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The Raid on the Termites By: Paul Ernst (1899-1985) |
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The Raid on the Termites A Complete Novelette By Paul Ernst
Armed with splinters of steel, two
ant sized men dare the formidable
mysteries of a termitary.
CHAPTER I The Challenge of the Mound
It was a curious, somehow weird looking thing, that mound. About a yard
in height and three and a half in diameter, it squatted in the grassy
grove next the clump of trees like an enormous, inverted soup plate.
Here and there tufts of grass waved on it, of a richer, deeper color,
testifying to the unwholesome fertility of the crumbling outer stuff
that had flaked from the solid mound walls. Like an excrescence on the flank of Mother Earth herself, the mound
loomed; like an unhealthy, cancerous growth. And inside the enigmatic
thing was another world. A dark world, mysterious, horrible, peopled by
blind and terrible demons a world like a Dante's dream of a second
Inferno. Such, at least, were the thoughts of Dennis Braymer as he worked with
delicate care at the task of sawing into the hard cement of a portion of
the wall near the rounded top. His eyes, dark brown and rimmed with thick black lashes, flashed
earnestly behind his glasses as they concentrated on his difficult job.
His face, lean and tanned, was a mask of seriousness. To him, obviously,
this was a task of vital importance; a task worthy of all a man's
ability of brain and logic. Obviously also, his companion thought of the work as just something with
which to fill an idle afternoon. He puffed at a pipe, and regarded the
entomologist with a smile. To Jim Holden, Denny was simply fussing fruitlessly and absurdly with an
ordinary "ant hill," as he persisted in miscalling a termitary. Playing
with bugs, that was all. Wasting his time poking into the affairs of
termites and acting, by George, as though those affairs were of supreme
significance! He grinned, and tamped and relighted the tobacco in his pipe. He
refrained from putting his thoughts into words, however. He knew, of
old, that Denny was apt to explode if his beloved work were interrupted
by a careless layman. Besides, Dennis had brought him here rather under
protest, simply feeling that it was up to a host to do a little
something or other by way of trying to amuse an old college mate who had
come for a week's visit. Since he was there on sufferance, so to speak,
it was up to him to keep still and not interrupt Denny's play. The saw rasped softly another time or two, then moved, handled with
surgeon's care, more gently till at last a section about as big as the
palm of a man's hand was loose on the mound top. Denny's eyes snapped. His whole wiry, tough body quivered. He visibly
held his breath as he prepared to flip back that sawed section of
curious, strong mound wall. He snatched up his glass, overturned the section. Jim drew near to watch, too, seized in spite of himself by some of the
scientist's almost uncontrollable excitement. Under the raised section turmoil reigned for a moment. Jim saw a horde
of brownish white insects, looking something like ants, dashing
frenziedly this way and that as the unaccustomed light of sun and
exposure of outer air impinged upon them. But the turmoil lasted only a
little while. Quickly, in perfect order, the termites retreated. The exposed honeycomb
of cells and runways was deserted. A slight heaving of earth told how
the insects were blocking off the entrances to the exposed floor, and
making that floor their new roof to replace the roof this invading giant
had stripped from over them. In three minutes there wasn't a sign of life in the hole. The
observation if one could call so short a glimpse at so abnormally
acting a colony an observation was over. Denny rose to his feet, and dashed his glass to the ground. His face was
twisted in lines of utter despair, and through his clenched teeth the
breath whistled in uneven gasps... Continue reading book >>
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Literature |
Science |
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