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136
My Studio Neighbors
·
W. Hamilton Gibson
32
What
a
danger
signal
to
the
creeping
insect
innocent
in
its
neighborhood!
How
many
a
tragedy
in
the
bug
world
has
been
enacted
in
these
inviting,
clean-swept
little
door-yards--these
pitfalls,
so
artfully
closed
in
order
that
their
design
may
be
the
more
surely
effective.
As
I
have
said,
these
tunnels
are
commonly
called
"ant-holes,"
perhaps
with
some
show
of
reason.
It
is
true
that
ants
occasionally
are
seen
to
go
into
them,
but
not
by
their
own
choice,
while
the
most
careful
observer
will
wait
in
vain
to
see
the
ant
come
out
again.
Here
at
the
edge
of
the
grass
we
see
one
approaching
now--a
big
red
ant
from
yonder
ant-hill.
He
creeps
this
way
and
that,
and
anon
is
seen
trespassing
in
the
precincts
of
the
unhealthy
court.
He
crosses
its
centre,
when,
click!
and
in
an
instant
his
place
knows
him
no
more,
and
a
black
hole
marks
the
spot
where
he
met
his
fate,
which
is
now
being
duly
celebrated
in
a
supplementary
fete
several
inches
belowground.
A
poor
unfortunate
green
caterpillar,
which,
with
a
very
little
forcible
persuasion
in
the
interest
of
science,
was
induced
to
take
a
short-cut
across
this
nice
clean
space
of
earth
to
the
clover
beyond,
was
the
next
martyr
to
my
passion
for
original
observation.
He
might
have
pursued
his
even
course
across
the
arena
unharmed,
but
he
too
persisted
in
trespassing,
and
suddenly
was
seen
to
transform
from
a
slow
creeping
laggard
into
the
liveliest
acrobat,
as
he
stood
on
his
head
and
apparently
dived
precipitately
into
the
hole
which
suddenly
appeared
beneath
him.
A
certain
busy
fly
made
itself
promiscuous
in
the
neighborhood,
more
than
once
to
the
demoralization
of
my
necessary
composure,
as
it
crept
persistently
upon
my
nose.
What
was
my
delight
when
I
observed
the
fickle
insect
in
curious
contemplation
of
a
pair
of
calipers
at
the
centre
of
one
of
the
little
courts!
But,
whether
from
past
experience
or
innate
philosophy
in
the
insect
I
know
not,
the
pronged
hooks,
though
coming
together
with
a
click
once
or
twice
at
the
near
proximity
of
the
tempter,
failed
in
their
opportunity,
and
the
trap
was
soon
seen
carefully
set
again,
flush
with
the
ground
at
the
mouth
of
the
burrow.
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