s she
brought herself to the walls of her green prison, and tried to clamber
out,--but here, again, were those cruel hairs on guard to foil her. She
tried to evade them, to break them down, to bite them off with her
strong, sharp mandibles. At last, by a supreme effort, she managed to
drag herself almost clear,--but only to be at once hurled back, and far
out into the water, by the sharp recoil of her tormentors.

Though pretty well exhausted by now, she would not give up the struggle;
and presently her convulsive efforts brought her alongside of a refuge.
It was only the floating body of a dead moth, but to the ant it was a
safe and ample raft. Eagerly she crept out upon it, and lay very still
for awhile, recovering her strength. More fortunate than most
shipwrecked voyagers, she had an edible raft and was therefore in no
imminent peril of starvation.

The light that came through the veined, translucent walls of this watery
prison was of an exquisite cool beryl, very different from the warm
daylight overhead. The ant had never been in any such surroundings
before, and was bewildered by the strangeness of them. After a brief
rest she investigated minutely every corner of her queer retreat, and
then, finding that there was nothing she could do to better the
situation, she resumed her attitude of repose, with only the slight
waving of her antennae to show that she was awake.

For a long time nothing happened. No winds were astir that day, and no
sounds came down into the pitcher save the shrill, happy chirping of
birds in the surrounding bushes. But suddenly the pitcher began to tip
and rock slightly, and the water to wash within its coloured walls.
Something had alighted on the pitcher's lip.

It was something comparatively heavy, that was evident. A moment or two
later it came sliding down those treacherous hairs, and fell into the
water with a great splash which nearly swept the ant from her refuge.

The new arrival was a bee. And now began a tremendous turmoil within the
narrow prison. The bee struggled, whirled around on the surface with
thrashing wings, and sent the water swashing in every direction, till
the ant was nearly drowned. She hung to her raft, however, and waited
philosophically for the hubbub to subside. At length the bee too, after
half a dozen vain and exhausting struggles to climb out against the
opposing array of hairs, encountered the body of the dead moth.
Instantly she tried to raise herself