often forgets but is still inevitably governed
by: the unpredictable whims of fate. For on their way out they were to
blunder into the one place in all the mound which was--death or no death
of the ruling power--absolutely deadly to them; and were to arouse the
terrible race about them to frenzies that were based, not on any
reasoned thought processes, or which in any case they were of themselves
incapable, but on the more grim and fanatic foundations of unreasoned,
primal, outraged instinct.

CHAPTER X

_The Termite Queen_

The slope of the upward-leading tunnels had become less noticeable, from
which fact the two men reasoned hopefully that they were near ground
level. And now they began to see termite workers bearing a new sort of
burden: termite eggs, sickly looking lumps that had only too obviously
been newly laid.

A file of workers approached. In a long line, each with an egg, looking
for all the world like a file of human porters bearing the equipment of
a jungle expedition. Slowly, the things moved--carefully--bound for some
such vast incubator as the one Jim and Dennis had stumbled into some
hours before.

"We want to go in the opposite direction from them," Denny whispered.
"They're coming from the Queen termite's den--and we don't want to
blunder in there!"

They about-faced, and moved with the workers till they came to the
nearest passage branching away from the avenue on which the file
marched. Denny dabbed at his forehead.

"Lucky those things came in time to warn us," he said. "From what
little science knows of the termites, I can guess that the Queen's
chamber would be a chamber of horrors for us!"

They walked on, searching for another main avenue, such as the one they
had left; which might be an artery leading to the outside world. But
they had not gone far when they were again forced to change their
course.

Ahead of them, marching in regular formation, came a band of soldiers
larger than the usual squad. They filled the tunnel so compactly that
the two men did not dare try to squeeze past them.

"Here," whispered Jim, pointing to a side tunnel.

* * * * *

They stole down it; but in a moment it developed that their choice had
been an unlucky one: the crash of the heavy, armored bodies continued to
follow them. The soldiers had turned down that tunnel, too.

"Are they after us again?" whispered Jim.

Denny shrugged. There was still a remnant o