THE STORY OF THE MOLE. 



One morning, after a rain, I traced the fresh passageway of a mole for 

 one hundred yards. The Httle animal had made this gallery in one night. 



I was impressed with the enormous amount of work such a small animal 

 could perform, and I made some figures in comparison with the labor of a 

 man. My figures showed, that in proportion to size, a man would have to 

 dig in a single night a tunnel seven miles long and of sufificient size to 

 easily admit his body in order to perform equivalent work to this mole. I 

 think, therefore, that I am right in the conclusion that the mole is the most 

 indefatigable worker of the burrowing animals to be found in the United 

 States. 



^sop in his fables makes frequent reference to the mole, but he was not 

 a close student of its habits, for he maligned the little creature by saying it 

 had no eyes and that it had been condemned to spend its life under ground. 

 The mole does live underground, but does so from choice, and so 

 far from being a miserable animal, it seems to enjoy its life quite as much 

 as any other creature. It is beautifully fitted for the station which it fills, 

 and wouild be unhappy if removed from its accustomed damp and darkness 

 into warmth and light. 



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