The Hunting Wasps 



We were hunting along the ground, step 

 by step, with bent backs, for some of the evi- 

 dences of prehistoric times that abound on 

 the south side of the mountain: serpentine- 

 stone axes, black potsherds, flint arrow-heads 

 and spear-heads, flakes, side-scrapers, cores. 



" What does your master do with those 

 payrards?" l asked a new arrival. 



" He makes them into putty for the gla- 

 ziers," replied Favier, with an air of solemn 

 assurance. 



Another time, I had just gathered a hand- 

 ful of Rabbit-droppings in which the mag- 

 nifying-glass had shown me a cryptogamous 

 growth worthy of further inspection. Up 

 comes an inquisitive person who has seen me 

 carefully packing the precious windfall in a 

 paper bag. He suspects a money-making 

 business, some crazy trade or other. Every- 

 thing, to the countryman, is translatable into 

 terms of francs and sous. In his eyes, I am 

 making a steady income out of these Rabbit- 

 droppings. 



" What does your master do with those 

 petourlesf " 3 he asks Favier, in ingratiating 

 tones. 



1 Gun-flints. Author's Note. 



2 The local expression. Author's Note. 



358 



