ing a kind of animated cakewalk,
carried toy ray guns which they fired at random into the crowd. The
guns were something like the little boy's Captain Video ray gun, only
larger. They emitted little streaks of blue sparks which shone brightly
but disappeared when contact was made with air.

They were easily the hit of the parade, a three ring circus all by
themselves, as they pranced and clowned their way up Fifth Avenue giving
the spectators a whale of a show that was completely new.

The guests on the reviewing stand refrained from any hilarity until they
saw the float that four of the ants were pulling behind them. It was in
keeping with the rest of the nonsense they were perpetrating. The float
boasted eight larger ray guns, three on either side and two in the rear,
that fired the same fascinating blue sparks. Behind each gun an ant
stood on its head, wildly waving six legs in the breeze, begging to be
noticed and laughed at. Above the guns, emblazoned in fiery orange
letters, were the words: "MARTIAN V.F.W." This was interpreted by one
and all as a punch line and was treated accordingly.

It was heartwarming to be able to see the president and so many other
dignitaries abandon composure in favor of a good old fashioned belly
laugh.

"Daddy, I can't laugh any more," the boy had to pause between every
other word. "My stomach hurts. Aren't they the funniest things you ever
saw?"

The father was too convulsed to be able to answer him.

"Daddy, one of them is coming this way! He's firing his Captain Video
ray gun at us!" They boy squeezed his father and held on tight.

The father took a deep breath in order to be able to speak. "Take your
gun and fire back at him, son. Fire away! Go on, he's just being
playful!" He broke forth with another gust of laughter. "I won't see
anything as funny as this again if I live to be a hundred!"

The ant pranced over to where they were standing, firing its gun in
every direction. The boy fired back. The ant took one look at the lad's
gun and let out a long cackling sound which built to a crescendo and
then stopped as though it had been turned off. The ant rejoined the
group and they continued on their merry way.

* * * * *

The boy fired several shots into the float as it passed. He wanted to
see if he could knock out those blazing orange letters: MARTIAN V.F.W.
The letters continued to burn, but in the boy's mind he was certain he
had made sev