them; and so Nature, who can be provi- 

 dent at times, as well as wasteful, omits the 

 superfluous bother of teaching them. But 

 many things he did before our eyes for 

 which instinct could never account, and 

 many difficulties arose for which innate 

 knowledge was not sufficient; and then we 

 saw his poor dull wits at work against the 

 unexpected problems of the universe. 



As the summer grew hotter and hotter 

 K'dunk left the door-step and made for him- 

 self a better den. All toads do this in the 

 scorching days hollow out a retreat under 

 a sod or root or rotten stump, and drowse 

 there in its cool damp shade while the sun 

 blisters overhead. Just in front of the door- 

 step some broad flagstones extended across 

 the lawn to the sidewalk. The frosts of 

 many winters had forced them apart, some 

 more and some less, and a ribbon of green 

 grass now showed between many pairs of 

 the stones. Where the ribbon was widest 

 K'dunk found out, in some way, that the 

 thin sod covered a hollow underneath, and 

 he worked at this until the sod gave way 



