280 THE ROLL OF THE SEASONS 



were there plenty of cocoons, but nearly half a pint 

 of Canterbury Bell seed that the industrious insects 

 had carried down from the stalk of the campanula, 

 along the garden path, and up into the top of the 

 box edging. That is what we found that day and 

 in that garden. Since then, books have told us that 

 no British ant lays up store of seeds. We did not 

 know the treasure that was flung at us without the 

 trouble of digging, exhibited face-high for us to 

 examine as one examines a prepared specimen in the 

 museum. That is one of the ironies of natural 

 history that the rarest of creatures " occur " under 

 the noses of tyros unable to appreciate them, while 

 the professor hunts high and low for a lifetime and 

 misses them. 



