HAPPY 



" I see where your worm came from," Crip observed. 

 " There's a hole in the board, and he found it, then 

 crept in stealthily and hid in this little heap of rubbish. 

 I'm a bad guesser, or we'll find another here any 

 minute." 



And sure enough. Crip seized a piece of comb, and, 

 upon dragging it away, out sprang another worm, even 

 more forbidding than the other. 



Crip was the first to spy him, and, valiant warrior 

 that he was, seized him instantly. I attacked him, 

 also, with all my might. But the worm, a full-grown 

 one, and twice as big as both of us, simply flung us 

 about and thrashed us unmercifully. He quite knocked 

 me to bits; but I never relaxed my hold, nor did Crip. 

 It was a poor showing that we were making, when 

 several guards rushed to our assistance. The fight 

 was soon over and the monster lay still. 



"He's dead," said one of the new-comers. "Out 

 with him." 



We all fell to, dragging him along. It took the com- 

 bined energies of four of us to move his huge form. 



At last we arrived at the edge of our alighting-board, 

 and down we dropped him to the tender mercies of the 

 black ants, who immediately swarmed over him. One 

 could almost imagine that they thanked us for the 

 delicacy we had tossed them. I wondered what the 

 ants thought of us, if they thought at all. I had be- 

 come particularly interested in those big red ones that 

 ran along the tiny trail skirting our home. 



I was looking down at the worm, covered with the 

 little black ants, when, in a final paroxysm, he flounced 

 violently, scattering the little army that beset him. 



