WATER RAIN 197 



came so thick that they stood on their heads to drink a 

 hundred to the square inch. They suck and lap the water 

 from the ground. It took these a long time to drink. 



FLORENCE. What do you do with eggs and babies 

 when water gets into your house? 



ANT. Rush them to upper rooms or to some dry place. 

 Of course, the whole family is under flood waters some 

 times. 



KENNETH. I carefully set an ant on water, and it 

 didn't break through the top film. The film will hold up a 

 little greased needle. 



CECIL. If an ant breaks through, often it can't get 

 back on account of the film. 



KENNETH. If an ant sinks in water, it may crawl a 

 little on the bottom or up a stick, but the film holds it back 

 even if the ant gets its head out. As a rule, an ant gives 

 up under water. 



CECIL. If an ant is heavy and its body not oiled up, it 

 is likely to sink in water. Sometimes ants don't seem to 

 be able to make bubbles that will raise them to the top. 



ALBERT. A man said, "You can find water under that 

 ants' nest." You might find moist ground, but you 

 wouldn't find sheet water in the first few hundred feet. 



FLORENCE. I wet the ground again, and a thousand 

 ants came out to drink as usual. I dropped a big grass- 

 hopper by them. An ant grabbed a foot, and got several 

 fine aeroplane rides free, but the landings must have given 

 pretty hard jolts. I wonder if she ever got back home. 



ALBERT. January, and no rain to speak of yet. The 

 driest fall in sixty-seven years. No wonder our ants are 

 thirsty. 



CECIL. Water seems to wet the legs of Longlegs and 



