Show pina bmw THE ANT EATER 1 I am the great ant enter cater also sometimes 30 lines 1 known us as the ant bear and I 1 wish to tell you a story the great ant eater had been walking along on ills his queer feet dav wu ing ills his long and bushy tall ile he hafl had been eating all the morning mornin gand and had bita captured many 0 of the bud bad kinds ol of ants which live down in south america they are different from the ants we see eee lie ile had had an excellent meal he was smacking his lips and anyone could have seen that his bis mouth was so small it could not have taken in much nt at a time but the ants knew it nias mas quite big enough for them and they knew how his front claws could tear open old logs where insects liked to live and how ills claws could dig up the ant hills when any of my family have been captured he said we are fed on milk ground meat and eggs but we prefer ants and insects and delicious little crawling things now the great ant eater was talking to an ant hill lie ile was standing tit at one side addressing the little ants who looked very nervous 1 I know you vou like to hear me talk he went on and the ants admitted they did they much preferred that to his eating and they were so afraid he lelh d 0 1 N 41 I 1 T W my dear little ants what would I 1 do without you would eat cat some more lie he had been visiting an old to log and they knew he had liar had all lie he wanted but his appetite was likely ely to come up ig again ain tiny any moment 1 I have no teeth lie he said and the little ants looked very much pleased but that makes no difference ho he went on and the ants looked sad it simply means that instead of eating things that haxe have to be chewed t and digested I 1 eat soft crawling things just like you dear little an ants is the poor ants grew ver very y nervous again when mr great ant began to talk about eating and called them dear little ants it made them worry that sounded too much like another meal and they did not want to see him cat another meal for it would mean that they would be taken into his funny little mouth it looked like the smallest of mouths but it could hold bold plenty of them they knew and his claws i would soon start digging them out of the hill chere where they lived sly aly dear little ants what would I 1 do without you asked the ant eater we could do without you said one brave little ant that that asked the ant enter dear me I 1 will have to reward a bright little ant like you thereupon ile he opened ills his mouth and all took the little ant upon his big tongue that was the end of the ant so the others kept very cry quiet well said the great ant eater that was a delicious little appetizer I 1 enjoyed that wee taste very much but I 1 will have to have more I 1 tried this hotel lately this lie said as he went to a corner of the ant hill bill and looked at a number of bf the ants going this way and that and lie he said it just as though lie he wall would be a welcome guest who would ray large prices tor for his food ali ah said the ant eater as he sival lowed ant utter after ant what does docs it matter if I 1 am toothless they often say it Is sad to he without teeth but ahat M lint care I 1 I 1 can always have soft food the kind I 1 like and I 1 am not helpless no my claws d do a my carving and dig digging ing and marketing and my toothless jaws do the rest and as the ant eater boasted of his splendid powers of eating lie he lived up to his remarks by eating all of the guests of the hotel botell 1 lie found another corner and began again but after a time lie he had had enough of ants and went to a log where lie he found some delicious worms alio ali o of the insect family good claws are useful but feed arl ari foolish said the ant enter eater after lie had bad finished his gigantic meal |