Here we are! The pushing of the reed into the passage is the most delicate matter. Sentries may well emerge from this guard-house and attack the operator’s hand during the hesitation caused by the unknown direction of the gallery. The danger is provided for. One of us keeps watch; he will drive away the assailants with his handkerchief, should any appear. Besides, an idea is not so very expensive if we acquire it at the cost of a swelling and a smart itching. This time there is no mishap. The conduit is in place; it sends the contents of my flask streaming into the cavern. We hear the threatening buzz of the underground population. Quick, the wet clay, to close the door; quick, a kick or two of the heel upon the clod, to consolidate the closing! There is nothing more to be done. It is striking eleven; let us be off to bed. Provided with a spade and trowel, we are back on the spot at dawn. Numbers of Wasps, belated in the fields, have been out all night. They will turn up as we are digging, but the chill of the morning will render them less aggressive; and a few flicks of the handkerchief will be enough to make them keep their distance. Let us hasten therefore, before the sun grows hot. A trench of sufficient width to give us freedom of movement is dug in front of the entrance-passage, whose position is indicated by the reed, which remains where it was. Next, the perpendicular side of the ditch is carefully cut away in slices. Thus conducted, at a depth of some twenty inches, our digging at last reveals the Wasps’-nest intact, slung from the roof of a spacious cavity. It is indeed a superb achievement, as large as a fair-sized pumpkin. It hangs free on every side, except at the top, where various roots, mostly rootstocks of couch-grass, penetrate the thickness of the wall and fasten the nest firmly. Its shape is round wherever the softness and the homogeneous character of the ground have permitted a symmetrical excavation. In stony soil, the sphere becomes misshapen, a little more here, a little less there, according to the obstacles encountered. A space of a hand’s breadth is always left open between the paper monument and the sides of the subterranean vault. This is the wide street along which the builders move unhindered at their continual task of enlarging and strengthening the nest. The one lane by which the city communicates with the outer world opens into it. The unoccupied space under the nest is much greater. It is rounded into a big basin which allows the general wrapper to be enlarged as fresh layers of cells are added to those above. This receptacle, shaped like the bottom of a copper, is also the great cess-pool into which the multitudinous refuse of the Wasps’-nest falls and accumulates.