182 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 
a pair of hands, and long, mobile arms, which 
could quickly and skilfully pluck an attacking 
ant from any part of their anatomy. 
The strangest of all the tenants were the tiny, 
amber-colored roaches which clung frantically to 
the heads of the great soldier ants, or scurried 
over the tumultuous mounds, searching for a 
crevice sanctuary. They were funny, fat little 
beings, wholly blind, yet supremely conscious of 
the danger that threatened, and with only the 
single thought of getting below the surface as 
quickly as possible. The Attas had very few 
insect guests, but this cockroach is one which 
had made himself perfectly at home. Through 
century upon century he had become more and 
more specialized and adapted to Atta life, eyes 
slipping until they were no more than faint 
specks, legs and antenne changing, gait becom- 
ing altered to whatever speed and carriage best 
suited little guests in big underground halls and 
galleries. He and his race had evolved unseen 
and unnoticed even by the Maxim policemen. 
But when nineteen hundred humanly historical 
years had passed, a man with a keen sense of 
fitness named him Little Friend of the Attas; 
and so for a few more years, until scientists give 
