EVE AND PETRO 



ovens called kilns, which are heated with fire. Eve and 

 Petro let their brick bake, too, and the fire they used 

 was the same one the Egyptians used in the days of 

 Pharaoh — a fire that had never in all that time gone 

 out, but had glowed steadily century after century, bak- 

 ing many bricks for folk and birds. Of course you know 

 what fire that is, for you see it yourself every day that 

 the sun shines. 



Every now and again Eve and Petro and all the rest of 

 the swallow colony left off their brick-building and went 

 on a hunting trip. They hunted high in the air and they 

 hunted low over the meadow. They hunted afar off 

 along the stream and they hunted near by in the barn- 

 yard. And all the game they caught they captured on 

 the wing, and they ate it fresh at a gulp wdthout pausing 

 in their flight. As they sailed and swirled, they were good 

 to watch, for a swallow^s strong long wings bear him right 

 gracefully. 



Why did they stop for the hunting flight? Perhaps 

 they were hungry. Perhaps their mouths were tired of 

 being hods for clay they could not eat. Perhaps the 

 fresh plaster on the walls of their homes needed time to 

 dry a bit before more was added. 



Be that as it may, they made the minutes count even 

 while they rested from their building work. For they 

 used this time getting their meals; and whenever they 



73 



