One's Own Back Door-yard 181 



" Well, ants are just about as wonderful as 

 bees, only I don't love 'em as I do the bees, 

 because they are not as useful, but they are 

 mighty smart just the same. 



" Did you ever imagine when you see a 

 large ant-hill in the pasture that in that 

 mound is a great republic like the United 

 States? " 



" No," I gasped in astonishment, " tell me 

 about it." 



" Well, long before God made man, He 

 made bees and ants. Long before He set 

 Adam and Eve in the garden and told them 

 to be good, ants and bees were running king- 

 doms and republics. 



" The ants not only have a government 

 with a president, but they also have a stand- 

 ing army, and they fight battles with other 

 ant-hills have spies and scouts and real bat- 

 tles. They build roads and bridges, and 

 move heavy obstacles that are in their way. 

 They do things that, considering their size, 

 would make the building of Brooklyn bridge 

 by men seem like child's play. 



