WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:05.080 Suspense, which is usually heard at this hour on Thursday nights, 2 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:08.759 is taking its customary summer holiday. Suspense returns to the 3 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:11.800 air four weeks from tonight on Thursday, September one. 4 00:00:25.079 --> 00:00:27.800 You are isolated on a remote plantation in the crawling 5 00:00:27.839 --> 00:00:31.280 Amazon jungle, and an immense army of ravenous ance is 6 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:34.200 closing in on you, swarming in to eat you alive, 7 00:00:34.759 --> 00:00:46.439 a deadly black army from which there is no escape. 8 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:52.000 We offer you escape designed to free you from the 9 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:55.600 four walls of today, for a half hour of high adventure. 10 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:03.200 To night, we escaped to the Amazon jungle and to 11 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:06.719 a creeping, crawling terror. As Carl Stevenson told it in 12 00:01:06.760 --> 00:01:22.280 his famous story Liningen versus the Ants, I. 13 00:01:22.319 --> 00:01:25.560 First met Liningen while performing my duties as district commissioner. 14 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.079 As my boat neared his plantation landing, I saw him 15 00:01:29.120 --> 00:01:32.519 upon the river bank, regarding me with mild interest. A 16 00:01:32.519 --> 00:01:36.480 great hulk of a man with bristling gray hair, bulky nose, 17 00:01:36.599 --> 00:01:41.439 and pale eyes. His entire appearance somehow suggested an aging 18 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:44.680 and shabby eagle. He escorted me to the terrace and 19 00:01:44.719 --> 00:01:47.359 had a drink. Broad I came quickly to the point 20 00:01:47.359 --> 00:01:50.840 of my visit and issued my warning. Liningen puffed placidly 21 00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:53.840 at a huge cigar as he listened, and then said. 22 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:55.799 Exactly what are you trying to tell me. 23 00:01:56.680 --> 00:01:58.920 I'm trying to tell you that unless they order their course, 24 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:00.799 and there's no reason why they shure they'll reach your 25 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:03.239 plantation in two days at the latest, Well. 26 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:05.760 Commissioner, it was decent of you peddling all this way 27 00:02:05.959 --> 00:02:08.599 just to give me the tip tip. You're pulling my leg. 28 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:10.800 Of course, when you say I've got to get out now, look, 29 00:02:10.840 --> 00:02:13.360 I assure you I'm not, Commissioner. Even the herd of 30 00:02:13.439 --> 00:02:16.159 crocodiles couldn't drive me from this plantation of mine. 31 00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:19.719 God, you don't understand. These aren't creatures you can fight. 32 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:23.879 They are an elemental force, a gigantic catastrophe, ten miles long, 33 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:27.919 two miles wide. Ants nothing but ants, and each one 34 00:02:27.960 --> 00:02:29.520 as big as your thumb, and each of them are 35 00:02:29.599 --> 00:02:32.719 fiend from hell. Unless you clear out it once, there'll 36 00:02:32.719 --> 00:02:34.919 be nothing left of you but a skeleton picked as 37 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:36.560 clean as your own plantation will be. 38 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:38.639 I am not going to run for it, Commissioner, just 39 00:02:38.680 --> 00:02:41.120 because trouble's on the way. But it isn't trouble it's 40 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:43.599 And don't think I'm the kind of fat head who 41 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.039 tries to beat off lightning with my fists. Either, I've 42 00:02:46.080 --> 00:02:49.639 got a better weapon, Commissioner intelligence with me. The brain 43 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:52.159 isn't just a second appendix. I know what it's. 44 00:02:52.159 --> 00:02:54.599 Therefore, Cat, I make you understand the hideousness. 45 00:02:54.759 --> 00:02:57.280 I think it is you who do not understand. In 46 00:02:57.360 --> 00:02:59.759 the three years I've been here, I've met and defeated 47 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:02.960 more more than one catastrophe, flood and drought, a plague, 48 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:06.039 events which caused many of my neighbors to flee for 49 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.439 their lives. No, Commissioner, all my life, I've lived by 50 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:13.240 one motto. The human brain needs only to become fully 51 00:03:13.240 --> 00:03:15.840 aware of its power to conquer even the elements. 