down!
The net that broke his fall was strong and elastic. He bounced up and down gently in its meshes until the swaying stopped, and he then tried to get down. But, he was caught! He couldn’t move at all. He lay in exactly the same position in which he had fallen.
The strands of the net were a silver-grey covered with an invisible sticky substance. Realization came swiftly. He dropped into a spiders’s web. Any moment the hideous death dealer would appear, and he was helpless.
Joe kicked furiously, the web bunched, but it was very elastic, stretching under his struggles, but not giving way.
Under Joe’s weight the web twisted into a dark funnel, out of which came the spider, an enormous, hairy-legged brute, covered with yellow and black spots. The slitted mouth dripped saliva while the bright specks that were eyes darted fire. It moved toward the boy, anticipating the meal that he would make. Joe’s eyes bulged. He tried to scream, but nothing came out. Slowly the spider advanced until he was over the figure of his victim. Two mittled legs encircled his body, and lifted him free of the web! The spider started back for the funnel!
Only one defense! Joe reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of matches, lit them, and tossed them into the net. In an instant the whole thing was a mass of flame! The hair on spider curled, and he dropped Joe, to scramble to safety! The fern below cushioned Joe’s fall, and he picked himself up, slightly singed, but unharmed. He knew that he wasn’t far from the clearing, and by gauging his course by the top of a tree in the distance, he would come to it in a few hours.
By now he was getting used to the bugs, and they no longer bothered him, but when he was suddenly confronted by a huge toad he jumped with fear. The toad took him for an insect, and its tongue shot out. This was something new!
Joe dodged the lightning thrust in time and ducked behind a log. The snake-like tongue followed him. When he managed to get out of reach of the tongue, the toad hopped forward and started searching again. Joe was tiring fast. He had been through so much that he was ready to drop.
At that moment a column of tiny insects marched by. The toad’s attention was taken by them, and the tongue darted out scooping them into its mouth by the dozens! Joe lost no time getting away.
JOE thought he’d never make it, but at last he caught sight of the clearing and rock. Good old home plate! He crawled through the dust to the stone and climbed up. Immediately he jumped to his feet. Why, he couldn’t stay here — the gang would play ball there that day he would be crushed under foot! He started back to the fields and the danger from which he had just escaped!
IT WAS then that a queer event took place: the sky darkened, and Joe looked up. A meteor was hurtling to earth! But it was unlike anything he had ever seen. Round and white, with strange, stitch-like markings, Joe opened his mouth — it was, yes, IT IS — a baseball!
Pete was yelling: “Hey, Joe, get up, the game’s started! If that ball hadn’t conked you, you’d have slept forever!”
***