A RARE PICTOGRAPH 



thing as luck in literature. None of these 

 theories, however, is advanced with dog- 

 matic intent. Here, as in all other provinces 

 of speculation, there should be given full 

 liberty of individual interpretation. Some, 

 indeed, who study these photographs may 

 regard our pictograph as a plain Beetle 

 Diary, a rival of the one by Pepys ; and much 

 might be said in support of this conclusion. 



But these variations of conjecture are of 

 comparatively minor importance. The 

 pivotal fact disclosed in studying the haunts 

 and habits of beetles is the continuous 

 romance and mystery that one finds every- 

 where, whether one bores through the bark 

 of a tree, or digs down into the earth, or ex- 

 plores the water or air. 



As oblivious of men as most men are of 

 it, the beetle woos and weds, and attempts to 

 rear its young. Then comes the conflict 

 which makes the plot of the story, which may 

 turn out a tragedy. When the beetle thinks 

 all the world its own (as it may have seemed 

 in the early nineties when the beetle hordes 

 invaded Pennsylvania and West Virginia, 



145 



