S/GNS OF SPRING 27 



good, and the heroic readiness to die for all, which 

 ennoble the ant above all creatures, save, perhaps, 

 the honey-bee. 



Beneath the rotting vegetation which clothes the 

 tree-roots, only the record of death might be 

 anticipated ; yet from this reek will the springtime 

 resurrection ascend. The moth will emerge from 

 the moist fragments to dry her new-born wings 

 upon a sloping stem ; the beetle will march 

 through them, unspotted by the slime ; and, in 

 sunshine, the snake and slowworm will peep with 

 bright eyes from the drying leaves before stealing 

 out into the glade. Here the great wood-ants will 

 rustle and tick while wandering, and the lizard will 

 scatter the crisp litter when he darts upon his 

 prey. The birds seem to anticipate all this, and 

 select their future homes. In dry meadows the 

 daisy has bared its bosom to the sun. The 

 daffodil is preparing that slender spear, whose 

 rounded tip will one day burst into a golden 

 flower. The tide of life, at ebb in the frost, is 

 returning to the flow, and with the renewal of 

 warm weather its waves will seethe along the 

 hedgerows. 



