is always dominant in the presence of insect activities.

I leaned back, crowding into a crevice of rock, and strove to realize
more deeply the kinship of these fine earth neighbors. Bone of my bone
indeed they were, but their quiet dignity, their calmness in storm and
sun, their poise, their disregard of all small, petty things, whether
of mechanics, whether chemical or emotional--these were attributes to
which I could only aspire, being the prerogatives of superiors.

These rocks, in particular, seemed of the very essence of earth. Three
elements fought over them. The sand and soil from which they lifted
their splendid heads sifted down, or was washed up, in vain effort to
cover them. More subtly dead tree trunks fell upon them, returned to
earth, and strove to encloak them. For six hours at a time the water
claimed them, enveloping them slowly in a mantle of quicksilver, or
surging over with rough waves. Algal spores took hold, desmids and
diatoms swam in and settled down, little fish wandered in and out of
the crevices, while large ones nosed at the entrances.

Then Mother Earth turned slowly onward; the moon, reaching down,
beckoned with invisible fingers, and the air again entered this no
man's land. Breezes whispered where a few moments before ripples had
lapped; with the sun as ally, the last remaining pool vanished and
there began the hours of aerial dominion. The most envied character of
our lesser brethren is their faith. No matter how many hundreds of
thousands of tides had ebbed and flowed, yet to-day every pinch of
life which was blown or walked or fell or flew to the rocks during
their brief respite from the waves, accepted the good dry surface
without question.

Seeds and berries fell, and rolled into hollows rich in mulcted earth;
parachutes, buoyed on thistle silk, sailed from distant jungle plants;
every swirl of breeze brought spores of lichens and moss, and even the
retreating water unwittingly aided, having transported hither and
dropped a cargo of living things, from tiniest plant to seeds of
mightiest mora. Though in the few allotted hours these might not
sprout, but only quicken in their heart, yet blue-winged wasps made
their faith more manifest, and worked with feverish haste to gather
pellets of clay and fashion cells. I once saw even the beginning of
storage--a green spider, which an hour later was swallowed by a
passing fish instead of nourishing an infant wasp.

Spiders raised their