52 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:19.199 Linens in. Your obstinacy is endangering not only your own life, 53 00:03:19.680 --> 00:03:22.080 but the lives of your four hundred workers and their families. 54 00:03:22.759 --> 00:03:25.479 You don't know these ants, I tell you, you don't know 55 00:03:25.599 --> 00:03:32.000 these ants. But Lin Engine merely sat there, puffing at 56 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:35.039 his cigar and regarding me with a sardonic grin, and 57 00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:41.879 I knew it was hopeless. As I boarded my launch 58 00:03:41.879 --> 00:03:44.280 and cast off, I turned to look once more at 59 00:03:44.319 --> 00:03:46.560 this man who calmly intended to defy one of the 60 00:03:46.560 --> 00:03:50.360 world's greatest scourges. I felt a sudden resentment taught him, 61 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:53.719 and yet with it was something else. I had never 62 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:56.479 met a man like that, and I couldn't help wondering 63 00:03:56.479 --> 00:03:58.879 what combination of elements made up such a creature. 64 00:04:05.360 --> 00:04:07.240 I stood on the bank of the river, watching the 65 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:10.120 Commissioner's launch until it rounded a bend and was lost 66 00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:12.800 to sight. There was a strange look in the Commissioner's 67 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:15.199 eyes as he stood on decks, staring back at me. 68 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:21.439 Clearly he thought me er hmhm, the very least unreasonable. Well, 69 00:04:21.439 --> 00:04:23.839 he wouldn't have been the first to think so. But I, 70 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:28.279 line engine, knew my own powers. I was sure of myself. 71 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:33.199 I knew that intelligence directed right always makes man the 72 00:04:33.240 --> 00:04:36.800 master of his faith. That night, I called my Indian 73 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:39.399 workers together in front of the plantation house. I saw 74 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:41.800 their faces go ashen with terror as I told them 75 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:44.720 the ants were coming. Watched them as they melt around, muttering. 76 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:48.439 I said nothing more to them. Finally one of the 77 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:54.319 men stepped forward blasted the foreman. We're worth hard here. 78 00:04:54.360 --> 00:04:58.279 For these three years, all of us, we have built 79 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:01.439 the finest plantation in this district. 80 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:05.160 We all share. Really, it has been a home for 81 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:07.120 all of us and our families. 82 00:05:08.519 --> 00:05:13.439 Now the ants come, So those ditches we do last year, 83 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:15.319 the pipe we put. 84 00:05:15.079 --> 00:05:18.639 In the ground, that was for the answer, That was 85 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:21.240 for the antswer if we. 86 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:25.160 Moved our families across the river, the ants could not 87 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:26.160 reach them. 88 00:05:26.319 --> 00:05:31.240 That's right. And you, the ants. 89 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:36.560 Are a mighty We know what they can do. 90 00:05:36.639 --> 00:05:38.600 All of us think that you are mighty. 91 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:43.199 Yes, we will stay and fight against the ants with you. 92 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:47.199 I knew the men would give me that answer. I'd 93 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:50.879 counted on it. Suddenly I thought of the commissioner, wondered 94 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:54.639 what he'd say at such unquestioning confidence. What do you 95 00:05:54.720 --> 00:05:57.879 still think? I was unreasonable? 96 00:06:00.120 --> 00:06:04.920 All that night I could not get Liningen out of 97 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:08.399 my mind. One man, who calmly evaluated his chances against 98 00:06:08.439 --> 00:06:11.720 a deadly menace coolly decided but he could win, and 99 00:06:11.839 --> 00:06:13.920 was willing to stake his life on it, to risk 100 00:06:13.959 --> 00:06:16.920 a horrible death for it. It was terrifying, and yet 101 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:20.720 it was fascinating. When down came, I sent for my assistant. 