(seq. 23)

flushed a little. Saunders had contrived to be near her
quite frequently since the night he had made his odd
remark & though his conversation was apt to flag & was always

It is very curious to watch the wood piercers
at their work. In the spring they look about for
dead or rotten wood in which to make a house for
their young ones. When the female has found an old
wooden post that will do, she bores into it for about half
an inch, and then changes the direction, making a
hollow half an inch in diameter, which runs parallel
with the sides of the post and is about twelve or
fifteen inches long.
She works very hard and
has no help from the male. If you should look
about a foot from the post you should see on the
ground little heaps of saw-dust almost as coarse as if it had
been made by a hand-saw. The only tools that
this little insect has to work with are her strong jaws.
She divides this hole into ten
rooms each about one inch deep and roof of one
makes the floor of another. This floor is made from
wood-dust mixed with glue from the animals body.
Before the cell is closed it is filled with honey
an egg is also placed in each cell.