s.
And the red ants swarmed to attack the black ants that held the heights
with savage and desperate fury. He says he panted with excitement as he
watched the courage of the attack and defence, the savagery of the
"hand-to-hand" fighting. The black and red fell by myriads, and the
doctor had persuaded himself that he observed amazing incidents of
individual heroism. One particular range seemed to be the especial aim
of the red forces, and they swarmed up victorious and held it for a
while, and then retreated. The doctor could not quite make out the
reason of this. He started violently when his man called to him. Roberts
said he had called for five minutes without getting an answer, and that
the Dean was in a hurry, with only five minutes to spare. So the
Prebendary went into the house in a kind of dwam, as the Scots put it,
and had no notion of what the Dean had to say; and when he got back to
the garden he found his gardener smoothing the plot with a long rake,
and raking in a lot of dead ants with the mould. The gardener said it
was the boys; but the doctor took no notice, and went to the Custos that
night, and the Custos reading his paper a fortnight later began to think
that the old Prebendary was a prophet.

And the Prebendary? He ends his letter: "Quod superius est sicut quod
inferius" ("that which is above is as that which is below"), as the
Smaragdine Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus testifies, and it is my belief
that this is a world battle in the sense which we do not appreciate.
There have been some who have held that the earthly conflict is but a
reflection of the war in heaven. What if it be reflected infinitely, if
it penetrate to the uttermost depths of creation? And if a speck of dust
be a cosmos--the universe--of revolving worlds? There may be battles
between creatures that no microscope shall ever discover.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 3: _The Little Nations._]

X

THE SEVEN LIGHTS

From WILSON'S "Tales of the Borders"

John M'Pherson was a farmer and grazier in Kintyre--a genuine
Highlander. In person, though of rather low stature than otherwise, he
was stout, athletic, and active; bold and fearless in disposition, warm
in temper, friendly, and hospitable--this last to such a degree that his
house was never without as many strangers and visitors of different
descriptions, as nearly doubled his own household.

To the vagrant beggar his house and meal-chest were ever open; and to no
one, whate