OCR Text |
Show ant's uncle, "has had the Impudence to sit down on ay hat and he won't get up." The roan looked In the direction of Benjamin and then yawned and got up and walked away. "Benjamin. Benjamin." cried the ant's aunt, a few minutes later, "little Betsy Ann has come back and she says that nearly a duten of the c hi Urea started to climb a mountain, and th mountain got up and walked away Won't you pleas go sod try and find them?" TtM ant's uncle Jammed his crushed. Ilk bat down over bis eye, picked up a big switch and went to find the children. chil-dren. H walked and walked until he came to a place where a whole lot of men and women were sitting In a circle cir-cle while the mosquito ate them. The men and women were eating pickle and dry sandwiches and trying to look; happy. I'ncle Benjamin hurried down the middle of the tablecloth and calling. call-ing. "Children, children." at the top of bis voice. Everywhere he went he-met he-met some of those miserable little children chil-dren who had run away from their own picnic. He found them sitting on the edge of a spouse cake dangl'ng their feet and kicking hole in tbe Icing. They were perched on loaves of bread and up on top of a plate of sliced ham, tbey were playing blue and 1 seek. Some of them had climbed up i into a great big tin reservoir. There I were all their clothe on the edge and they were having a swim. "Dldnt I tell you nut to go near the water?" asked I'nrlt- Benjamin, shaking shak-ing his cane. "Now, where do I find 1 you?" "It Isn't water." srd sll the children chil-dren ants; "It's lemonade." It took tbe ants' uncle more than an hour to get all the children together. "Vhy don't you -ome away from here?- he said. "Don't you hear all the men and women talking and say-j say-j Ing that it would be such a delightful place here If It were not for those mis-r-ble ants?" I "They dida't say a word," replied ' the children, "until you came." My fairest child. 1 have bo song to you; No lark could pip to skle so dull and gray; Tst, r w part, one lesson I can lav ou. For vry day. Be good, sweet maid, and let who .ill be elever; Do nobie thing. not dream them, ail day long; And so make life, death and that vast forever Ona grand. sweet song. Charles Klngsley. Amtt OlTwm Ttrmtm. The ant aunt had to glv a picnic beeauee she bad been tavited to so many place by all her ralatlvea. snl she thought It was time to- pay tack some of the Invitations. ' "But it will be such a bother," said the ant' uncle, when he heard about It. "Don't be foolish, now." replied the ant' aunt. "We cannot go to society without going to some trouble." So the ant s uncle said that It wowld be all right, for he sUways said something some-thing of that kind w!en bla wife talked talk-ed about giving a party- He was sleeping early the next morning, when his wife woke him and j said: "Benjamin, Benjamin, did you I remember to get the Itmons and the sugar?" "No." replied the ant's uncle, as ho rolled over again In bed. "The grocery gro-cery store was closed." "Then you will have to go Into the kitchen of the man's bouse and get as much as you can carry before the cook gets up." "The last time I waa there." muttered mut-tered Benjamin. "I nearly got blown up with the kerosene can." By the time the ant s uncle got back to his house he found more than a hundred ants of all kinds walking up ! and down and -carrying all kinds of j provisions. "You are very late," said the anfs ! aunt "What did yoit do about the j ! swing. Benjamin? Di 1 you stop auJ , ' see the spider sbout It?" Benjamin had forgiXten all aiwtit ! the swing, so he had to go back to where the spider kept a shop, and h came back after a while with a wiieel- j barrow loaded down with rope. Tho ant's aunt was lame, and she had to. walk with a cane. She was at the j head of the picnic party, and Renja- j mln, the ant's uncle, came last of all j 1 with his wheelbarrow filled with ropa - and baskets and sugrr and lemons and tub and glasses and everything which ' might be used on a picnic. The aat went to Deacon Jones' woods, and a ; they got nearer they heard all kinds ' of strange noises. All tbe animal and all the birds csme uat to see the picnlo go by. The ants walked on until they . came to a bare spot In the middle of j the woods, and tbre they stopped and put down their bundles and baskets. "This will be a nice place to wt Instable." Ins-table." said the ant aunt. "Now. Thla made Uncle Benjamin so angry that he swang his cane aiid chafed all the children before him back to the place where the table of the ants' picnic pic-nic bad been spread. Way over to one side was the ants' aunt all alone. She had her handkerchief to her eyes, and was crjlag as though her heart would breolc "Why. what's the matter?" asked Uncle Benjamin. "What in the world has batoned?" "Why. cant yon se? replied th ants' ant. "A miserable man came till way ami stepped right on the table ta-ble and whin he lifted up his- foot everything was mined." "Come out children." said Unci Benjamin. "Let as all go back to th men's picnic. After he has treated us this way. ae deserves that we should tease him and aB his family." That 1 the reason that, when men I and women glw picnics, all the ants In the neighborhood go and plague . them. Benjamin. while I am doing all the work, suppose )wu go sad put up the wing for the children." The ant' unite said something underneath un-derneath his bteath aiud then took th rope and tbs boards and things and put up 113 wings. lie hurt his kne and sprained kla back and ct his Lagers. La-gers. He also stubbed bis toes. "You needn't feel so badly about hurting your toes." said a centipede, who was going fat-1. "suppose yoa had toes on 100 feet to. stub, then you could afford to talk." The ant's unci returned to the place where the taU was being set. He threw his hat over on the grass and aat down, saying. "I am very tired and a title rst would do m a great deal of good." "Whyjust swe what Uncle Benjamin did." cried ail the small ants at once. "Benjamfa, Benjamin." cried the ant's aunt, "how could you do such a thing?" "You VHight not to be so careless," replied Benjamin, "how was I to know that it was a custard pie? I thought It waa a nice cushion you put there for me." Ths ant's uncle started to get his hat and walk away. He bad not gone very far before be became red In the face IltWas; with Hlrdv. In thfs country the fl.-herman Is a man who us. book and line or the net la following his profession, aad folks would (tare with wonder to see him start off with a lock of birds to he p In catching, fish. Yet this Is done In China. There the Chinaman may b seen In his sampan surrounded by cormorants, which have been trained to dash Into the water at his order, seize the ft?h and bring them to the boat. Should a cormorant capture a flsJj too large for It to carry alone, one of Its companions will go to Its assistance as-sistance and together they will bring It In. If the Chinaman wishes to catch turtles tur-tles he will do so with' the aid of a sticking fish or remora. The fish has on top of its head a long disc or sucker by which It attaches Itself beneath moving objects such as sharks, w hales, and the bottoms of ships rather than make the effort necessary to independent indepen-dent movement. The fisherman fastens the remora to a long cord tied to a bra.s ring about Its tall and when he reaches the turtle ground put It overboard, taking tak-ing care to keep It from the bottom of the boat. When a turtle passes near, the remora darts beneath hit and fas tens to his shell. Struggle as he will the turtle cannot loosen the grip of the sucker and the Chinaman has only on-ly to haul in on the line, bring '.he turtle tur-tle up to the boat and take him (.board. The man who Uirrows trouble doesn't does-n't have to pay It bark but he neves gets done paying Interest- with anger. "Get eff my hat." all th ants heard nlm say, "how dare you sit on a poor ant's hat like that. Haven't you got any manners?" "What la the matter. Benjamin?" asked the ant' aunt, picking up her can and hobbling toward her husband. hus-band. Tbi mlserabls man." yelled ti |