102 00:06:21.079 --> 00:06:22.879 Together we went to the huge map of the district 103 00:06:22.920 --> 00:06:24.439 which hung from a wall of my office. 104 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:26.639 The last report of position of the ants came in 105 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:27.240 last night. 106 00:06:27.720 --> 00:06:31.680 They were here about seventy miles above this fork in 107 00:06:31.720 --> 00:06:38.519 the river, traveling southeast. Yes, sir, directly, Todd Laningen Todd Hulm, Sir, Oh, 108 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.079 that plantation at the bend in the river belongs to 109 00:06:41.079 --> 00:06:44.600 a man named Liningen. Oh, when would you say the 110 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:47.360 antsle reached there? I don't know, sir. 111 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:49.600 I imagine about tomorrow noon. 112 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:53.319 Tomorrow noon, still time? Still time? 113 00:06:54.040 --> 00:06:54.920 Now, what do you mean, sir? 114 00:06:55.560 --> 00:07:05.959 Oh? Nothing? Never mind? What did I mean? Still time 115 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:09.120 for what a Liningen to flee? Or still time for 116 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:12.360 me to Even as I rejected the thought with horror, 117 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:14.399 I knew that the fascination of that man was more 118 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:17.759 than I could resist. That Liningen's fight was drawing my mind, 119 00:07:17.879 --> 00:07:21.800 drawing me back toward that plantation and death. I knew, 120 00:07:21.959 --> 00:07:24.680 past all doubt that I was going back to Liningen's plantation. 121 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:40.639 I had to. It was ten o'clock in the morning 122 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:43.519 when I rounded the bend and saw Liningen's plantation before me. 123 00:07:44.199 --> 00:07:45.959 I put in at the dark and tied up the launch, 124 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:49.360 and then I saw him standing on the bank above me, 125 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:53.839 arms folded, stubby cigar in his mouth, and that same 126 00:07:54.000 --> 00:07:57.560 sardonic grin on his face. I made my way up 127 00:07:57.600 --> 00:07:59.560 to him. 128 00:07:58.680 --> 00:08:02.920 Back for another warning. No, I'll back to say a while. 129 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:06.920 Yes, you don't seem very surprised. 130 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:07.279 I'm not. 131 00:08:08.160 --> 00:08:08.959 You expected me. 132 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:11.959 I knew you'd be back. Come along, we'll get some horses. 133 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:14.160 You'll want to ride around the plantation and take a 134 00:08:14.160 --> 00:08:15.600 look at the defenses I've rigged up. 135 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:18.759 Yes, yes, I want to see the defenses. 136 00:08:18.279 --> 00:08:20.720 And the ants. We'll be getting a glimpse of them 137 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:24.879 before long. I should think yes and they come along then. 138 00:08:31.079 --> 00:08:35.039 The defence's Linagen had devised were quite impressive. Surrounding three 139 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:37.519 sides of the plantation like a huge horseshoe, was a 140 00:08:37.559 --> 00:08:41.120 ditch twelve feet wide. The ends of this horseshoe shaped 141 00:08:41.120 --> 00:08:44.159 ditch ran into the river, which formed the fourth side 142 00:08:44.159 --> 00:08:47.360 of the plantation, and at the upriver entrance to the ditch, 143 00:08:47.399 --> 00:08:49.960 Linogen had constructed a dam by which river water could 144 00:08:49.960 --> 00:08:53.559 be diverted into the ditch. A large handwheel controlled the 145 00:08:53.559 --> 00:08:56.799 floodgate of the dam, and apparently Lininggen had already it 146 00:08:56.840 --> 00:08:59.960 opened immediately after my arrival. For as we now approached 147 00:09:00.120 --> 00:09:02.320 ditch and road along it, I could see that it 148 00:09:02.360 --> 00:09:03.080 was nearly full. 149 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:07.440 Oh, how do you like my first line of defense, Commissioner. 150 00:09:07.679 --> 00:09:10.960 Now it's reassuring, like a motor around a castle. 151 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:14.279 Unless the ants know how to build rafts, they won't 152 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:17.279 reach the plantation. But this is only the outer motive. 