IX. 



Congratulations are the order of the day Ineffectual strategy Some 

 respectable insects Ants and their flocks Dairy-farms of blight 

 Men, women, and workers To be an ant is no sinecure Destruction 

 of a home An eastern legend Tamerlane In what way a mere 

 ant may sometimes decide the fate of an empire How Mr. Leon 

 increased his collection on this occasion. 



As the meal was concluding, " Suppose we take our 

 coffee in the garden?" said the doctor. "Nothing is 

 better than the open air for promoting and facilitating 

 digestion." 



Uncle Bob's proposal was cheerfully and unani- 

 mously accepted, and our three friends, having installed 

 themselves comfortably under the arbour, the aromatic 

 mocha was brought thither to them. 



" Now, my dear nephew," said the kind savant as 

 he dispensed the pleasant refreshment, "can you 

 imagine what rumour is saying abroad ? I have heard 

 that one of the greatest traducers of natural history 

 has recently been led into the right path on the shore 

 at Villers ; that the aforesaid traducer, having already 

 passed the grade of martyr, thanks to the wound of a 

 certain Trachinus vipera, has none the less been seen, 



