“Let us hope they’ll travel on,” he added. “There’s plenty of food abroad
for them. But tell me, where did you find that worm?”
“Back in the far corner. Come with me. I was cleaning out the débris when
I came upon him.”
“Well, did you finish your task?”
I had quite forgotten it. I had been so absorbed in the fight that the
original undertaking had gone out of mind.
“Then come on. I’ll help you.”
With that Crip led off, limpingly. I followed by his side, amazed at his
speed.
Soon we came to the place. Each of us seized a bit of the débris, and
away we went to deposit it far from the entrance to our home.
“I see where your worm came from,” Crip observed. “There’s a hole in
the board, and he found it, then crept in stealthily and hid in this
little heap of rubbish. I’m a bad guesser, or we’ll find another here any
minute.”
And sure enough. Crip seized a piece of comb, and, upon dragging it away,
out sprang another worm, even more forbidding than the other.
Crip was the first to spy him, and, valiant warrior that he was, seized
him instantly. I attacked him, also, with all my might. But the worm, a
full-grown one, and twice as big as both of us, simply flung us about
and thrashed us unmercifully. He quite knocked me to bits; but I never
relaxed my hold, nor did Crip. It was a poor showing that we were making,
when several guards rushed to our assistance. The fight was soon over and
the monster lay still.
“He’s dead,” said one of the new-comers. “Out with him.”
We all fell to, dragging him along. It took the combined energies of four
of us to move his huge form.
At last we arrived at the edge of our alighting-board, and down we
dropped him to the tender mercies of the black ants, who immediately
swarmed over him. One could almost imagine that they thanked us for the
delicacy we had tossed them. I wondered what the ants thought of us, if
they thought at all. I had become particularly interested in those big
red ones that ran along the tiny trail skirting our home.
I was looking down at the worm, covered with the little black ants, when,
in a final paroxysm, he flounced violently, scattering the little army
that beset him. But once again they fell upon him, and presently they
had cut him entirely to pieces, carrying away every scrap for a feast.
In the economy of things, these worms had grown and fattened on the
refuse of our hive, and now they had become food in their turn for a host
of tiny creatures which roamed the earth below, all this seemingly in
accordance with some unknown law.
I stood there watching them for some time, until the last ant made off,
following with unerring aim the trail of his fellows. Soon they were
lost to sight. It seemed to me that this last one disappeared under a
log where the Master often sat. I wondered what relation there might
be between them, if in some mysterious way they worked together, for I
remembered that Crip had told me that not only the Master, but even the
ants, sometimes raided our hives, taking our honey. I turned to ask him
to explain, but he was not to be seen among the bees swarming upon the
board. I must find him.
[Illustration: CHAPTER TWELVE