Harper's Young People, September 7, 1880 Part 3

"Well, that is the queerest thing yet!" exclaimed Harry.

"In the harvest season these roads are always full of ants, coming and going," continued Uncle Ben. "There is a great crowd of them at the entrance, but they thin out as they get further from home. They stray off under the gra.s.s, seeking for the ripe seeds which may have dropped.

They do not seem to climb the gra.s.s for the seeds, but only hunt for them on the ground."

"It's only old _gra.s.s_, then, and it ain't wheat after all!" exclaimed Willie, in some disappointment.

"It is the ants' wheat," was the reply. "A grain of our wheat might prove too heavy for them. They generally prefer the seed of the buffalo-gra.s.s, a kind of gra.s.s that grows plentifully in Texas. It is very amusing to see one of the foragers after he has found a seed to his liking. No matter how far he has strayed from the road, he always knows his way straight back. But he has a hard struggle with his gra.s.s seed, clambering over clods, tumbling over sticks, and travelling around pebbles. There is no give up in him, however. He is bent on bringing in his share of the crop, and lets nothing hinder him. After he reaches the road, it is all plain sailing. He gets a good hold on his grain, and trots off home like an express messenger, sometimes not stopping to rest once on the long journey."

"Gracious! wouldn't I like to see them?" exclaimed Harry. He had approached his uncle step by step, and was now standing in open-mouthed wonder at his knee.

As for Willie, he was not nearly so eager. He had not yet got over his contempt for farmers who did not keep cows.

"Is there anything else queer about them?" asked Harry.

"There is another sort of gra.s.s, called ant rice, of which the seed tastes something like rice. One observer says that this gra.s.s is often permitted to grow upon their clearings, all other kinds of gra.s.s being cut away, as our farmers clear out the weeds from their grain. When the seeds are ripe and fall, they carry them into their granaries, and afterward clear away the stubble, preparing their wheat field for the next year's crop. It is this writer who says that they plant the seeds in the spring, but other writers doubt this statement."

"And you said a while ago that you didn't believe it, either," remarked Harry.

"I think it needs to be pretty thoroughly established before we can accept it as a fact."

"I think so too," said Harry, with great gravity.

"Ain't nuffin more queer 'bout 'em, is there?" asked Willie. "Cos I's getting kind of tired of them."

"You can go 'way, then," retorted Harry. "Uncle Ben's telling me."

"No, he ain't. He's telling bofe of us. Ain't you, Uncle Ben?"

"Anybody who wants to listen is welcome," answered their uncle, with a.s.sumed gravity. "But I don't wish to force knowledge into any unwilling young brains. However, I have only a few more things to tell, and then will leave you at liberty."

"Just tell all, Uncle Ben. Don't mind him," cried Harry.

"Another strange part of the story is this," continued their good-natured uncle: "sometimes the rain gets into their granaries, and wets the grain. But as soon as the sun comes out again the industrious little fellows carry out their stores, seed by seed, and lay them in the sun to dry. They then carry them carefully back again, except those that have sprouted and been spoiled. These are left outside."

"Don't they husk their grain?" asked Harry.

"Yes. They carry the husk and all other refuse out-of-doors, and pile it up in a heap on one side of the clearing. Is that all, Harry?"

"But you haven't said a word yet about what these seeds are stored up for. Do they eat them during the winter?"

"Very likely they do, though they have never been observed at their winter meals. Ants usually sleep through the cold weather. But a warm day is apt to waken them, and there is little doubt that they take the opportunity to make a good dinner before going to sleep again."

"But how can they eat such great seeds--bigger than themselves?"

"They don't swallow them at a mouthful, I a.s.sure you. They seem rather to rasp them with the rough surface of their tongues, getting off a fine flour, which they swallow eagerly, together with the oil of the seed. I have nothing further to tell you about them just at present, except to say that these are not comfortable ants to meddle with, for they sting almost as sharply as a bee."

"Then I don't want nuffin at all to do with 'em," cried Willie; "cos I was stinged with a bee once, and I don't like bees."

"I am ever so much obliged, Uncle Ben," said Harry. "Come, Willie, let's go play now, for I know we've been a big bother."

"Maybe you has; I ain't," replied Willie, stolidly, as he followed his brother, leaving Uncle Ben with a very odd smile upon his face.

A ROYAL THIEF.

In the summer weather Kindly, gen'rous Night Flings upon the thirsting gra.s.s Dew-drops cool and bright.

There they lie and sparkle Till return of Day; Then the Sun--a royal thief-- Steals them all away.

[Begun in HARPER'S YOUNG PEOPLE No. 37, July 13.]

THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN NAVY.

BY BENSON J. LOSSING.

CHAPTER IX.

Between the war of 1812-15 and the civil war, 1861-65, our navy had very little to do in actual warfare. It was sometimes called upon to a.s.sert the rights and dignity of our government in foreign ports, and during the war with Mexico it a.s.sisted in the capture of Vera Cruz and in the conquest of California.

When in 1861 civil war was begun in Charleston Harbor, our navy consisted of ninety vessels, of which only forty were in commission, and these were distributed in distant seas. The entire naval force available at the beginning of that war for the defense of our Atlantic sea-board was the _Brooklyn_, of twenty-five guns, and a store-s.h.i.+p carrying two guns. The Confederates seized revenue-cutters in Southern ports. s.h.i.+ps were got ready, and early in April, 1861, a squadron was sent to the relief of Fort Sumter. But it could effect nothing. Very soon afterward the Confederates seized the Navy-yard at Norfolk, and several s.h.i.+ps of war were destroyed there to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemies of the republic. The Confederates fitted out privateers to prey upon our commerce; but these were soon disposed of by government vessels, which, forty-three in number, blockaded the Southern ports by midsummer. Nevertheless, numerous British s.h.i.+ps, in violation of neutrality laws, slipped into Southern ports with supplies for the Confederates.

