THE ANTS 69 



We have heard how the nurses help the babies 

 out of their Httle, tightly wrapped cradles, how they 

 unfold the legs and smooth out the tiny, crum- 

 pled wings with great care and seeming tenderness: 

 how they also feed the queen and comb and brush 

 her with their antennae. If a queen dies the workers 

 are inconsolable and crowd around her trying to 

 raise her up and bring her to life again. They seem 

 to mourn for her for weeks. When they come across 

 any of their own number in distress they are most 

 vahant comrades, doing everything they can to 

 help the distressed one, even to slinging her over 

 their backs and taking her a long distance back to 

 their hill. 



Now these little ants which seem so insignifi- 

 cant to some people are God's creatures. He has 

 made them and He has given them the power to do 

 things which we had supposed we alone could do. 

 Some things they do even better than we can. Think 

 of these ant cities, with all the thousands of their 

 members working so hard to make their own city 

 quite perfect, and best of all, with no quarreling 

 or idleness. 



The wise man of old thought that idle people 

 might well consider the ways of the ant and learn 

 to be diligent. The wise man to-day will see how 

 wonderful it is that God's laws are the same for all 

 hfe. Ants show in theu* way just what people have 

 learned, that industry and faithfulness are neces- 

 sary in the life we live together, and that to help 

 one another is the right law for ant cities as it is 

 for our own. 



