William Donahey

“ The Lady of Fashion and the Poet had gone to the bank of the creek for a picnic. They had eaten their lunch and the Lady of Fashion suggested that they walk down the stream in search of wild flowers. They had only gone a little ways when the wild men, who had been watching them, suddenly leaped upon them from behind a big bush. In a few seconds the wild little fellows had carried their tiny prisoners to their canoe, after having securely bound their hands behind them. Lifting the Teenie Weenies into the boat the wild men jumped in after them and began to paddle down the creek. ”

“ What do you want?”
“I beg your pardon,” said the General as he lifted his hat and made a low bow; “I’m awfully sorry I disturbed your rest, but having heard of your reputation as an engineer I have come to beg your services for the Teenie Weenie army. We want to engage you to dig a trench for us.”
“I’ll work for four fat white grubs a day and not a grub less,” snapped the mole.
“That’s quite satisfactory,” answered the General. “We are willing to pay whatever you ask, but I want you to know just what the work will be. We want you to dig a tunnel in the ground so we can explode a mine in it.” ”

“ We do not wish to fight; we ask only for the liberty of our brothers whom you hold prisoners. Give us back our brothers and we will return the Lady of Fashion and the Poet to you. We will also give you two hundred smoked frog hams for our brothers’ return.”
“O queen of beauty and ruler of all the Saboes,” said the General when the Poet had finished, “we do not wish to fight, and we ask only for the return of our friends. For their safe return we will free your brothers. ”

“ All the birds and animals who lived near the little village knew that when the bell rang long and loud it was a signal for them to come. In a few minutes, two birds flew under the rose bush where the village stood and one by one, several mice, a squirrel and a couple of intelligent-looking bugs appeared.
“Friends,” said the General, addressing the assembled crowd, “I have terrible news! The Lady of Fashion and the Poet have been captured by the wild men. This—this snail here has just brought the report.” ”

“ Why, a mole—let’s see, a mole—why a mole is a mole,” answered Gogo.
“I’ll tell you what a mole is like,” laughed the Doctor, who had overheard the Dunce’s question. “A mole is an animal almost the size of a rat and he lives under the ground. He has very small eyes and ears, and he very seldom comes out in the day time, for it is pretty hard for him to see in the bright sunlight. He has very short and powerful legs with which he can dig very fast. He lives on worms and grubs and roots, and he is usually very gruff and bad-tempered.” ”

“ A big squirrel who lived in a tree near by was hired to watch the bridge.
“We may want to get across this stream in a hurry,” the General told the squirrel. “If the wild men should push us back to this stream, and the bridge is destroyed, we certainly will be in a pretty pickle.”
“I’ll guard it with my life,” answered the squirrel, who had been promised ten sunflower seeds and four hickory nuts for his work.
The army once more took up the march and presently they drew nearer and nearer the forest. Great bushes overhung the path along which the soldiers marched. ”

“ A hollow log had been selected for the camp and the little men soon pulled the cannon and army wagons into the dark hole. In a short time the storm broke with great fury and it was a mighty good thing that the little army was protected by the hollow log, for the burdock leaves under which the Teenie Weenies always sought shelter from the rain would have been a poor place in such a big storm. The poor mice who pulled the army wagons trembled in terror at the loud peals of thunder. The Dunce shook so much with fright he almost loosened the buttons of his uniform. ”

“ The Old Soldier was quite an engineer and when he had whittled out a new wooden leg, he set to work trying to scheme out some way by which the men could dig the trenches without being hit by the wild men’s arrows.
“I have it,” he cried after he had puzzled over the matter for a time. “We can make a big screen out of sticks, one that is quite arrow-proof.”
“How are you going to move it?” asked the Turk. “It will be too heavy for the men to carry.” ”

“ First the cannon and then the baggage and wagons had to be moved across the river on the raft. It took the little people all day to move across the river, for many trips had to be made with the clumsy raft. But at the end of the day not a single Teenie Weenie was left on Sabo Island.
As Queen Mooie had given the Teenie Weenies so many presents of frog hams, rice cakes, delicious seeds and many hickory nut meats, the little people were well supplied with good food. Every evening after the day’s march the happy little army ate their meal gathered around a glowing camp fire. ”

“ Early in the morning the little scouts were awakened by voices, and looking over the edge of the nest, they saw several wild men coming towards the bush. The wild men stopped beneath the bush, where they soon made a fire and cooked pieces of frog ham for their breakfast. ”

