»If we should allow the shoots to grow«, remarked Mirmex, »they would fill the whole room and be of no use; therefore, we must bite them on the end, and so the shoots are stunted and grow into the broad, juicy bulbs which are our best food.« Tom tasted one or two of the bulbs and found them very good. They were slightly sweet and full of juice. He envied the ants their clever mode of living. He doubted if he would be able to bring the Ladybirds to such a degree of perfection; but when they were leaving the halls, he thought that, after all, the life of the Ladybirds was better, more beautiful, fresher, and more joyous, being spent in pleasure under the great, bright sky, without troubles, without heavy labor, and full of happiness and merriment. He thought that he would speak to Mirmex about it and ask him why the ants have no pleasure and merriment, if life is so serious that all the time it is necessary to worry and work and be on guard and not to have one moment of relief or time for one's own pleasure. [Illustration] CHAPTER NINE. THE WAR OF THE ANTS. THE PREPARATIONS FOR WAR. LITTLE TOM BECOMES THE COMMANDER OF THE BLACK TOWN. THE AMBUSCADE OF THE REDHEADS. LITTLE TOM'S VICTORY. THE PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY. LITTLE TOM TAKEN CAPTIVE. * * * * * [Illustration] When they came to the square before the town, Tom told Mirmex of his doubts, but before the latter could answer they perceived an ant hurrying at great speed out of the moss and barely succeeding in staggering around them to the gate. Mirmex looked after him in astonishment, but, at this moment, a crowd of the workmen ran out, quickly divided themselves into groups, and took their stations on the roads in every direction. The whole town was swarming with workmen, hurrying out, and with the nurses who were quickly carrying the chrysalises from the place where they had been sunning themselves, inside the mound. Some exciting message had set the town in an uproar. Mirmex immediately disappeared through the gate and Tom was left to look on the excited turmoil. It seemed to him the wildest disorder, that every one was hustling and running around, as if bereft of reason; but he soon saw that all this bustling was part of a carefully directed plan and that something was being carried out that he did not understand. From the gates were coming ants who stretched themselves in long, well-ordered lines and then disappeared in the moss. Work in the town ceased, and at once the whole surface was deserted; but from all the roads, crowds of ants came quickly into the square, where they formed themselves in battle array. Tom finally recognized that the preparations were for battle. At that moment, Mirmex came up to him and started leading him into the town, telling him that news had come of a marauding expedition of the Redheads.