94 
EYE SPY 
that a dead mule was the more likely source, 
which recalls the above erudite allusion of heredi- 
tary instinct of Billings. 
Yes, if time -honored popular prejudice is to 
be accepted, the hornet is always on the ram- 
page, always spoiling for a fight, always " mad " ; 
and considering how many thousands of them 
there are abroad, and what opportunity they 
have of mischief, it is a wonder that poor hu- 
manity is able to put its nose out of doors with 
impunity. 
Let us see how far this bad reputation is sus- 
tained by the facts. What is this black paper 
hornet (more properly wasp) doing from morning 
till night? Buzzing among the flowers, creeping 
over the bruised apple windfalls in the orchard, 
whirling and dodging about the window or fence 
or side of the house, or perhaps darting in our 
faces as we sit at the open window. 
Two episodes which I recall, in which this 
white-tailed black wasp from the big paper nest 
was conspicuous, occur to me as I write, and as 
the two stories, taken together, will show us the 
true character of the suspect, and what he is up 
to all day long, I will narrate them. 
The first instance is vivid in my memory. It 
occurred in my boyhood my boyhood ? how 
many another boy remembers the same incident. 
That same hot day in August, that same cool, 
