26 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
“ By the way, I suppose you have all seen the 
little trench diggers at work? No? Then you 
must watch out for this interesting sight: each 
one scoops the earth on its back and head, and 
then, with a quick movement, sends it flying out 
over the edge. Here it is heaped and rounded 
by other workers, and thus the hill itself grows 
apace. 
“ It takes a special class of workers to lay the 
bricks in the arched ceilings of the underground 
apartments, and only the very best bricklayers 
are entrusted with the job. Here, too, a special 
plaster must be used. It is made from spiders’ 
webs and wood dust, carefully mixed with saliva. 
The combination forms an exceptionally gummy 
mass, absolutely water-proof. But think how 
prosaic must be the job of this painstaking brick¬ 
laying in comparison to the adventures which are 
the part of the little ants who go scouting for the 
spiders’ webs that are used. What strategy they 
needs must use to steal their supply of webbing 
without themselves being caught in the clever 
traps which the webs form! Again, think of the 
duels these scouts must often wage with foragers 
of another clan, who seek to capture what they 
need rather than to go searching for it! ” 
“ Now I wonder,” Alice exclaimed, “ is that 
what it was all about! Last evening, when I was 
picking raspberries for tea, a party of big black 
