24 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN 



sume the good Creator has ordained that 

 each division of Nature shall quickly become 

 familiar and contented with its own rules 

 and penalties. 



After two days of quiet resignation to 

 my enforced position in my cell, growing 

 stronger, and wishing to brush my hair and 

 stretch my legs and wings better than I 

 could when thus confined, I was conscious 

 that there was an ominous silence all through 

 our hive. The lid was being pressed down 

 tighter all the time with more weight upon 

 it. Through the lid, which some appeared 

 to be scraping thinner again, I saw feet, 

 feet, and feet. It was very warm, too. 

 The temperature stood steadily at ninety- 

 eight or ninety-nine degrees Fahrenheit. 

 Everybody seemed to have come indoors. 

 Few were going out. Those who did go 

 were Maids, whom the spirit of the colony 

 said should never marry, but live and die 

 the happiest of working and laughing 

 people. Nobody paid any attention to them 



