Madame Redbelt 



r 



the time she began (5 p.m.) until she quit dig- 

 ging. Then Madame Redbelt looked tired as 

 she shook and brushed the dust from her black 

 satin dress and sauntered out into the sunshine 

 to rest a while. 



But this was only the first stage of her pro- 

 ceedings. Soon she was running about with 

 her head down, evidently in search of something. 

 Every pebble she came to she would measure 

 with her feelers, as a workman uses a pair of 

 calipers. Presently one seemed to suit her and 

 she picked it up in her jaws and trotted off in 

 great haste. Now, try to lift a stone twice as 

 big as your head and you will appreciate the 

 strength of this tiny miner, who carried her 

 burden in her teeth a good deal easier than you 

 could carry a proportionate weight in your 

 arms indeed, you could scarcely lift a propor- 

 tionate weight. 



Running straight to her hole she dropped 

 the pebble into its mouth, where it lodged 

 neatly in the funnel-shaped top, forming a plug, 

 or cover. I could see, however, that a crevice 

 remained at one side, and Madame Redbelt saw 



