ABIDING CITIES 187 



and the family of the future slaves, in which the 

 ground was strewn with the corpses of the van- 

 quished. Not till the nest of the smaller ants was 

 almost exterminated did they retire from the un- 

 equal contest, and allow the proud invader to carry 

 off their brothers and sisters in their cocoons, asleep 

 and unconscious. 



The two ants figured in No. 3 are deliberating 

 on the chances of such a cocoon-lifting expedition. 

 The one to the right has been hunting for honey 

 up the stems of vetches, and has fallen in by the 

 way with a small nest of Turf Ants. Returning 

 post-haste to her own home, big with this exciting 

 intelligence, she encounters a comrade, to whom 

 she communicates, in antennae language, her belief 

 that the Turf Ants she has discovered are not very 

 numerous, and her conviction that they would fall 

 an easy prey to a well-organised party of Warrior 

 raiders. The two friends cross their antennae as 

 they talk, wave them mysteriously about, and evi- 

 dently succeed in conveying their respective views 

 on the situation to one another. After a short 

 delay, both return, all agog, to the nest together, 

 and rouse the guard with intelligence of plenty of 

 pupae ready to be plundered. At once the city 

 hums, alive with bustle and preparation. Workers 

 run to and fro and communicate orders from head- 

 quarters to one another. "There's a big slave- 

 hunt on ; sister-fighter so-and-so has just brought 

 news of a city of Turfites, quite near, and unpro- 

 tected. The doors are open, and she noticed as 

 she passed that the sentries looked most lax and 



