26 BOULDER REVERIES. 



in. Several smaller pieces are then brought and 

 crumbled with the jaws; after which, by rub- 

 bing its head back and forth, they are pressed 

 down firmly and smoothly. Several minutes the 

 wasp thus works, buzzing continually meanwhile 

 a note of warning, until finally all semblance of 

 the pit with its cached supply of food for future 

 wasp is blotted out. 



The jarring notes of a country brass band 

 come across the fields from the picnic grounds, 

 and the cuckoo ceases his cackle awed into 

 silence by the unusual sound. Methinks tnat 

 the squirrels, marmots, foxes and birds here- 

 abouts are all listening and wondering- think- 

 ing, perchance, that some mighty being with dis- 

 cordant blare is trumpeting forth his notes of 

 challenge and of charging onslaught. 



VI. 



Aug. 18, '99. With head resting on the side 

 of the moss-covered boulder I recline in the 

 shade of the oak and maple and gaze heaven- 

 ward into the illimitable depths of blue. Soft 

 balmy, pure and innocent, that ether. 



