I started ahead post-haste and began tocross the
river via these aerial threads. It waslate in the afternoon; and it was unlikely
that an attack would bemade at once.
I did not, at the time, grasp the full significance
of thisdiscovery; nor did Bissa-tee. Apparently, among ants, too, genius ranks below
birth. In fact, I took several steps forward but was held back by
mycompanions.
It waslate in the afternoon; and it was unlikely
that an attack would bemade at once.
As it was, we had to concentrate from thebeginning
on other methods of accomplishing the task. It seemed that only Assa-ree had both
thescience and the strength to slay her assailants.
Meanwhile, Azte-ca was not idle and kept going
about from one humanhabitation to the other. The afternoonlight assumed a lurid
shade. She darkened; and then, true to her nature, she answered boldly,They were
Ecitons. And these eggs were of a shape and size which no antnative to these parts
could have produced.
The coming and going lasted for half an hour. We
had proof of thefact that she had used the carriers of the army for
thetransportation of pupæ. We went out on the road; and Bissa-tee began to explain
to me justhow things had happened.
They were carried, she evaded, in order to maintain
the morale ofthe troops.
Therewere six of them; and she aligned them in
front of the ranks. What Assa-ree did, I do not know; butshe recovered in a
remarkably short time.
But the HighCommand had been exactly in the path of
the near pair of wheels.
Her enquiry,however, as to what was wanted was
sullen and defiant.
If I looked in any way like Bissa-tee, Imust have
been a sorry sight. Fiveyears were the average lifetime of all but the queen among
Attas;and I was now twice that age. How much more easily could we not have spared a
hundredsoldiers, nay, every last one that remained!
As it was, we had to concentrate from thebeginning
on other methods of accomplishing the task.
As we appeared at the opening of our gallery, we
were just in timeto witness the whole proceeding.