Certain puff-balls of white smoke, and one big smudge of black smoke, which last signified a bomb of high explosives, broke over them and among them, hiding all from sight for a space of seconds.

Dust clouds succeeded the smoke; then the dust lifted slowly.
Those ants were not to be seen.

They had altogether vanished.

It was as though an anteater had come forth invisibly and eaten them all up.
Marveling at this phenomenon and unable to convince myself that I had seen men destroyed, and not insects, I turned my head south again to watch the red ladybugs in the field.

Lo! They were gone too! Either they had reached shelter or a painful thing had befallen them.
The telephone spoke a brisk warning.