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clutched the sting of his giant foe and refused to let go. The scorpion,
infuriated by this bold deed, and realizing that his own powers were
lost without his sting, swung his tail from one side to the other to free
himself of the pest. But the ant was not to be dislodged, and he
retained his grip on the sting. The ants crawled all over the monster
now, so that he was barely visible under a covering of red.

The smaller scorpion fared no better than his friend. The great
number of the opposition was too much for him. He became weaker
and weaker, and finally he, too, was covered by a blanket of red.

The outcome was now clear. Slowly, painfully, the half-living,
battle-weary ants caused their self-made blankets to disintegrate, fall-
ing away from the now motionless bodies of the scorpions in two's
and three's. Many crawled aimlessly about, blindly, erratically mov-
ing. Only a few found the raised entrance out of which they had run
into battle.

The two scorpions lay prostrate on the field of battle, the valiant
ant still clutching the sting of the larger one.

Solitude

Silent drops of quiet settle, slowly,
In pools of dark solitude,
In my walled town.
Everywhere is here
And here I see only
The straight, high walls
Soft brown.
One doorway leads away
I know not where
Perhaps to some other
Fenced town out there.
But long ago,

(I recall no more,
The quiet has reigned so long.)
Someone shut the door.

M.D.R.

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