146 NATURE STUDY. 



et, it was so swathed as to be powerless to make any fur- 

 ther attempt at escape. Had the ant deliberately gone out 

 of its way on purpose ? Probably we shall never know. 



The ant now appeared to resume its trail, for in the re- 

 maining portion of its journey it passed the corners of two 

 more webs, but evidently went around to avoid entering 

 them. At one place it climbed a pine bough to the height 

 of nearly a foot, holding the swathed and helpless cricket 

 in its jaws, and crossed to another bough, a distance of 

 three and a half inches, by means of a horsehair — the most 

 remarkable feat of tight-rope walking we had ever wit- 

 nessed. 



This seemed to help out the trail theory, but a few min- 

 utes later the ant surprised us by dropping fully a foot to 

 the ground. This certainl}^ could not be because of a trail, 

 w^hether marked by a scent or otherwise. But perhaps the 

 fall was an accident, and not a deliberate leap downward. 



Other ants of the same .species now began to be observed 

 with considerable frequency, but they one and all left 

 our sturdy little friend to bear its burden alone — perhaps 

 because it was clearly able to do so. It was evident, how- 

 ever, from the increasing number of the ants, that, after a 

 long, hard journey — for the Boy and I were aching even 

 worse, probably, than the ant itself — we were nearing the 

 nest. The ant had dragged its dear-bought prize to a pile 

 of brush, and we were eagerly peering in to see the finish, 

 when a brilliant-hued Mutilla, or so called velvet ant, which 

 of course is not an ant at all, flashed across our vision. It 

 was of a rare species, and the temptation was great, but 

 our attention was diverted only for an instant. In that in- 

 stant, however, ant and cricket had disappeared, and they 

 could not be found again, even after the careful overturning 

 of much brush. 



The ant's journey, from the time it caught the cricket un- 

 til it disappeared in the brush pile, occupied just forty min- 



