very high; it is true. The dome rises about two feet above
the ground. But then it is more than forty feet across. One of them
would reach nearly across our garden, like a great white swelling upon
the face of the earth. They certainly need something to hold together
the wet clay of their great domes."

"But our ants here live 'way down, 'way under-ground," remarked Willie.

"So do these," replied Uncle Ben. "The dome is only the roof of their
house. They are famous diggers--I assure you of that. Talk about our
miners, with their tunnels running deep into the mountains: why, their
work is nothing in comparison with that of these little creatures. They
make wonderful under-ground tunnels, which run out from the nest in all
directions, and to incredible distances. No one sees these tunnels,
however, unless they may happen to come to the surface in a very
disastrous manner, as they sometimes do."

"How do you mean?" asked Harry, curiously. He had now crept out of his
lair, and was seated quietly beside his uncle, with his feet hanging
just above the stream.

"Why, in one case, in South America, they tunnelled through the bank of
a reservoir. The first thing the people knew, the water was rushing out
in a torrent. It was never discovered what was the trouble until the
reservoir was quite empty, when they found that the parasol ants had
caused the mischief."

"Well, I do declare!" cried Willie, laughing so heartily that he nearly
tumbled off Uncle Ben's knee. "Wasn't that jes ever so cunning?"

"Why, you don't think they did it just a-purpose, for nothing but
mischief, I hope?" asked Harry, with some indignation.

"I s'poses so," replied Willie, laughing to that extent that he dropped
his hat into the stream. And then there was a lively scramble until it
was rescued again from the merry waters, which were running away with it
as fast as they could.

"You're such a comical little fellow," said Harry, as he shook the water
from the dripping hat, and pressed it tightly down on Willie's head.
"Anybody that can't laugh without shaking his hat overboard!"

"But that was so funny 'bout the ants lettin' the water all run away!
don' know how I's to help laughin'," retorted Willie.

"There is another story told," continued Uncle Ben, "about a nest of
parasol ants that dug a tunnel into a gold mine. The under-ground
streams got turned into this tunnel, and the waters poured in until they
flooded the mine. It cost thousands