"Unless they alter their course, and there's no reason why they should, they'll reach your plantation in two days at the latest."
So begins the tale woven by Carl Stephenson almost seventy years ago. First published in Esquire Magazine's December 1938 issue, the short story has since been re-published and found in various anthologies such as 21 Great Stories.
When I was in grade 6, my regular teacher had to leave half-way through the day. The school couldn't find a replacement on short notice, so our principal was put upon to handle our class. Rather than actually do what was on the schedule, he had us all sit, close our eyes, and listen to him read. The story he chose? This very one.
The story is a classic "Man vs Nature" type, and well worth searching for. It begins with a man warning a plantation owner by the name of Leiningen of the impending doom headed his way - ten miles' length by two miles' width of fire ants. They destroy everything - everything - in their path. They could eat through a buffalo clean to the bones, "before you could spit three times".
Leiningen was confident he could master over this "Act of God" and prove himself the victor. As my principal told us this story, we were intrigued firstly by the vivid description of what horrors these creatures could wreak, and secondly by the obstinacy of this plantation owner, whose lifelong motto was "The human brain needs only to become fully aware of its powers to conquer even the elements."
This wily man obviously had a plan. It involved, firstly, a 12 ft wide ditch, that surrounded the plantation horseshoe style on the east, south and west borders. The northern end of the plantation was bordered by a river. I remember this because my principal actually drew it on the chalkboard for us, thus:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~river~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
dam-} +++++----------------| |
| | | |
| | | |
| | plantation | |
ditch-} | | | | {-ditch
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
| |________________| |
| |
|________________________|
This is the beginning of a pretty well-thought-out plan by the protagonist of our story, and while I would love to share the rest of the details, that would spoil the fun of reading it. There was also an inner moat, and several other precautions taken by him, and it is interesting to see how the fire ants either succumb to or overcome each obstacle. Stephenson is pretty masterful at
description, and helps form some pretty graphic visions of the destruction these ants are capable of unleashing.
ref: 21 Great Stories, editors Abraham H. Lass & Norma L. Tasman, paperback. pub 1969 Signet.