CAVE-D WELLING INSECTS. 147 



trust our boys to come out of the conflict without any 

 serious hurt. They are experienced hands at bee- 

 nesting, I warrant. And now, if you 'II consent to 

 spend the day with us, we '11 defer our cave-hunting 

 untd evening. What say you ?" 



The Doctor, who was quite prepared to humor my 

 fancies and encourage me in these agreeable Held pur- 

 snits, readily consented. Therefore, dismissing Harry, 

 we turned our steps homeward. 



As we walked over the moist, soft ground that skirts 

 the edge of the Kun, my friend noticed a ridge of loose, 

 fresh earth heaved up along the low bank. " I see that 

 a mole ),as been at work here," he remarked. 



"Let us look a little more closely," I said. "The 

 burrow which this ridge covers is certainly much like a 

 mole's, but smaller than that animal makes. I suspect 

 that we are on the trail of another of our insect cave 

 dwellers-the mole-cricket. Yes, it is so, and here be- 

 neath this stone the burrow terminates." I turned 

 over the stone, and exposed a simple opening into the 

 earth. 



" Where is the cricket ? " asked the Doctor. 



"That is more easily asked than answered; some- 

 where near the bottom of his cave at this hour of the 

 day, too far down for us to reach. But if you will 

 visit his burrow with me this evening, I may satisfy 

 your curiosity. The mole-cricket is a nocturnal insect 

 and will not be cauglit near the door of his den until 

 dusk. If one will then push a long grass stalk into the 

 opening the irritated inhabitant will probably grasp it, 



