The Halicti : the Portress 



to a wish to resume the old intercourse with 

 their friends and relations? Do the natives 

 of the same burrow, of the same hamlet 

 recognize one another? Are they inclined to 

 do their work among themselves rather than 

 in the company of strangers? There is no- 

 thing to prove it, nor is there anything to dis- 

 prove it. Either for this reason or for others, 

 the Halictus likes to keep with her neighbours. 



This propensity is pretty frequent among 

 peace-lovers, who, needing little nourishment, 

 have no cause to fear competition. The 

 others, the big eaters, take possession of 

 estates, of hunting-grounds from which their 

 fellows are excluded. Ask a Wolf his opi- 

 nion of a brother Wolf poaching on his pre- 

 serves. Man himself, the chief of con- 

 sumers, makes for himself frontiers armed 

 with artillery; he sets up posts at the foot of 

 which one says to the other: 



"Here's my side, there's yours. That's 

 enough : now we'll pepper each other." 



And the rattle of the latest explosives ends 

 the colloquy. 



Happy are the peace-lovers. What do 

 they gain by their mustering? With them 

 it is not a defensive system, a concerted ef- 



4'7 



