divested him of his members. They fought with more pertinacity than bulldogs. Neither manifested the least disposition to retreat. It was evident that their battle cry was "Conquer or die!"

5. Meanwhile there came along a single red ant on the hillside of this valley, evidently full of excitement, who either had despatched his foe or had not yet taken part in the battle (probably the latter, for he had lost none of his limbs),—whose mother had charged him to return with his shield or upon it. Or perchance he was some Achilles, who had nourished his wrath apart, and had now come to avenge or rescue Patroclus.

6. He saw this unequal combat from afar-for the blacks were twice the size of the red,—he drew near with rapid pace till he stood on his guard within half an inch of the combatants; then, watching his opportunity, he sprang upon the black warrior, and commenced his operations near the root of his right fore leg, leaving the foe to select among his own members; and so there were three united for life, as if a new kind of attraction had been invented which put all other locks and cements to shame.

7. I should not have wondered by this time to find that they had their respective musical bands stationed on some eminent chip, and playing their national airs the while, to excite the slow and cheer

the dying combatants. I was myself excited somewhat even as if they had been men. The more you think of it, the less the difference.

8. And certainly there is not the fight recorded in Concord history at least, if in the history. of America, that will bear a moment's comparison with this, whether for the numbers engaged in it or for the patriotism and heroism displayed. For numbers and for carnage it was an Austerlitz or Dresden. There was not one hireling there. I have no doubt it was a principle they fought for, as much as our ancestors; and the results of this battle will be as important and memorable to those whom it concerns as those of the battle of Bunker Hill, at least.

9. I took up the chip on which the three I have particularly described were struggling, carried it into my house, and placed it under a tumbler on my window sill, in order to see the issue. Holding a microscope to the first mentioned red ant, I saw that, though he was assiduously gnawing at the near fore leg of his enemy, having severed his remaining feeler, his own breast was all torn away, exposing what vitals he had there to the jaws of the black warrior, whose breastplate was apparently too thick for him to pierce; and the dark carbuncles of the sufferer's eyes shone with ferocity such as war only could excite.

10. They struggled half an hour longer under the tumbler, and when I looked again the black soldier had severed the heads of his foes from their bodies, and the still living heads were hanging on either side of him like ghastly trophies at his saddle-bow, still apparently as firmly fastened as ever, and he was endeavoring with feeble struggles, being without feelers and with only the remnant of a leg, and I know not how many other wounds, to divest himself of them; which at length, after half an hour more, he accomplished.

11. I raised the glass, and he went off over the window sill in that crippled state. Whether he finally survived that combat, and spent the remainder of his days in some Hôtel des Invalides, I do not know; but I thought that his industry would not be worth much thereafter. I never learned which party was victorious, nor the cause of the war; but I felt for the rest of that day as if I had had my feelings excited and harrowed by witnessing the struggle, the ferocity and carnage, of a human battle before my door.

1. Wrestled, legions, myrmidons, resolutely, adversaries, pertinacity, divested, perchance, despatch, comparison, carnage, described, microscope, assiduously, carbuncles, ghastly, trophies.

2. Do ants seem to have leaders whom they obey? Have you read any facts showing this? Do bees ever fight? Do you

think these little creatures fight for principles or for spoils? What is meant by "myrmidons"? "Hôtel des Invalides"? Who was Achilles? Patroclus?

XXXVIII. THE DEATH OF A PAUPER.

1. There was neither knocker nor bell-handle at the open door where Oliver and his master stopped; so, groping his way cautiously through the dark passage, and bidding Oliver keep close to him and not be afraid, the undertaker mounted to the top of the first flight of stairs, and, stumbling against a door on the landing, rapped at it with his knuckles.

2. It was opened by a young girl of thirteen or fourteen. The undertaker at once saw enough of what the room contained to know it was the apartment to which he had been directed. He stepped in, and Oliver followed him.

3. There was no fire in the room; but a man was crouching mechanically over the empty stove. An old woman, too, had drawn a low stool to the cold hearth, and was sitting beside him. There were some ragged children in another corner; and in a small recess opposite the door there lay upon the ground something covered with an old blanket. Oliver shuddered as he cast his eyes toward the place, and crept closer to his master; for, though it was covered up, the boy felt that it was a corpse.

4. The man's face was thin and very pale; his hair and beard were grizzly, and his eyes were bloodshot. The old woman's face was wrinkled, her two remaining teeth protruded over her upper lip, and her eyes were bright and piercing. Oliver was afraid to look at either her or the man; they seemed so like the rats he had seen outside.

5. "Nobody shall go near her," said the man, starting fiercely up as the undertaker approached the recess. "Keep back!-keep back, if you've a life to lose!" "Nonsense, my good man!" said the undertaker, who was pretty well used to misery in all its shapes-"nonsense!"

6. "I tell you," said the man, clenching his hands and stamping furiously on the floor-"I tell you, I won't have her put into the ground. She couldn't rest there. The worms would worry-not eat her -she is so worn away" The undertaker offered no reply to this raving, but, producing a tape from his pocket, knelt down for a moment by the side of the body.

7. "Ah!" said the man, bursting into tears, and sinking on his knees at the feet of the dead woman; "kneel down, kneel down; kneel around her, every one of you, and mark my words. I say she starved to death. I never knew how bad she was till the fever came upon her, and then her bones were starting through the skin. There was neither fire