Page:Dick Sands the Boy Captain.djvu/329

 WHITE ANTS. 3OÎ se to bc so surprîsing when ît îs explaîned that their mdity is such that a single female of the termites icosi has been estimated to produce as many as sixty usand eggs a day. Thèse Neuroptera furnîsh the natives Il a favourite food, grilled ants being considered a great icacy." Hâve you ever tasted them ? " asked Hercules, with a 1. Never," answered the naturah'st ; " but I am in hopes I 11 bave a chance of doing so very soon." Surely you don't imagine yoursclf in Africa ! " said n suddenly. Africa ! no ; why should I ? " rcplied Benedict ; " but, [ hâve aiready seen a tzetsy in America, I do not despair liaving the satisfaction of discovering white ants there . You do not know the sensation I shall make in rope when I publish my folio volume and its illustra- is." t was évident that no inkling of the truth had yet entei*ed ►r Benedict*s brain, and it seemed lîkcly that it would uîre démonstration far more striking than any natural momena to undcccive the minds of such of the party as •e not aiready in possession of the fatal secret. Uthough it was nîne o'clock, Cousin Benedict wcnt on
 * îng încessantly, regardless of the fact that one by one

audience were falling to sleep in their separate cclls.
 * k Sands did not sleep, but ncither did he interrupt the

omologist by farther questions ; Hercules kcpt up hîs mtion longer than the rest, but at Icngth he too suc- nbed to weariness, and his eyes and cars wcrc closed to external sîghts and sounds. $ut endurance has limits, and at last Cousin Benedict, îng worn himself out, clambcred up to the topmost cell he cône, which hc had chosen for his dormitory, and into a peaceful slumbcr. The lantern had been aiready extinguishcd. AU was kness and silence within, whilst the storm without still ed with a violence that gave no sign of abatement. )îck Sands himself was the only one of the party who 4