CHAPTER X 



THE TRIBULATIONS OF THE MASON-BEE 



TO ILLUSTRATE the methods of those 

 who batten on others' goods, the plun- 

 derers who know no rest till they have 

 wrought the destruction of the worker, It 

 would be difficult to find a better Instance 

 than the tribulations suffered by the Chalico- 

 doma of the Walls. The Mason who builds 

 on the pebbles may fairly boast of being an 

 industrious workwoman. Throughout the 

 month of May, we see her black squads, in 

 the full heat of the sun, digging with busy 

 teeth In the mortar-quarry of the road hard 

 by. So great is her zeal that she hardly 

 moves out of the way of the passer-by; more 

 than one allows herself to be crushed under- 

 foot, all absorbed as she Is in collecting her 

 cement. 



The hardest and driest spots, which still 

 retain the compactness Imparted by the 

 steam-roller, are the favourite veins; and the 



work of making the pellet Is slow and pain- 



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