Danger made the Navy Department very active. Vessels were bought and built, and fully armed and manned. Two hundred and fifty-nine naval officers of Southern birth left the government service and joined the Confederates at the beginning of the war. Their places were soon filled by patriotic men of equal ability, and there was always an ample supply.

In August, 1861, a land and naval force went from Hampton Roads to capture forts erected by the Confederates at Hatteras Inlet. The vessels were commanded by Commodore Stringham. The expedition was successful.

Soon afterward both the national government and the Confederates began to build vessels covered with iron plates, and called "iron-clads." The Federals built a flotilla of twelve gun-boats on the Mississippi early in 1862, a part of them iron-clad, and placed them under the command of Flag-officer Foote. They carried all together one hundred and twenty-six guns. These performed admirable service soon afterward in a.s.sisting the army in the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, in Tennessee, and all through the war they were active and efficient in Western rivers.

Late in October, 1861, a powerful land and naval force left Hampton Roads to take possession of the coasts of South Carolina. The s.h.i.+ps were commanded by Commodore S. F. Dupont. The entrance to Port Royal Sound was strongly guarded by Confederate forts. These were reduced, after a sharp engagement with the fleet. The Federals entered, and were soon in complete possession of the sea islands of South Carolina.

At the beginning of 1862 the navy was composed of seven squadrons, each having a distinct field of operation, chiefly in the blockading service.

In that service many stirring events occurred. At the very beginning the Confederate cruiser _Petrel_ went out of Charleston Harbor and attacked the _St. Lawrence_, supposing her to be a merchant s.h.i.+p. Presently the latter opened her guns, sending a fiery sh.e.l.l that exploded in the _Petrel_, and a heavy solid shot that struck her amids.h.i.+ps below water-mark. In an instant she was reduced to a wreck, leaving nothing on the surface of the foaming waters but floating fragments of her hull, and the struggling survivors of her crew. The latter scarcely knew what had happened. A flash of fire, a thunder-peal, and ingulfment had been the events of a moment.

Early in 1862 a land and naval force, the latter commanded by Flag-officer Goldsborough, captured Roanoke Island, which the Confederates had fortified. This was speedily followed by the capture of places on the mainland of North Carolina. A little earlier than this, great excitement was produced by the seizure on board an English mail-steamer, by Captain Wilkes, of our navy, of two Confederate Amba.s.sadors to European courts (Mason and Slidell), and lodging them in Fort Warren, in Boston Harbor. The British government threatened war; but common-sense prevailed, and after a little bl.u.s.ter peace was a.s.sured.

After the capture of Forts Henry and Donelson, Commodore Foote's attention was directed to Island Number Ten, in the Mississippi, which the Confederates occupied, and had strongly fortified. It was regarded as the key to the Lower Mississippi. Foote beleaguered it with gun-boats and mortar-boats, and with some a.s.sistance of a land force he captured the stronghold. Then the flotilla went down the Mississippi, and captured Fort Pillow and Memphis, terribly crippling the Confederate squadron at the latter place.

The government resolved to repossess New Orleans and Mobile. A land force under General Butler, and a naval force under Commodore Farragut and Commodore D. D. Porter, with a mortar fleet, gathered at s.h.i.+p Island, off the coast of Mississippi, early in 1862. The s.h.i.+ps entered the Mississippi in April. Two forts opposite each other on the Mississippi, some distance from its mouth, had been strongly garrisoned by the Confederates, who considered them a perfect protection to New Orleans. These had to be pa.s.sed. That perilous feat was performed by the fleet in the dark hours of the morning of April 24, when a terrific scene was witnessed. Farragut, in the wooden s.h.i.+p _Hartford_, led the way. Forts, gun-boats, mortar-boats, and marine monsters called "rams"

opened their great guns at the same time. Earth and waters for miles around were shaken. The forts were silenced, the fleet pa.s.sed, and then met a strong Confederate flotilla in the gloom. After one of the most desperate combats of the war, this flotilla was vanquished, and Farragut pushed on toward New Orleans, which he had virtually captured before the arrival of General Butler. This event gave great joy to the loyal people of the country.

Meanwhile a stirring event had occurred in Hampton Roads. Early in March the Confederates sent down from Norfolk a powerful iron-clad "ram" named _Merrimac_ to destroy national vessels near Fortress Monroe. This raid was destructive, and its repet.i.tion was expected the next morning. At midnight a strange craft came into the Roads. It seemed to consist of only a huge cylinder floating on a platform. She was under the command of Lieutenant J. L. Worden. That cylinder was a revolving turret of heavy iron, containing two enormous guns. The almost submerged platform was also of iron. It was called the _Monitor_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIGHT BETWEEN THE "MONITOR" AND "MERRIMAC."--DRAWN BY J. O. DAVIDSON.]

The _Merrimac_ came down the next morning to attack the frigate _Minnesota_. The little _Monitor_ went to her defense--in size a little child defending a giant. Slowly her turret began to revolve. Her cannon sent forth 100-pound shot, and very soon the _Merrimac_ was so crippled that she fled with difficulty back to Norfolk, and did not come out again. After that, Monitors were favorites as defenders of land-locked waters.