burden. The thing fell squashily to the floor
within a foot of Jim, who had brushed against the wall to let the burden
bearer pass without touching him. Jim, attempting to sidestep away from
the spot, as the worker put out blind feelers, to search for the dropped
egg, lost his balance for a fraction of a second--and stepped squarely
on the nauseous ovoid!

Frantically he stepped out of the mess he had created, and the two stood
staring at each other, holding their breaths, fearful of what might
result from that accidental destruction of budding termite life.

The worker, feeling about for its burden, came in contact with the
shattered egg. It drew back abruptly, as though in perplexity: soft and
tough, the egg should not have broken merely from being dropped. Then it
felt again....

For a few seconds nothing whatever occurred. The two breathed again, and
began to hope that their fears had been meaningless. But that was not
to be.

The worker termite finally began to rush back and forth, antennae
whipping from side to side, patently trying to discover the cause of the
tragedy. And Jim and Dennis rushed back and forth, too, engaged in a
deadly game of blind man's buff as they tried to avoid the questing
antennae--which, registering sensation by touch instead of smell, was
not to be fooled by the last disappearing traces of the termite-paste.

The game did not last long. One of the feelers whipped against Dennis'
legs--and hell broke loose!

* * * * *

The worker emitted a sound like the shriek of a circular saw gone wild.
And on the instant all its fellows, and the gigantic guards at the
exits, stiffened to rigid attention.

Again came the roaring sound, desolate, terrible, at once a call to arms
and a funeral dirge. And now every termite in the dim, cavernous chamber
began the battle dance Jim and Dennis had seen performed by the termite
guard when it was confronted by the horde of ants. Not moving their
feet, they commenced to sway back and forth, while long, rhythmic
shudders convulsed their grotesque bodies. It was a formal declaration
of war against whatever mad things had dared invade the fountain-spring
of their race.

Jim and Dennis leaped toward the nearest exit, determined to take any
risk on the chance of escaping from the horde of things now aware of
their presence and ravening for their blood. But in this exit--the only
one accessible to them now--the guard had commen