We throws 'em into crawls built in shallow water, an' lets 'em rot till all the animal matter is dead, an' we stirs 'em up an beats 'em with sticks to get it out.

Then they has to be washed an' dried an' trimmed, an' handled consider'ble, afore they's ready for market.

Then they's sold at auction." The sponge crawls of which the old man spoke are square pens make of stakes driven into the sand side by side, and as close as possible together.

In some of them at Key West Mark and Ruth saw little negro boys diving to bring up stray sponges that the rakes had missed.

They did not seem to enjoy this half as much as Mark and his boy friends used to enjoy diving in the river at Norton, and they shivered as though they were cold, in spite of the heat of the day.
When the children told Mr.Elmer about these little, unhappy-looking divers that night, he said, "That shows how what some persons regard as play, may become hard and unpleasant work to those who are compelled to do it." Several days after this Mr.Elmer engaged a carriage, and took his wife and the children on a long drive over the island.