330 The Hunting JVasps 



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. Everything, 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 

 pHourles ? ' ^ he asks Favier, in ingratiating 

 tones. 



' He distils them to extract the essential oils,' 

 replies my man, with magnificent self-possession. 



Stunned by this revelation, the questioner 

 turns his back and goes away. 



But let us waste no more time with the 

 waggish old soldier and his smart repartees 

 and let us rather come to what was attracting 

 my attention in the harmas laboratory. Some 

 Ammophilae were exploring on foot, with brief 

 intervals of flight, both the grass and the bare 

 patches of ground. I had seen them as early 

 as the middle of March, when a fine day made 

 its appearance, warming themselves luxuriously 

 in the dusty paths. All belonged to the 

 same species, the Hairy Ammophila (A . hirsufa, 

 KiRB.). I have already written of the hiberna- 

 tion of this Ammophila and her venery in mid- 

 spring, at a period when the other Hunting 



' The local expression. — Author's Note. 



