The Mason-Wasps 



joy this half-hour of comfort, they would 

 take off their hats and smocks and hang 

 them on pegs on the wall. Short though 

 the meal was, it lasted long enough to allow 

 the Pelopaei to inspect the garments and 

 take possession of them. The inside of a 

 straw hat was recognized as a most useful 

 retreat; the folds of a smock were looked 

 upon as a shelter which could be turned to 

 excellent account; and the work of building 

 started forthwith. On rising from table, 

 one of the men would shake his smock, an- 

 other his hat, to rid it of a heap of mud 

 that was already the size of an acorn. 



When the labourers had gone, I had a 

 talk with the cook. She told me of her 

 tribulations: those impudent Bugs were all 

 over the place, dirtying everything with 

 their filth. She was chiefly concerned about 

 the window-curtains. Dabs of mud on the 

 ceiling, on the walls, on the chimneypiece 

 you could put up with; but it was a very 

 different matter when you found them on 

 the linen and the curtains. To keep the 

 curtains clean and dislodge the wretched 

 things who persisted in bringing in their bits 

 of mud, she had to shake them every day, 

 to beat them with a bamboo. And it was 

 all no use: next morning, work was resumed 

 74 



