Miss Elliot's Girls / Stories of Beasts, Birds, and Butterflies

s ago. When the great trees were growing, out of which the coal we use was made, this race inhabited the earth as they do now in great numbers. We know this because their bodies are fo

nning up the trunks of these trees, their feet sticking in the soft gum, and drop by dr

ants we see running about to-day, that it was hard to realize that he came to his death so long, so very long ago; in fact, b

hers were leading a rude, selfish life,-herding together, it is true, but with no organized government or fixed principles of industry and good order, living each one for himself, the strong o

on the public road, unless you take heed to your steps, the chances are that you set your foot more than once on a little heap of loose sand that we call an ant-hill. The next time you discover the accident-I am sure you will not do

distressed at the state of things. Then more carefully surveying the ruins, apparently consulting together as to what is best to be done, until, a plan of action having been devised and settled upon, if you wait long enough, you will see a band of workers in an orderly, systematic manner begin to repair the damag

ight in one of these ant-cities, and I have written out on purpose to read

ILL; OR, ONE DAY

ance with a good old custom handed down from generation to generation, the first thing every body did on getting out of bed was to take a bath. Such a washing and scrubbing and sponging off and rubbing down as we

the toilet performed for them; but what do you think of common working folks going about from house to house to help each other wash up for

cause the milk was needed for breakfast, especially for the babies. A beautiful road led to the milking-ground, broad and level, and so clean and well kept that not

ttee on highways; but I wish those who have the care of the roads in Greenmeadow would take a lesson from them, so that t

s were to them just what the pretty Alderneys and Durhams are to us, and that they were treated with all the kindness and consideration the wise farmer gives to his domestic animals. There was one kind, a little white cow with queer crooked ho

eatures responded to this treatment by giving down their milk without a kick or a single toss of the horns. S

part going on at the same time, with halls and galleries and closets and winding staircases, all connected and leading into each other, after a curious and wonderful fashion. Of course it took a great many workmen to construct these buildings-carpe

etings with an acquaintance, to hear a bit of gossip perhaps, or to tell the latest news, he would pick up his load in a great hurry and start off at a round trot, as though he meant to make up for lost time. More than one overburdened worker was eased of a part

the babies out-of-doors for a sun-bath. The plump little things-some of them wrapped in mantles of white or yellow silk, others with only their skins to cover them-were laid down in soft spots on the grass, where they were watched with the tenderest care by their foster-mothers. I

e flounces and furbelows. What a good motherly body she was! and how devoted her subjects were to her! Every-where she went she was followed by an admiring crowd. No home was too humble for her to enter, and under each roof she was received with the liveliest demonstrations of loyalty and delight. The happy people thronged about her. They skipped, they danced, they embraced each other in their joy. At times it was hard to restrain them within proper bounds

for burial; while a third victim-still living, but grievously crushed and wounded-was borne tenderly along, with frequent stoppages by the way as his weakness required. A crowd of sympathizing neighbors and friends went out to meet the wonderful procession. Strong, willing arms relieved the weary bearers of their b

avenue to the gate. Then was there great rejoicing, the whole city turning out to welcome them; and the poor travelers, footsore and weary, and ready but now to lie down and die by the road-side, so spent were they by the perils and hardships they had undergone, suddenly found themselves within sight of home

ey were discovered were half-way across the meadow, and making for the wood beyond. In this wood (very dark and dreary) great danger, possibly death, would have overtaken them; but the silly things, impatient of the wholesome restraint in which, by order of the government, they were held till they should arrive at years of discretion, thought only of g

gan their watch, and night settled down upon the peaceful city. Presently the moon rose, lighting its single shape

they so richly deserved. How pleasant to think of them building their houses, tending their flocks, taking care of the little ones, waiting upon their good queen, in the practice of all those virtues that make a community happy and pros

o had no mind to fight with their neighbors or to interfere with any one's rights. But the hill people were slave-holders, and, whenever their establishments wanted replenishing, they sent out an army to attack some neighborin

o do to the pretty city lying asleep

jet, that shone in the sun, and every one of them carried a murderous weapon. The advance guard was made up of

heads, and where it must have been hard to keep up the rapid pace at which they marched. But they pressed on, and woe to him who stumbled and fell! for not a soldier was allowed to stop an

nd carried aloft some poor wretch whose fate it was to fill the hungry maw of a baby bird. And many an unfortunate, getting entangled in a soft gray curtain of silk that hung acros

atigue and their losses by the way when they saw before them in the middle of a green meadow, its dome glit

rd to surprise the sentinels on guard, while the main body of the army advanced more

he streets. Then came the alarm: 'The foe is at the gate!' and you should have seen of what brave stuff the little folks were made; how each one left his occupation or dropped his

onger race than they; but the little folks had the advantage in numbers, were quiet and light in their mov

y filled their places. There were plenty of single combats. One would throw himself upon his antagonist and cling there till he was cut in pieces and fell to the ground, and another and another would spring to take his place to meet the same fate. Dozens fought together-heads, legs

any possibility, they might save from the victor's clutch the treasures they prized most. But what availed their efforts? The enemy was

the poor babies. Many of them their nurses had hidden away, hoping that in the confusion their hiding-places would not be discovered; but the cunning fellows-old hands some of them at the business-seemed to know just wh

ground, and the avenues leading to the city were choked with the slain. Hundreds of

home. The captive babies were consigned to the care of slaves, procured long ago in a similar way, and who, appar

n the strong have oppressed the weak,-and ants or me

hand that it was ants you were going to read about I should certainly have thought they were people. Don't

If the ant-cities are underground, how

managed," Miss

grow accustomed to the new surroundings and go on with their every-day employments as if nothing had happened. The sides of the case make a fine firm wall for their city; they are furnished with plenty of food and building material, and soon they can be seen busy at work clearing their streets, building hou

s, you know, and they would get into the cake-chest and the sugar-bucket, and bothered ma so she had to ke

lie asked. "Ca

of them fell in the w

eir companions tried in vain to rescue them, then went away and presently returned accompanied by six grenadiers, stout fellows, who immediately swam to their relief, seized them with their pincers and brought them to land. Three were apparently dead, but the faithful fellows licked and rubbed them quite dry, rolling them over and over, stretching themselves on them, and in a truly sk

as though they must think and reason and pla

n the scale of intelligence, and says the brain of an ant-no larger perhaps than

can't talk

or our great ears to hear. I fancy there is a deal of conversation carried

tie, when you said the queen laid

me respects his good friend-down to the little red-and-yellow meadow ants so common among us. The ants I have told you about, the Rufians and the Fuscans, are natives of America, and are found in New England. The big black ant so common here, sometimes called the jet ant, is a carpenter and a wood-carver. His great jaws bore through the h

nge-trees and march home with them in procession, holding each leaf in an upright position. Fancy how odd they must look! But we have t

n possibly help it," said Susie. "It's too bad

ound," said Nellie Dimock, "and listen and lis