The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-07-26
ton, and for 81 the world it looked % me

IN III ne was 0ACthtI0luk. ".H... =
-'Great heaven! You don't tell me!
AT any rate. after an excited oonfab at
the foot OF the tree the two ants went up
tho trunk q way and then made their way
around 1t until they came TO a spot directly
above where the toad sat. The two ants
gazed down at the monster a while. held an
other excited confab and then turned up
the tree and disappeared into II through a
smaller opening, which / had some days
before discovered was a rear entrance 70
the colony's abode. I was quite sure some
thing was going to happen,
Soon out Of that rear entrance q stream
OF ants began TO pour. enormous fellows,
bigger than any l had seen yet. Some OF
them seemed half an inch long. and they were
armed with powerful jaws, Two smaller
the two. that had carried home the terrible
news. for they led the way down the tree and
over to q point from which the army be-
hind them could view the great beast. This
following Of big ants must have been the
military Of the colony. for after looking the
the ground In a strategic position In the rear
OF the toad. who sat there all bumped up. :
sThere must have been fifty or more OF
those big ants. and they marched In q mass
their presence they had climbed all over
him. and from the way he began 70 hop !
knew those great jaws Of theirs w~ereNgetting
their work In on Him well. The first hop
took him into the thick OF the nasturtium
bed. but IL he had awakened TO what had
struck him and expected to wipe those ants
of Of him by contact with the thick growing
plants he was sadly mistaken. The ants
hung on and nipped. and not until they had
laagged him clear over to the edge OF the
yard, where he tumbled among some thick
consider that they had suficientiy %triumphed.
Then one by one they dropped OF and by
and by came struggling back through the
grass. or those Of them that had not fallen
In the fight. end sought their barracks in the
old trees depths.
aOf course. after that emphatic and COM
plete bounce the ants bad given him. !
didn't expect ever to see hat % around
there again, 30 ! was not a little surprised
when ! YER out next day to see was
going on around the tree to come face to
And when I saw how he had fixed himself
/ couldn't help but say right out:
well you've got some brains In that
old warty noddle Of yours after allf
st was evident that the toad had great
expectations at and about that spot, and
didn't Intend to be taken by surprise and
hustled away from there again. not IL he
knew It. He had scooped out for himself
a little hollow In the ground and the spongy
wood Of the tree and had backed into It with
could see what was going on outside and
rear entirely protected. He was discovered
during the day by scouting ants, fortunately
for them at a safe distance. and they must
have carried the news home. for some OF
r~econnoitred him. They doubtless re-
ported that the toad's position was a little
too strong for the ant army TO attempt 10
carry. and the toad remains in his retreat
to this day when not u forging elsewhere
has passed within six inches OF that little
hollow at the foot Of the tree since the toad
made 1t and located there. b toad has
done a good business. however. in strange
or stray ants that have happened to pass:
Ordinarily there was nothing besides
the working Of the ants and the passing
up and down of other ants OF the colony
engaged apparently on merely. routine
business to attract attention to them any
day, but n day about the middle Of june.
under the old apple tree. suddenly from
the main opening Of the hollow and various
other exits which I then for the first time
saw ants began hurrying out IN the utmost
excitement-in what seemed @ panic In
~scramblipg toward the ground. At first
thought the dreaded toad had worked
his way into the depths Of the hollow and
was cleaning out things there. but glanoing
down ] saw that he was sitting stolidly
in his hole. That glance down; though.
uIACON 81 u w Ilg Whie AAoNA ~ 50 tt'S eat'
crazy. On the ground in myriads ants
Of another kind were swarming:,
These ants were not one-tenth the size
OF the wood ants and they were pink and
almost transparent. In the midst OF the
swarm was a group OF their kind. but with
wings, and around these the others seemed
to me to be maintaining a strict guard.
It was the presence Of these ants, n they
must nave come up out or the ground.
their appearance had been 80 sudden,
that had created the panic In that wood ant
colony. The. big black ants would rush
in and seize upon the little red ones. only
in nine cases out of ten to be instantly
seized by a host OF red ones and torn
to pieces, for the red ants. small as they
were, we're fierce es tigers; Inc pig black
ones. 1t seemed to me as II the object
of the black ants was to get at and capture
the group Of winged red ants that were
kept in the centre Of the swarm, and that
it was to prevent this that the guarding
red ants fought SO fiercely.. At any rate
after a savage fight Of ten minutes or more,
in which the field was strewn with dead
and wounded OF both sides. the blacks
retired and made their way back up the
tree, scores of them burdened with red
feelers and other parts, Of their bodies.
where they hung Ike leeches. the pain
making the big ants frantic.
A red ant that had seized hold Of a big
black soldier ants fore leg, out OF reach
OF the big ants jaws, had In turn been
seized by another black soldier ant, and
this one had succeeded In tugging both
of the field. All Of it's Juggling, however,
and tearing at the red ant would not induce
the tenacious little ant to release the black
soldier ant, and SO the other big ant, holding
to the red ant and the red ant holding to
the leg OF the soldier ant, dragged them
both to the tree and labored with the bur-
den up the tree trunk three feet or more.
where he disappeared in the hollow, the
big soldier ant hanging from the jaws of
the red ant limp and dead. but the red
ant still alive and resisting the effort to
make il release it's hold.
After the battle and the retreat OF the
black ant army the surviving host Of red
ants and their winged charge disappeared
under the ground as suddenly as they
had appeared. What puzzled me, and
puzzles me yet. is by what mysterious
telegraphy the black ants in the depths
Of that old apple tree knew Of the coming
of that army of red ants on the ground
at the foot Of the tree almost on the instant
that It had appeared. The incident &C.
CURED a second time during that week,
with the same results. Each time after
the red ants had disappeared a force OF
the worker ants Of the wood ant colony
came down and carried the dead and