One day a whiff of celery coming from a garden near by, reminded Miss
Swallow-tail of the time when she was a baby and liked to eat celery.
So she flew over into the garden, and fastened her eggs to a celery bush
with some glue that she carried with her. Then she left them, and never
thought of them again.
In about ten days the babies that had been growing inside of the eggs,
broke open the shells and crawled out. And what do you think they were?
Butterflies? like their mamma, only very much smaller?
No, indeed! for you know butterflies never grow any larger. They were
the smallest green and black worms you ever saw!
As soon as they were out of the shells, they began eating the celery,
and grew so fast that in a week they were quite large worms.
They were covered with green rings and black rings dotted with yellow.
They each had sixteen short legs, and they had a flesh-colored, Y-shaped
horn hidden away under a ring above the head, that they would show when
they were disturbed.
One morning the gardener discovered that something was eating his
celery. Searching among the leaves he found all but one of the little
worms, and put them where they could do no more mischief.
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