THE YEAR IS UP l 263 



one-eighth of an inch apart, and facing an old Acrobat 

 nest that was four feet away. In front of our ants were 

 a hundred Acrobats that thought they ought to have been 

 invited to the feast. 



DOROTHY. Well, I'm not surprised. Go on. 



KENNETH. Our ants had their heads down close to 

 the ground, like fighting roosters. After many a jerk, 

 jump, somersault, dodge, grab, tumble, scrap and shot, the 

 Acrobat jam forced a flying wedge through the ranks of 

 our ants and climbed onto the T-bone. 



DOROTHY. Ours were just bluffing, or some of the 

 ants would have been killed. Neither did the Acrobats 

 try to kill ours. That's certain. 



KENNETH. I left and came back at ten o'clock, but 

 some poor dog had carried off the bone ants and all, I 

 suppose. 



FLORENCE. I wondered why our ants had the St. 

 Vitus dance this morning. Combination of beef, battle and 

 bottle. 



ALBERT. I gave ours some grapes this evening to quiet 

 their nerves, but not an Acrobat stood at the well-filled 

 lunch counter. Always before this they attended all wine 

 suppers given by our ants uninvited. 



FLORENCE. Our ants have moved four times within a 

 year, used four different nests, and lived in one of the 

 houses twice. They moved three months after we first 

 found them, lived in the next house six weeks, and in one 

 only thirty-six hours. We know they have been chased 

 from home twice, and that they have had three battles 

 with the Eyeless Robbers. 



ALBERT. Yes, and now a man is building a house by 

 theirs and has covered the nest a foot deep with earth. 

 So the ants have been forced to move the fifth time. They 



