The Swarm 



you still shall ne\^er succeed in making 

 them doubt of the future ; and though 

 they be starving, and their number so 

 small that it scarcely suffices to shield their 

 mother from the enemy's gaze, they will 

 set about to reorganize the laws of the 

 colony, and to provide for what is most 

 pressing ; they will distribute the work in 

 accordance with the new necessities of this 

 disastrous moment, and thereupon will 

 immediately re-assume their labours with 

 an ardour, a patience, a tenacity and intel- 

 ligence not often to be found existing to 

 such a degree in nature, true though It be 

 that most of its creatures display more 

 confidence and courage than man. 



But the presence of the queen is not 

 even essential for their discouragement to 

 vanish and their love to endure. It is 

 enough that she should have left, at the 

 moment of her death or departure, the 

 very slenderest hope of descendants. " We 

 ^5 



