WITH ARMY ANTS 231 



naed it fiercely for a moment and reluctantly 

 released it. One could read their indecision 

 as they olowly loosened their hold, turning 

 again and again and waving their antennae as 

 if to make sure that it was not better to act 

 on their suspicion and slay at once. Finally, 

 they always passed on. The pale ones had some 

 strange inaudible password, some sensory parole 

 which protected them. And their total lack of 

 fear showed their knowledge of their immunity. 

 Even with the added sense of sight which they 

 possessed, they chose voluntarily to accept this 

 dubious, reluctantly accorded friendship. But 

 it was probable that, even if they lived in the 

 very community or nest of the army ants, theirs 

 was the hard-earned dependence of neutrals 

 who were liable to be knocked down at a mo- 

 ment's notice, and searched for any strange, 

 inimical scent which would spell instant 

 death. 



In one place the army column made a slight 

 detour round a hillock of sandgrains upon which 

 a host of tiny brown ants was laboring. I 

 thought it remarkable that such immunity 

 should be accorded these dwarfs, and I sought 

 the reason. It was forthcoming at once when I 



