Upward he struggled, leaping and floundering in the dust.

He had got near the rim and had stopped, clinging to get his breath, when the lion began flinging the sand at him with his long feelers.

It rose in a cloud and fell on the back of the ant and pulled at him as it swept down.

He could feel the mighty cleavers of the lion striking near his hind legs and pulling the sand from under them.

He must go down in a moment and he knew what that meant.