153 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:20.480 There's a better one than this. Come along. They'll go 154 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:22.360 up to the high ground where the buildings are. We 155 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:23.600 can get a view from there. 156 00:09:25.039 --> 00:09:27.879 An engen, Eh, I didn't see any women or children 157 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.840 around the plantation, or any animals. 158 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:31.639 That's right. Moved them across the river. 159 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.919 Ah, and you think there is danger or not? 160 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:39.399 Because of danger, Commissioner, a matter of efficiency. Efficiency cuts 161 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:41.600 down the efficiency of the men if they're worried about 162 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:46.559 their families. Critical situations only become crisis when ox and 163 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:47.960 now women get excited. 164 00:09:48.200 --> 00:09:54.039 I might have known, eh, nothing here we are see 165 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:56.240 the ditch much smaller than the other. 166 00:09:56.679 --> 00:09:59.000 You've noticed how all the buildings are on this piece 167 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:02.039 of high ground. It's in the ditch surrounds them. It's 168 00:10:02.080 --> 00:10:04.000 lined with concrete. 169 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:06.120 But even filled with water, this is no barrier. It's 170 00:10:06.159 --> 00:10:08.679 not big enough. Why if the ants get this far, 171 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:10.240 they'll get no farther. 172 00:10:10.679 --> 00:10:13.679 This ditch wasn't built for water. Commissioner see the pipes 173 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:17.279 leading into it. See those storage tanks on the hill petrol. 174 00:10:18.080 --> 00:10:20.720 We can throw up a wall of flame. You care 175 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:22.000 a bit. They won't like that, fine, and. 176 00:10:21.960 --> 00:10:23.879 Should look over the edge of the jungle. 177 00:10:23.879 --> 00:10:26.879 All those animals ha running like the wind, everything from 178 00:10:26.960 --> 00:10:31.159 jaguars to monkeys. Heavens, I remember, they don't have any. 179 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:32.919 Ditches, and there's no escape. 180 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:34.679 They'll be all right as long as they don't get 181 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:36.840 caught between the river and the ants. They can outrun 182 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:39.679 the crawlers. But if they get trapped, it's either the 183 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:43.600 ants or the crocodile roof. Look look over there on 184 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:55.639 the horizon, there are your ants. Look at them. 185 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:58.120 It was a side I'll never forget. Over the range 186 00:10:58.120 --> 00:11:00.279 of hills, as far as I could see, crept faring 187 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:03.600 him ever longer and broader, until the shadows spread across 188 00:11:03.600 --> 00:11:07.799 the entire slope, and then downward, downward, uncannily swift, and 189 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:10.120 all the green herbage on the entire slope was being 190 00:11:10.159 --> 00:11:13.200 mon as by a giant sickle, leaving only the vast 191 00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:16.919 moving shadow, extending, deepening, and always moving nearer. 192 00:11:17.240 --> 00:11:18.840 A very hideous laugh. 193 00:11:18.759 --> 00:11:21.200 Lin eine, we can't last against that. Look at them? 194 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:23.399 Why they got filire ditches with their corpses and still 195 00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:24.759 have enough to destroy every one of us. 196 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:30.200 We've got to run. I No, they haven't reached U ship, 197 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:31.639 and they never will. 198 00:11:38.519 --> 00:11:42.759 The hostile army was approaching in perfect formation. No human battalions, 199 00:11:42.759 --> 00:11:45.840 however well drew, could ever hope to rival the precision 200 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:48.759 of that advance. Along a front that moved forward as 201 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:51.960 uniformly as a straight line, the ants drew nearer and 202 00:11:52.080 --> 00:11:56.000 nearer to the water ditch as they approached. Two outlying 203 00:11:56.039 --> 00:11:58.360 wings of the army detached themselves from the main body 204 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:00.679 and started marching along the side sides of the ditch, 205 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:03.399 no doubt expecting at some point to find a crossing. 