Bert Wilson at the Wheel

ts Go

nts, you wouldn't be taking any such liberties with them. Instead of hanging around this mound you would be running away like all possessed. And if you di

at I would run away from a little thing l

ou'd run away from a boa-c

dn't," re

rictor, and he'd run away from the ants, wh

hose monster snakes are af

They swarm over every living thing they find in their way. Sometimes they come across a snake unawares, and climb all over him. He squirms and twists and rushes away, trying to brush them off, against the bushes. At last he turns and bites frantically,

d though they are fierce scrappers among themselves, inflict no injury on any one else. And there is nothing in the

in their fondness for travel. Every once in a while they make up

you mean to say they fly? I nev

en have to cross rivers to get to their new

t know," hu

ug has no

there just

hed Phil's exuberant spirits which had

ly black with them and the trout and little troutlings have the time of their lives. Once the flight is ended, however, and the new locality chosen, the wings disappear. Nature has no use for needless things and from that time on the air knows them no more. The carpenter ants get busy right away. The place is marked off as accurately as a surveyor marks out a plot in the subur

udes," mut

omething that will never be

air was usually tumbled while his nails too often were draped in mourning, looked a li

e 'hewers of wood and drawers of water' for the rest. Indeed, the aristocrats among them get so lazy after a while that they will not even feed themselves

ut they had proved too strong. A little convulsive movement showed that it was not yet quite dead, but it no longer made any resistance. The formic acid that the ants secrete had partly paralyzed it and made defence impossible. There was an almost comical dispro

about it. Everything is arranged as carefully and precisely as in the case of an American or European power getting ready to go to war. At a given signal the troops come out and get in order of battle. There is perfect order and system everywhere. When there is a very large army, a sort of hum or buzz arises from it almost as though they were beating drums to inspire the sol

s as it were,"

atest desperation until victory declares for one side or the other. The red ants are usually victorious, as they are larger and stronger and more aggressive. In case they win, they carry away all the little ones of their black opponents and bring them up as slav

marvelous stories of life going on all around them and t

ng I ever heard about. If anyone else but Dick

t certainly sounds

to be the most important of the whole bunch. What ab

safely escorted the queen to her future home they drop out of sight. Their wings fall off and in some cases are pulled off by the more ill-tempered females of the family. They hang around a little while and then drop out of sight altogeth

how do the rest ge

t all. It takes away some of the conceit of the male sex

least get rid of a lot of trouble. How about the carpenter an

aid Dick. "It is a reg

that in all the bunch the queen

est worker of all, that is, at the start. She is the busiest kind of a mothe

y, "aren't you putting it a

take up this ant and look at i

hat there, sure enough, was a fine silky down r

ower and lazier ones still hang around, the mother's claws soon give them a sharp reminder that it is time to be up and doing. The same is true of the birds. See how the mother bird sits brooding over her eggs. With what tender care she watches them while they are still unable to feed themselves. How the father bird scratches from morning to night to find worms to put down those scrawny little beaks. But after a while they, too, go to the edge of the nest, and with many a timid flutt

n a responsive mu

er all, I suppose this becomes tiresome. It is just as it is with human queens. So many things are done for them, so much pomp and ceremony surrounds them, that no doubt they often sigh for freedom and would exchange their places with almost any of their subjects. They a

ughed and D

, this surrounding group push her back. Sometimes they thrust their shoulders against her and at other times simply mass themselves in front of her, and even, at times, are undignified enough, if these hints are not sufficient, to

ristocrat. Think of having nothing to do but just hang around and let the carpenter ants build your house and the f

rs that after a while they seem to lose their faculties. They wander around in a crazy and feeble way, trying

tite was a standing joke in camp;

e. Their lives are full of interest. They are too busy to be unhappy. Don't make any mistake, fellows, work is the salvation of the world. The ha

hey had failed to realize how late it was. The ants had been wandering around in an aimless way-that is, it seemed aimless to the boys, but doubtless they knew what they were about and had a definite

t is milking time and the ants are going to herd their cows. Now

t high, covered with foliage and with widely extended branches. The column of

followed him softly, so that

a branch that projected beyond the other

transparent honey dew. An ant approached one of them, placed its antennae over the throat and extracted a tiny drop of the colorless liquid. Again and again this was repeated. It seemed like rank robbery, but there was no resistance on the part of the herd. They seemed just as glad that milking time had come as do the cows that stand lowing at the bars of the fen

nd down the stem and, falling into line with their comrades similarly laden, resumed their

ng the silence, "those ants are

"I bet they will suf

don't suppose they keep this all to

he milking party. As Dick selected one and placed his magnifying glass directly upon the opening, the boys could see one of the ants laden with the honey dew stop and, placing its mouth close to that of the waiting ant, exude a tiny drop

re the lords and dukes

lieve anything. I tell you what, Dick, I never

to camp, "I am glad enough now that I didn't smash that ant nest when I tr

e there are certain pests that are harmful to human life and we are compelled to kill in self-defense, but for anything that is

nd our pleasur

the meanest thi