“O Polly!” exclaimed little Dick in dismay.
“Yes,” said Polly; “and there she was, and she couldn’t speak for a minute, for she had come so far and so fast, that it was impossible for her to catch her breath, so the black creatures ran around and around her in great glee, and every one of them said: ‘How very nice and fat you are; now we’ll eat you up.’”
“O Polly!” cried little Dick again, and snuggling up closer; “didn’t she cry then.”
“No,” said Polly, “she didn’t, because you see it wouldn’t have done any good,—she’d got to think up things, how to get out, and all that, you know, so there wasn’t any time to cry. And she spoke up just as soon as she could catch her breath, ‘Oh, what a wonderful place is this!’ and she rolled her little bits of eyes all around; and the ants said”—
“Oh! were the hundreds of black creatures ants?” asked little Dick.
“Yes, indeed; oh! didn’t I tell you?” cried Polly, all in one breath; “they were dear little black ants, and the deep, deep place that Brown Betty tumbled into when she was carrying home the piece of a dead fly, was their house. And when she said ‘Oh, what a wonderful place is this!’ they were all very much pleased, and they ran around and around her faster than ever, all talking together, and they said, ‘She seems to be very wise,—it’s a pity to eat her just now. We will wait and let her tell us things first.’
“And Brown Betty heard them say that as they were all running around and around her; for you see when she made up her mind not to cry, she thought she would better keep her ears open as well as her eyes, and find out some way to escape.”
“What’s escape?” interrupted little Dick.
“Oh! to get out, so they wouldn’t eat her up!” said Polly; “well, and so when she heard them say that, why, Brown Betty thought of something else that would give her more time to think up things, how to get away. And she said, ‘Oh! if I might only see some of the splendid places you’ve got in your house, I should be so happy;’ for you see she had heard how the ants build great, long halls and rooms, and ever so many nooks and crannies. And the big ant that made them all mind everything she said, heard her say it, because Brown Betty called it as out loud as she could; and so the big ant spoke up, and ordered a company of a hundred ants to get into line.”
[“O Polly, a hundred ants!” cried little Dick with an absorbed face.]