206 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:06.919 And during this hour long flanking movement, the main army 207 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:10.440 remained still across the scant twelve feet of ditch. I 208 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:14.480 stared at them, and they stared back at me. A 209 00:12:14.600 --> 00:12:17.440 solid mass, every one as big as my thumb, with 210 00:12:17.480 --> 00:12:21.080 a reddish black body and long legs. Suddenly, a sound 211 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:24.120 so unearthly as to freeze our blood jerked my heads 212 00:12:24.159 --> 00:12:25.759 in the direction of the jungle on the far side 213 00:12:25.799 --> 00:12:28.720 of the ditch. Coming toward the ditch at a stumbling gallop, 214 00:12:28.799 --> 00:12:31.240 was a singular being a writhing animal like black and 215 00:12:31.279 --> 00:12:35.120 statue with a shapeless head and fae quivering feet. It 216 00:12:35.240 --> 00:12:38.600 was a stag covered over and over with ants. Linon 217 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:42.080 should throw up his rifle, and the stag fell lifeless 218 00:12:42.120 --> 00:12:46.159 to the ground. Its agonies at mend. Horrified as I was. 219 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:49.399 My curiosity impelled me to glance at my watch. I 220 00:12:49.480 --> 00:13:03.519 had to know how long the ants would take. After 221 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:08.639 six minutes, only the white, polished bones of the stag remained. 222 00:13:14.240 --> 00:13:17.039 Now I could see a change in len Engen Gon 223 00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:20.639 was the sporting zest of the novel contest. In its 224 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:24.240 place was a cold, violent purpose to send these vermin 225 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:26.960 back to the hell where they belonged. If he did not, 226 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:29.960 we were both only too sure of the alternative, and 227 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:32.519 now we even knew how long it would take the 228 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:43.919 ants once they got to us around four in the afternoon, 229 00:13:43.919 --> 00:13:46.840 the ant scouts having found no crossing, there was a 230 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:51.039 stirring among the main army, and then an immense flood 231 00:13:51.039 --> 00:13:54.000 of ants about one hundred yards in width commenced, pouring 232 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:57.120 in a glimmering black cataract down the far slope into 233 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:01.240 the water filled ditch. Thousands drowned instant but the rest 234 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:04.639 began using the bodies as bridges. Line should immediately swung 235 00:14:04.639 --> 00:14:05.080 into action. 236 00:14:06.240 --> 00:14:08.919 ANEO, run, get to the dam, open the flood gate 237 00:14:09.039 --> 00:14:10.799 more to get the water in the ditch moving past. 238 00:14:10.840 --> 00:14:14.120 Pass Knock at them drowned by the fowls. 239 00:14:14.240 --> 00:14:16.639 Yes, for they keep coming, even though the current carries 240 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:17.879 many of them away. They're advancing. 241 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:21.879 We'll fix them. Plus, have about those shovels and petrol sprinklers. 242 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:24.440 Have you passed them out to the men, and get 243 00:14:24.480 --> 00:14:26.759 all hands here in a hurry. This looks like the 244 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:30.080 spot for actions, Commissioner. Yes, beginning to see what I 245 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:32.720 was talking about. What you mean about intelligence being more 246 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:35.559 than a match for anything at tackles? Kick the ants. 247 00:14:35.679 --> 00:14:38.360 They've got no intelligence. If they had, they'd have attacked 248 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:39.960 along the whole length of the ditch instead of a 249 00:14:40.039 --> 00:14:42.519 narrow front like this, they'd have been across by now. 250 00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:46.720 H Too bad for them. I'm not running their campaign. 251 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:49.320 You can choke about it like that with the ants 252 00:14:49.320 --> 00:14:50.639 halfway across the ditch. 