*TWIXT WALL AND BUSH. 
N° man had ever gone so far as to call her 
a beauty, and only one mere male had 
dared to endeavour to capture her affections. 
But he died suddenly. She killed him, and 
rumour hath it that she ate him afterwards; 
but of that there is no proof. 
The apple-trees were standing in the pale 
wonder of their own cast-off bridal veils of 
blossom, and the young leaves were just 
ceasing to be sticky and yellowy, wonderfully 
beautiful, when she appeared. 
It was no small wonder that she had so 
far got through life, dodging her brothers 
and sisters, and eating those who would have 
eaten her. 
She had avoided being food for an ichneumon 
fly grub ; escaped her own mother’s jaws ; failed 
to perish by deluge, bird, thirst, or cold when 
launching out from a railing-top on her own 
home-made avion ; and now, having selected 
a corner of the world for herself, had success- 
fully moulted her skin and struggled free. 
But she was soft, and weak, and helpless, 
and surrounded by foes on every hand, and 
she must go into retirement swiftly for a day 
or two till her new coat hardened. 
