GOOD-NIGHT STORIES.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 115, 18 May 1927, Page 12

GOOD-NIGHT STORIES.

DORIS INTERRUPTS A QUEER PARTY.

Told by BLANCHE SILVER for "PETEK PAN.") ,

One bright day while Doris was visiting her aunt who lived hi Mexico, she came across a queer sight. Three little red ants were being fed by a fourth who was much larger than the others. The large ant was having such a time to feed the hungry fellows that Doris laughed right out loud. The large ant stopped poking her mouth against the mouths of £he other three ants and glanced around at Doris. "Well, well," she laughed, "if it isn't Happy Giggles with a guest!" Doris turned around. Sure enough, there stood her little elfin friend, Happy Giggles, from Make-believeland. "I'm mighty glad to see you, Elfin friend. Will you have a sip V "Not now, thank you," laughed the elfin. "I just wanted you folks to meet Doris. This is her first trip to Mexico, and I know she has never seen a honey bottle before." Doris began looking around for the' honey bottle and everyone laughed merrily. "That's all right, Doris," grinned Happy Giggles. "You needn't look any farther. Mr. Honey Bottle, meet my little friend, Doris Dee." The large ant Happy Giggles had been talking to, bowed politely and Doris i shook the foot he held up. ■■( "Yo|: sure jam tell this is your first; time int. Mexico,'* he said -good naturedl.v. "1 caaf tell that by the expression on your face. I'm what the folk's around here call Honey Bottle. Because lam »I ways filled with sweet honey.'?

"But how do you come to have so much and the others none?" questioned the astonished Doris. "I can see you are large enough to hold the honey all right. But where do you get it?" "Of course that's a puzzle to you," laughed the -largest ant. "Come along, Happy Giggles, let's show Doris where I generally hang out." Giggling to himself, the large red ant turned to a large mound extending over at least twenty square feet, beckoned Happy Giggles and Into the large mound of dirt they went down through a great long tunnel to a darkened room under ground. Doris never would have been able to see a thing, it was so dark, if Happy Giggles hadn't touched her face with his maeic feather. There; clinging to the ceiling of the room, were so many honey bottles, Doris couldn't count them all. A crowd of smaller red ants were busy pumpin" the honey from their own craws into" the extended bodies of the living bottle dinging above them. "Now you can see where we get the honey, laughed the large ant with Doris Our workers go out and-gather the sweetened juice from the flowers and bring it back to store in us. Then when they get hungry again and can't find anything for themselves we give the honey back to them. That's why the natives call U3 Honey Bottles. I'm glad you're not a native. They hunt us W,^ ng wM eri he c b ack to his place beside the other living Honey Bottles, and Doris and Happy Gi^les ° nCe ™ re 7 ent out ' mto the sunlight in searched of new adventures