253 00:14:50.480 --> 00:14:53.000 All right, man, busy for the shovels now dump some 254 00:14:53.159 --> 00:14:56.279 sand and clods on them. See how they like that? You, 255 00:14:56.399 --> 00:15:02.879 with the petrol sprinklers, start pumping ha. They don't like it, Commissioner, 256 00:15:03.240 --> 00:15:04.919 they don't like it a bit ha ha. 257 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.120 Look at them, yes, but look at the ones on 258 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:09.559 the far side of the ditch. Whole clumps of them 259 00:15:09.639 --> 00:15:12.120 rolling into the water. The rest are using them for bridges. 260 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:17.399 What's keeping to nail? You should be at the damp. 261 00:15:17.559 --> 00:15:19.759 Now they're getting across, more of them. 262 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:22.039 I'll grab a shovel and commission and make them regret it. 263 00:15:22.919 --> 00:15:28.000 What's the matter, shovel, They're into the petrol. If you 264 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:33.000 do supposing the petrol, keep hattered, keep hattered. You're lost 265 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:37.320 if you stop now ha ha. The water's moving past. 266 00:15:37.120 --> 00:15:38.759 Her, and I've got the floodgates open. 267 00:15:38.840 --> 00:15:41.360 Yes, look at the ants. They can't hold her on 268 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:44.960 against the current. Now they're being washed away. Look at them, Commissioner. 269 00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:49.039 The water's carrying them away. We beat them, We've won out. 270 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:03.440 It was true, lin Engene had won the opening round. 271 00:16:04.480 --> 00:16:06.440 The flood gates were left open to forst Tall and 272 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:10.200 the night crossing. When dawn came, the dark blanket was 273 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:14.399 still there, motionless across the ditch. Then we noticed the 274 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:17.559 feverish activity on the other side of the plantation. Here 275 00:16:17.639 --> 00:16:19.759 a grove of tamer and trees lined the far end 276 00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:23.840 of the ditch, and everyray trees swarmed with the crawling insects. 277 00:16:24.440 --> 00:16:26.720 But instead of eating the leaves, they were merely gnawing 278 00:16:26.879 --> 00:16:30.159 through the stems, so that a thick green shower fell 279 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:31.279 steadily to the ground. 280 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:35.840 Glass. Have all the petrol pumps brought. Get everyone over 281 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:38.159 here except the lookouts on the other side, and pass 282 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:42.639 out the shovels. Looks like I underestimated them when I 283 00:16:42.679 --> 00:16:44.440 said they didn't have intelligence. 284 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:45.039 What do you mean? 285 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:47.639 I said, if they wanted to get across, they'd have 286 00:16:47.799 --> 00:16:51.440 to have rafts, And that's just what they've got. Those 287 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:54.519 leaves are their rafts. 288 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:00.600 Even as he spoke, the leaves went umbling down the 289 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:03.360 far bank by the thousands. The current drew them away 290 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:05.720 from the bank, and each leaf was crawling with ants. 291 00:17:05.880 --> 00:17:09.599 Don't worry, Commissioner, I've still got a trick off my sleep. 292 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:12.240 The water the ditch is drying up. 293 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:15.400 Of course it's drying up. That's the plan. Those are 294 00:17:15.440 --> 00:17:17.200 the orders I sent to the dam. Are you mad? 295 00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:19.039 As soon as it's empty? He what's to prevent the 296 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:22.119 answ from Look, Look, the water's way down, it's almost dry. 297 00:17:22.400 --> 00:17:23.839 They'll be able to come across the bottom. 298 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:25.519 They'll not make it. If the man at the dam 299 00:17:25.559 --> 00:17:28.240 carries out his orders, he should have opened the gates 300 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:29.960 again by now to flood. 