| Show THE CONVENIENT STOMACH By Thornton W Burgess Burges The Starfish has without a doubt The most convenient stomach out Reddy Reddy Fo Fox It If he has any stomach trouble there is no reason In the world why the starfish shouldn't nt get rid of ef the trouble right away There Thero Is no excuse tor for not knowing what the trouble is He lie doesn't d need a stomach pump All he has to do Is Isto Isto Isto to turn his stomach wrong wron side out As a matter of ot fact tact that Is the way he cats eats his food tood Ho He doesn't have havo to take the trouble of biting it chewing it and swallow swallow- swallowing ing log it He Ito just turns his stomach Inside out around the food and that thatIs thatIs thatIs Is all there Is to it St Reddy Roddy Fox and Jimmy Skunk saw this done though they thoy didn't quite understand what was hap hap- happening happening happening pening They did know that some somo somehow somehow how or other that starfish was opening an oyster How he did It they didn't understand but they saw him do It it St What he really did to pull that oyster open Then when that oyster was opened suf stif sufficiently Mr Starfish simply turn turn- turn turned turned ed cd his stomach wrong side out over that oyster Inside the shell and that hat was the end of ot tho oyster All AIl that Reddy and Jimmy could see was that that starfish starrish seem seemed ell to be very bus busy bust about something They were so interested that hat they forgot all about everything else They saw that shell forced forcer open and then for some time they couldn't see that anything was happening But by and by that starfish let let go eo of o the shell and ifA ll Do Do you suppose asked aked Reddy that that shell wa was waa empty all the time began to crawl away They could see down that Into Into that partly op ne she shell II Reddy looked at Jimmy and Jim Jimmy my looked at Reddy neddy and th they y both looked down at that opened half halt shell sheIl There was nothing in It No sir there thare was nothing in It It was as empty as a shell could be Again Reddy Roddy looked at Jim Jim- Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy my and Jimmy looked at ReIdy Reddy Do you suppose said Reddy that that shell was Vas empty all the time and that that was the rea rca reason son it opened so easily casily Jimmy Skunk shook his head I No said sahl ho he in a most decided ay way viny I 1 have seen a lot of ot ostern and a lot of oyster oster shells Empty shells are arc never closed tight light that way There Thero certainly was v an oyster oyster ter in that shell sheIl It looks to me very much as it if that oyster had been eaten right under tinder our very noses Look there thero comes another I one of ot those things Lets Let's watch him Sure Suro enough another big star star- starfish starfish fish came creeping Into view Jim Jim- Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy my and Reddy watched This one olle passed right over the empty oyster ter shell without paying pa-ing any atten attention tion to It It But when it reached the next oyster it stopped Reddy and Jimmy saw it fold told its lIs arms about this oyster Then Thea as are a re reward ward for lor patient watching they saw precisely the same thing hap lisp happen pen that with the first oyster and the starfish Slowly very slowly the shell shelI opened When It had become open wide enough the starfish was very busy for a while although It seemed to tobe tobe tobe be just resting there By and by It moved away and It left an empty shell shelI Then Reddy and Jimmy knew beyond a doubt that some some- somehow somehow somehow how those starfish o opened ened the oysters and ate ato them As a ipat- ipat mat matter ter tee of ot tact fact the starfish are the worst enemies ot of o the oysters They also toed feed on other olber kinds of shell shellfish fish but they arc are aro particularly fond of oysters The starfish Reddy and Timmy Jimmy had watched was tie the common starfish but there are arc many many kinds Some of ot them are and others are quite small Email The The com corn cornmon common mon starfish ha has five aims ms arms sometimes It may have six or sev soy seven en But there are starfish with a great many arms Copyright 1926 by T W Bur Burgess gess The next story A Starfish Loses an Arm |
