164 MY STUDIO NEIGHBORS 



And so my carnival proceeds. So it began 

 with the dawn ; so it will continue till dusk ; and 

 through the night, with new revels, for aught I 

 know, and will be prolonged for days or weeks. 



Reflective reader, how often, as you have 

 strolled through some nook in the suburban 

 wood, have you paused in philosophic mood at 

 the motley relics of good cheer which sophisti- 

 cated the retreat, so pathetically eloquent of pris- 

 tine joys to which you had been a stranger? 

 Here in my present picnic is the suggestive par- 

 allel, for even though no such actual episodes as 

 those I have described had been witnessed by 

 me, an examination of the premises beneath my 

 bramble were a sufficient commentary. These 

 were the unimpeachable witnesses of the pleas- 

 ures which I have pictured. Dismembered but- 

 terfly wings strewed the grassy jungle, among 

 which were a fair sprinkling from that black and 

 white halo already noted. Occasional dead wasps 

 and detached members of wasp and hornet anato- 

 my were frequent, while the blue glitter of the 

 bodies of flies lit up a shadowy recess here and 

 there, showing that Musca had not always so cor- 

 rectly gauged his comparative wing resources as 

 my observation had indicated. 



