85 



gone well if the black ant had kept quiet. Instead 

 of that she struggled and tried to resist. Then in 

 an instant those terrible jaws tightened, and when 

 the red ant dropped her she was either dead or 

 dying. 



" She was one of the very few, however, who re- 

 sisted, and the others who hid away were left un- 

 harmed. Then our mistresses broke their way into 

 the large chambers where the larvee and cocoons 

 were kept. 



" After that came our part in the ugly business. We 

 were given these larvae and cocoons to carry away 

 with us. Soon our whole army, loaded with its 

 helpless prisoners, was on its way home again. 



" I have always had especial care of the cocoon 

 that I myself carried, and it was from that very 

 cocoon that you were hatched this morning. 



" So now you see how it is that you came to be a 

 slave, and why it is that we black ants are content 

 to be only that. If a whole nest of black ants were 

 not able to defend themselves against a small party of 

 red ones, and that in their own country, what chance 

 have we here in the red ants' nest, — slaves as we 

 have always been ? 



" But after all we are very happy here. We 



