Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/149

Rh there is something good here, and what are they doing with those eggs that they carry in and out of the hill all the time?"

"The eggs are their children, and those that carry them are the guardians and nurses. When the day is warm they carry them out of their dark chambers into the sunshine, so that they may be warmed up and grow better."

"And where are their mammas?" asked Adelka. "They are in the house, laying eggs, so that the ants shall not die out. The fathers walk about them, talk with them, and cheer them up, to keep them from being lonesome; and the other ants, that you see running about, are the workers."

"And what do they do?" asked John.

"They gather food, build and repair the house, take care of the pupas,—the growing children,—and keep the house clean; when one of their number dies, they carry him away; they stand guard, that no enemy may come upon them unawares, and fight to protect the colony. All this is done by the workers."

"How do they understand each other when they cannot speak?"

"Although they have not such a language as people use, still they understand each other. Did you not observe how the first one that found the sugar at once went and told the others, and how they came running from all directions? See how when they meet they touch one another with their feelers, as if they said a few words in passing; and groups of them are standing in various places as if they were discussing something."

"In those hills, have they parlors and kitchens?" asked Adelka.