301 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:33.160 The answer, what a chance to take if anything should happen, 302 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:33.720 don't you. 303 00:17:35.480 --> 00:17:38.799 Here it comes, Here comes the water. Now we'll give 304 00:17:38.839 --> 00:17:41.160 the crawlers in the ditch of wood ride out into 305 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:43.519 the river. There, look at them go. 306 00:17:56.720 --> 00:18:01.559 Liningen's tactics were successful. At first. The violent flow of 307 00:18:01.599 --> 00:18:04.880 water at the original depth raced through the ditch, overwhelming 308 00:18:04.960 --> 00:18:08.519 leaves and ants and sweeping them along. Three times the 309 00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:12.759 ditch was emptied, three times the ants raced across its bottom, 310 00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.799 and three times the rushing water, arriving just in time, 311 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:19.880 carried them away. But the fourth times the level dropped 312 00:18:19.880 --> 00:18:22.640 nearly to the bottom of the ditch. We waited in 313 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:27.359 vain for the rushing waters and men. What's the matter, 314 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:28.039 What's gone. 315 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:28.519 Wrong with the dam? 316 00:18:28.839 --> 00:18:32.240 The answer the anseenor just as demanded the damn lord. 317 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:35.240 The water almost to the bottom. The ens attacked before 318 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:37.440 he could open the flood gate. He was almost surrounded. 319 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:41.079 He ran the ends kept coming. They are across the ditch. 320 00:18:41.079 --> 00:18:49.079 Senor Lin engine stood motions absorbing the news of his 321 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:53.359 defeat without a word, Then simply he raised his pistis 322 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:57.240 and fired three shots into the air, the prearranged signal 323 00:18:57.319 --> 00:19:00.640 for all men to retreat instantly to the second line defense. 324 00:19:01.200 --> 00:19:02.960 A concrete ditch is more than a mile from the 325 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.440 point of invasion. Soon after we arrived there, the natives commenced, 326 00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:11.079 straggling in silently Liningjin waited until all of them had gathered. 327 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:12.640 Then he spoke to. 328 00:19:12.599 --> 00:19:16.079 Them, Well, lads, we won the first round and lost 329 00:19:16.119 --> 00:19:19.680 the second, but we'll smash the crawlers. Yet. Anyone who 330 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:22.319 thinks otherwise controls pay and push off. There are rafts 331 00:19:22.400 --> 00:19:24.079 enough on the river and plenty of time still to 332 00:19:24.079 --> 00:19:30.759 reach them. I say you stay then, Thank you, lads, 333 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:32.559 and you commission him. 334 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:36.200 I can't persuade you to go up the fight. 335 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:37.440 Huh you cannot. 336 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:40.480 Then I stayed too. 337 00:19:41.319 --> 00:19:42.119 I knew you would. 338 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:44.680 A few of the ants have reached the. 339 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:49.079 Ditch trying to get across. No, I didn't think they would. 340 00:19:49.359 --> 00:19:53.119 There's plenty of food over there for them, my fields, 341 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:57.880 my orchards, my work of three years, or the last 342 00:19:57.960 --> 00:19:58.880 them until morning. 343 00:19:59.000 --> 00:20:10.079 Anyway, Yes, we were saved for the moment, but the 344 00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:14.720 next morning, the black swarm was solid around us. Their 345 00:20:14.759 --> 00:20:18.279 shock troops were hard at work. They were dropping shreds 346 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:21.200 of bark and twigs and leaves into the petrol filled ditches, 347 00:20:21.720 --> 00:20:24.440 forming a floating bridge across the surface of the liquid. 348 00:20:25.319 --> 00:20:28.000 Lin Engine stood silently watching this operation, and I could 349 00:20:28.039 --> 00:20:33.039 see a grudging admiration in his face. Then, after several hours, 350 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:44.440 the attack came down the ditch. They poured millions of them, 351 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:47.640 and across the bridge of twigs rapidly approached the inner side. 352 00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:51.880 Lin Engene sat motionless watching them, watching them liningen, For 353 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:53.799 the love of God, don't sit there like a statue. 