This floating animal iz a fly about twenty times az big az a hornet,
with a pair ov wings on him az mutch out ov proporshun tew hiz boddy az
a pair ov oars are to a shell boat.
They hang around mill ponds in hot weather, and when i waz a boy if one
ov them cum and sot on the further end ov the log whare i waz a setting
i alwus aroze and gave him the whole of the log.
They hav a boddy like a piece ov wire, sharp at the end, and look az tho
they mite sting a phello cheerfully, but i beleave there iz no more
sting in them than thare iz in kold water.
All children are afrade ov them, and i kno ov one man now who had rather
enkounter a wild kat (provided the kat waz up in the top ov a tree and
likely to stay thare) than tew intersect a devil's darning needle.
They derive their name from the shape ov their boddys and their devilish
appearance generally. (See Webster's unabridged on this subjekt.)
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