106 ANTS AND CHILDREN OF THE GARDEN 



coming and the ants are going home, leaving the dead and 

 wounded upon the battlefield. 



ALBERT. I must read about that battle myself. 



KENNETH. Whole legs and whole feelers and whole 

 bodies, and all the different parts of each, lie everywhere, 

 while ants with different lengths of stubs struggle amidst 

 the mass, which is mainly collected in windrows. The 

 battle is over and the dead and dying are left to the winds 

 and the ghouls. 



ALBERT. Didn't either side get the meat, or whatever 

 it was? 



KENNETH. Not at this time at least. 



ALBERT. How long may such a battle last? 



KENNETH. For hours, days, or even weeks, the book 

 says. 



ALBERT. I wish I knew whether or not the ants went 

 back to the battlefield and either gathered up their own 

 dead or that of the enemy. 



KENNETH. Do you suppose ants feel pain when hurt, 

 as we do? 



CECIL. No, or they wouldn't continue to eat, sometimes 

 after a feeler, leg or even the abdomen has been cut olf. 

 They may feel pain, but not as we do. 



Heat and Cold. 



FLORENCE. What do you do when your ants get 

 too cold down in your nest? 



ANT. Just like you do huddle together. You know 

 a room full of people will help keep it warm. A school- 

 room gets warmer after the children get in. Well, when 

 we huddle together in a small room, we warm each other 

 and also warm the room. 