354 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:55.039 They'll be honest in a moment. 355 00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:59.759 Let them fill the ditch first, Now, all right, everyone 356 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:05.039 back from the ditch. Blast, hand me the torch. The 357 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:05.960 puffriends like. 358 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:18.119 A little heat around them. 359 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:20.559 The flames from the ditch shut into the air, devouring 360 00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:23.119 ants by the millions. It was some time before the 361 00:21:23.119 --> 00:21:25.160 petrol burned down to the bed of the ditch, and 362 00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:27.960 when it did, the devils came back for more, again 363 00:21:28.039 --> 00:21:30.880 and again, lining and fired the ditch to destroy them. 364 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:33.200 But as they returned to the assault time after time, 365 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:37.599 a slow, sickening horror crept into my mind. I looked 366 00:21:37.640 --> 00:21:40.680 quickly at Liningen, and then the petrol tanks. You read 367 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:42.359 my gaze, nodded slowly. 368 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:45.519 That's right, Commissioner. We could hold them up forever if 369 00:21:45.519 --> 00:21:48.200 our supply of petrol was unlimited. 370 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:48.880 But it isn't. 371 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.839 We've only got enough to fill the ditch once more, Liningen. 372 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:56.079 Isn't there a way anyway at all? Ah? They must 373 00:21:56.119 --> 00:22:00.680 be yes, there must be away, yes, yes, yes, what 374 00:22:00.839 --> 00:22:03.759 is it? We'll flood the whole plantation. Flood But how 375 00:22:03.839 --> 00:22:06.319 the river's higher than any point except this high ground 376 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:08.920 we're on now. If the river was damned all the way, 377 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:12.000 it'll overflow that stone breakwater and flood the whole plantation. 378 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:14.200 We've got to close the flood gate of the damn. 379 00:22:14.240 --> 00:22:15.319 That'll do it. You're mad. 380 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:17.319 The dam is more than a mile away, a mile 381 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:19.839 of ants. It's impossible you'll ever get there, let alone 382 00:22:19.839 --> 00:22:20.279 get back. 383 00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:23.440 That's why you're wrong, Commissioner. I'll get there and i'll 384 00:22:23.440 --> 00:22:31.319 get back. Ha ha, take care of things while I'm gone, eh. 385 00:22:31.880 --> 00:22:34.319 I watched him as he calmly pulled on high let 386 00:22:34.359 --> 00:22:37.240 the boots, drew gauntlets over his hands, and stuffed the 387 00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:40.599 spaces between bridges and boots, gauntlets and arms with petrol 388 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:44.359 soaked rags. He shielded his eyes with close fitting mosquito 389 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:48.079 goggles and plugged his nostrils and ears with cotton. Then 390 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:51.400 the natives drenched his clothes with petrol. Blass, who acted 391 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:54.039 as doctor that the men smeared a save over him. 392 00:22:54.079 --> 00:22:58.839 And finally Liningen was ready and he stood surveying the 393 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:14.400 costs he must take to them. I sensed a sudden car. 394 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:13.160 As I stood near the ditch ready for the run. 395 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:17.079 I realized this was as it should be. I line 396 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:20.359 engine would meet the ants and defeat them, or be 397 00:23:20.440 --> 00:23:25.359 defeated by them. Ha line engine versus the ants. Yes, 398 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:27.920 it was right that it should be like this, and 399 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:30.119 now there was no more time for thought on the action. 400 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:33.440 I took a deep breath and then bounded across the 401 00:23:33.480 --> 00:23:37.960