the creek."

"I think _they_ should have been smoked out anyhow," said Harry.

"Guess I'd pulled eberyting 'fore the ants got over," suggested Willie.

"And what were those foraging ants you spoke of, Uncle Ben?"

"Jes neber mine them," exclaimed Willie. "You knows you was goin' to
tell all 'bout the cows, an' you ain't eber goin' to tell one word. I
b'lieves you's jes funnin' with us, Uncle Ben. I jes b'lieves that,
now."

"Oh! you want to hear about the cows?" said his uncle, with a look of
grave surprise. "Why, of course. The ant cows, you know, are everywhere.
There is no trouble to find them."

A stray branch of a grape-vine had grown over the hedge, and stretched
itself across the brook. Uncle Ben bent it down and examined it for a
minute.

"Why, here they are now!" he exclaimed, pointing to some very small
insects on one of the leaves, about which several ants were busying
themselves. "These are the ant cows. And here are their keepers looking
after them."

"Them little tings cows!" said Willie, with a look of utter disdain.

"You didn't expect to find them as big as our cows, I hope?" asked
Harry.

"Their real name is aphis, or plant-louse," said Uncle Ben. "They suck
the juices of the leaves. These juices become in their bodies a sort of
honey, which they yield from certain pores. The ants are very fond of
this honey-dew, and lap it up eagerly. And if you watch close you may
see them patting or stroking the aphides to make them yield the honey
faster. That is what has been called milking their cows."

"Well, that is very curious, I know," exclaimed Harry. "I am going to
watch them after this."

"Each ant seems to claim certain cows as his own property," continued
Uncle Ben. "And he will bristle up angrily if any other ant strays into
his pasture fields. But that is not the whole story. They not only milk
these cows, but they tenderly raise their calves. Some species of the
aphis live on the roots of plants. Around these the ants make their
nests, so as to have their cows in stables of their own. And they take
the greatest care of the eggs and the young of the aphides, raising them
as tenderly as they raise their own young. No human farmer could be more
careful of his own stock of cows and calves."

"You 'mos' might as well say they's folks right out," ejaculated
Willie, indignantly. "Anyhow, it's ole honey, an' it ain't milk at all."

"I am sure it is not the fault of the ants if their cows gi