228 ANTS AND CHILDREN OF THE GARDEN 



ALBERT. Then don't forget the second battle, in Which 

 ours lost a hundred more ants. 



KENNETH. Something 1 is going to happen again, I 

 think. Our ants are commencing to build an annex two 

 feet from home over in the dry grass, weeds and sticks. 

 Seventy-five workers are clearing seventy-five square 

 inches of ground around the door of the annex. 



CECIL. They need the cleared space for a dirt dump, 

 besides these weeds would be a good place for the enemy 



An Ant Leaning a Blade of Grass Against the Weeds. 



to hide in. It's a rush order, all right, the way the miners 

 are hustling. The ground is very dry and hard, too. 



KENNETH. So dry the ants are not making earth 

 balls, but carrying the dirt out in basketfuls (jawfuls). A 

 basketful is the size of a small pinhead. 



CECIL. "Why this speeding up when mining is so hard, 

 unless they have received a wireless message that another 

 war has been declared? 



KENNETH. It took our ants twenty-four hours to clear 



