THE MASONS 197 



opening, the wind caught her and blew 

 her away. 



Often she had to try several times be- 

 fore she could make port. When carried 

 past the opening, she made a wide circuit 

 and sometimes stopped for a moment to 

 rest. Then she put on all steam and 

 headed for the window again. 



Once in, she ran up the wall of the 

 shed to her unfinished mud-cradle at the 

 top, and proceeded to apply her load. 



She laid the mud down with her jaws, 

 apparently moistening it with a liquid from 

 her mouth, and all the time she was at 

 work she sang merrily. 



The mud-dauber always sings at her 

 work. 



Her song may be expressive of peace 

 and happiness from a mud-dauber's 

 point of view, but to the unskilled inter- 

 pretation of man it has rather a sound 

 of intense anxiety, as though she were 

 keyed up to the highest pitch and were 



