In one of the Ant-hills in the highest part of the meadow, were a lot of
young Ants talking together. "I," said one, "am going to be a soldier,
and drive away anybody who comes to make us trouble. I try biting hard
things every day to make my jaws strong, so that I can guard the home
better."
"I," said another and smaller Ant, "want to be a worker. I want to help
build and repair the home. I want to get the food for the family, and
feed the Ant babies, and clean them off when they crawl out of their
old coats. If I can do those things well, I shall be the happiest,
busiest Ant in the meadow."
"We don't want to live that kind of life," said a couple of larger Ants
with wings. "We don't mean to stay around the Ant-hill all the time and
work. We want to use our wings, and then you may be very sure that you
won't see us around home any more."
The little worker spoke up: "Home is a pleasant place. You may be very
glad to come back to it some day." But the Ants with the wings turned
their backs and wouldn't listen to another word.
A few days after this there were exciting times in the Ant-hill. All the
winged Ants said "Good-bye" to the soldiers and workers, and flew off
through the air, flew so far that the little ones at home could no
longer see them. All day long they were gone, but the next morning when
the little worker (whom we heard talking) went out to get breakfast, she
found the poor winged Ants lying on the ground near their home. Some of
them were dead, and the rest were looking for food.
The worker Ant ran up to the one who had said she didn't want to stay
around home, and asked her to come back to the Ant-hill. "No, I thank
you," she answered. "I have had my breakfast now, and am going to fly
off again." She raised her wings to go, but after she had given one
flutter, they dropped off, and she could never fly again.
The worker hurried back to the Ant-hill to call some of her sister
workers, and some of the soldiers, and they took the Ant who had lost
her wings and carried her to another part of the meadow. There they went
to work to build a new home and make her their queen.
First, they looked for a good, sandy place, on which the sun would shine
all day. Then the worker Ants began to dig in the ground and bring out
tiny round pieces of earth in their mouths. The soldiers helped them,
and before night they had a cosy little home in the earth, with several
rooms, and some food already stored. They took their queen in, and
brought her food to eat, and waited on her, and she was happy and
contented.
By and by the Ant eggs began to hatch, and the workers had all they
could do to take care of their queen and her little Ant babies, and the
soldier Ants had to help. The Ant babies were little worms or grubs when
they first came out of the eggs; after a while they curled up in tiny,
tiny cases, called pupa-cases, and after another while they came out of
these, and then they looked like the older Ants, with their six legs,
and their slender little waists. But whatever they were, whether eggs,
or grubs, or curled up in the pupa-cases, or lively little Ants, the
workers fed and took care of them, and the soldiers fought for them,
and the queen-mother loved them, and they all lived happily together
until the young Ants were ready to go out into the great world and learn
the lessons of life for themselves.
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