Amador ledger., 1910-02-25

The mass OF grass and fallen leaves
made his task difficult, but after careful
scrutiny for perhaps a half.hour, he
saw one OF the sparkling ants fastening
home. He watched its course, walked
a short distance farther and again took
his stand of inspection. Thus. inch by
inch, he back tracked those sparkling
insects until the sun was nearly down.
He had traced them back about one
hundred and fifty yards.
The two days following he tracked
them in like manner, until they brought
him abruptly against large rock, or
rather group of several rocks at the
root of mountain spur, from which
in all probability they had rolled down
in some past age. They we're lying
jammed close together, and it seemed as
though nature hal filled every crevice
between them with SOIL gravel or small
stones, and in some places bushes we're
growing out Of the cracks The profes-
sor examined every crevice closely, and
came to the conclusion that they had been
filled by the hand of man.
The ants, he noticed, went in and
came out through a small hole but little
larger than a lead pencil, and which
looked as though they had burrowed it
themselves.
Examining with greatest care every
inch of surface around the entire mass
he found no place where the ants came
out except the small.hole, so he knew he
was at the end of the journey
What was he TO do? 1t seemed impos-
sible for him to get between those huge
rocks, the smallest OF which would have
weighed twenty or thirty tons. Surely
a granite barrier stood between him and
the solution OF his problem. Must he
give it up? Had ne been to all this work
for naught? No, he would blast the rocks
first He would not be thwaited in this
manner.
Then he determined to climb to the
top of them and see if there were any
openings there. BY the aid of small
bushes growing out of the crevces and |
the branches OF tree that had blown |
down and broken where it struck the |
rocks, he had not much difficulty in
reaching the top of them, as they were
only some twelve feet high.
The first things he noticed on getting
to the top, were bees, coming out and
going into the broken tree.
"Ah" he exclaimed, part of the
riddle is solved. This is a bee tree,
and by its falling across the rock and
breaking, has crushed part of the honey
comb, causing the honey to run out and
trickle through the crevices between the
rocks, and that is where the ants get
their honey"
After watching the bees a short time,
to make sure that it really was a bee
tree, the professor looked over the top
Of the rocks, noting every point The
rocks were uneven in height, but toward |
one side, two came together nearly on a
level, leaning against third one that
was much higher. On the top of the
two level ones was a comparatively flat
one, diminutive in size compared with
the others, but still quite large. The
tree had fallen upon this top rock and
broken, until its head reached the
ground. He could also see by the shape
of the three rocks that came together
that there must be triangular opening
beween them covered by the flat rock.
In trying to investigate more closely.
the professor was stung by a bee and
driven back to his former vantage point
where he estimated as nearly as possible
the weight of the flat stone, as we'll as
the tree that must be moved before he
could tell the size of the aperture be-
tween the large rocks beneath them
Another sting, and the professor hur-
redly left the rocks and wended his way
down the mountain in a deep study,
thinking aloud as was his habit
"Those bees must be killed - he
said, rubbing his cheek whe'e the last
one stung him. The tree must be moved
off the flat rock and from over the open
ing. 1t will be hard job, as both the
tree and rock must weigh nearly a ton.
Let me see, he continued, 81 ought to
be able to move them with good, stout
pry or crowbar. Yes can. feel as If
! could move the whole pile must
know what is under them.
Thus the professor ruminated and
muttered to himself until he reached the
inn where he was stopping.