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Tale of Daddy Long Legs, The

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<h2>XVIII</h2> <h3>THE ANT ARMY</h3> Urged on by their leaders, the ant soldiers dashed upon meek, frightened Daddy Longlegs. On all sides they crowded about him. And as he looked down at his swarming enemies and saw how fiercely they rushed at him, his knees began to tremble just as they did when a strong wind was blowing. Poor Daddy stood helplessly waiting for the worst to happen. He expected any moment to feel himself pulled down and thrown upon the ground. But strange to say, in spite of the uproar and the mad charge of Daddy's enemies, nothing of the kind occurred. Soon it became clear that the ant army was in some sort of trouble. Although the leaders drove the soldiers at Daddy Longlegs with frantic cries, the army merely surged backwards and forwards around him. And Daddy had not received as much as a slap on the wrist from a single one of the attacking party. Seeing that his forces were making no headway against the enemy, General Antenna, who commanded the entire army, called to one of the captains. "What's the trouble, Captain Kidd?" the General demanded. "Our soldiers don't seem to be doing any damage." Of course, you must click your heels together when a General speaks to you. And naturally that took Captain Kidd some time to do, because it is no easy matter to click your heels together when you have six feet. Perhaps it was only to be expected that General Antenna should quickly become impatient. "Why don't you answer?" the General shouted. "We'll lose the battle if we're not careful!" Then Captain Kidd had to stop and salute the General. And that took time, too. For how could anyone touch his cap when he had lost it somewhere? Luckily, General Antenna soon saw what was the matter, and said: "Here—take my cap!" And the General promptly clapped a gold-braided cap upon the Captain's head. Then Captain Kidd was able to salute. And after that—and not before—the brave officer was ready to answer the General's inquiry. Yes! Captain Kidd was all ready to reply. But by that time the Captain had quite forgotten what the question was. Fortunately, General Antenna remembered—and repeated—it. "What's the trouble?" "Oh, yes!" said the Captain. "The trouble is this: Our soldiers can't reach the enemy. Daddy Longlegs is so tall that they can't touch anything except his feet!" Taking a careful look at the battle-field, the General saw that it was so. But still the commander of the army was not dismayed. "Can't you tip him over?" "We've tried to already," replied Captain Kidd. "But he has too many legs for us." "Can't your soldiers stand on one another's shoulders?" "It's no use," the Captain answered. "We've tried that too." General Antenna began to look somewhat worried, knowing that if the army couldn't win the battle before Rusty Wren came home, all would be lost. For no army of ants could stand and fight such a monster as he. "I have it!" the General cried at last. "I've thought of the very thing.... Bring some stepladders!" <hr class="chapter" /> <div style="break-after:column;"></div>

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