THE CARPENTERS 249 



jaws, and when a quantity had accumu- 

 lated, backed out, pushing it behind her 

 and kicking it away with her hind legs. 

 The hours wore on and still Crabro bit 

 and shoved and kicked out pellets of pith. 

 Others might sleep at night and work like 

 whirlwinds in the daytime; she, calm and 

 steady, worked all night long, and all the 

 next day, and all the next night, and part 

 of the third day, stopping only ten min- 

 utes for refreshments during her forty- 

 two-hour task. 



She was watched closely all this time, a 

 bottle to catch her chips being put over 

 the stem at night to record her progress, 

 and if she grew not weary her observers 

 did. " We began to wonder if she would 

 ever finish her task. Wonderful though 

 she was, we had grown a little weary of 

 our long session of watching. We had 

 been glad that she worked through the 

 first night; it was creditable to her and 

 interesting to us, and we admired her even 