“ The little folks decorated the village with Teenie Weenie flags and bunting and when the time arrived for the army to march home the village was crowded with all sorts of visitors. Bugs, mice, squirrels, birds, chipmunks, and even a few chickens and ducks, crowded under the rose-bush. ”

“ Several girls followed the frog man, carrying plates of smoked frog ham and rice cakes.
“The first man in the dance,” explained the Poet to the General, “is the Spirit of War. He broke the spear to show you that the war was over and the next man rattled the seed pod and struck him with the whip to scare him away, which means that the wild men are through with war and wish to get rid of the War Spirit. The frog man represents the frog meat which the wild men eat, and his funny dance means that good times are coming, for you see the pretty girls follow with plates of rice cakes and meat.” ”

“ The Indian and the Cowboy, mounted on mice, rode ahead of the army and picked out the best and easiest road for the soldiers, while the Turk, who was chosen as the aviator, flew above the army on the back of a bird, ever watchful for enemies. ”

“ The little soldiers were much too excited to sleep and most of them sat about the tiny camp fire until a late hour talking of the day’s experience, but one by one they finally rolled up in their tiny blankets and slept, while the guards paced back and forth, ever watchful for prowling wild men.
Chapter Fifteen
A COUNCIL OF WAR For several days the army spent their time building trenches and making a comfortable camp, while the army scouts learned all they could about the wild men and the lie of the land. ”

“ The men were given a little light rifle practice, while Paddy Pinn tried out the cannon at long range shooting, bringing down a dandelion in three shots at the remarkable range of four hundred and twenty Teenie Weenie feet (17 feet in our measurement) .
The noise of the cannon attracted the attention of many birds, squirrels, bugs and field mice, who gathered around the edge of the camp with wide-open eyes. ”

“ The wild men’s fort, which was made of strong sticks, lay in a narrow path guarding the only open road to the village, where the Lady of Fashion and Poet are held prisoners. In order to get to the village we had to capture the fort. ”

“ Some of the men seem to think that there will be very little fight left in the wild men, for they were pretty well scared by our attack. The Scotchman and I are doing guard duty; we have to guard the prisoners. We are using an old bottle for a prison and it certainly makes a good one; if we keep on getting prisoners we’ll soon have a bottleful. ”

“ Lover.
“He’s as healthy as a dandelion and as pink as a rose bud,” answered Tilly.
“How’s the Poet and the Lady of Fashion?” asked Grandpa.
“Well and ’appy,” cried Tilly. “As I was a sayin’, the army will be ’ome in about three days. The General said to tell you that they would arrive on Friday afternoon if everthing goes well. He says for you to have a good supper ready for the boys and to have plenty, for they will be as hungry as young robins.” ”

“ I took it out back of camp, got some tools and cut a couple of holes for my arms to go through and another hole to see through—”
“Yes, and spoiled a perfectly good thimble,” put in the General.
“Jinks!” exclaimed the Dunce, “I never thought of that.”
“Of course you didn’t,” answered the General sternly. “You have a habit of doing your thinking afterwards, and that is a mighty bad habit.”
“Quite right! Quite right!” cried a field mouse, who had been hanging around the camp for a few days. “Quite right, I says. There’s always a time to think. ”

“ The Old Soldier drew his sword and attacked the frog, while Gogo struck the big fellow over the head with the boat pole. The frog, who had been attracted by the red coats of the soldiers, had hopped onto the raft in search of a meal, but he quickly slid back into the water at the first blow of the boat pole.
The soldiers who had jumped into the water were much ashamed of their behavior and they all quickly returned to the raft and finished the trial trip they had started. ”

“ The little women set to work cooking and baking. They made cakes and cookies by the thimble full. They made ginger cookies, nut cookies, chocolate cake, fruit cake and half an English walnut full of doughnuts, besides all sorts of other good things.
Grandpa put eight mice, a chipmunk and half a dozen bugs to work getting the place ready for the returning soldiers. They cleaned up the rubbish under the rose-bush, they moved all the desks out of the schoolhouse, where the dinner and dance were to be held, and they made a reviewing stand out of the top of a candy box. ”

“ The Clown and the Policeman carried the wounded into the hospital on tiny stretchers and just as soon as the injured little fellows had medical care, they were put into clean beds. At first the injured wild men were much frightened, but when they were handled so tenderly by the Doctor and his lovely nurses, they became quite contented. ”

“ The war council thought the Old Soldier’s idea a good one and the General ordered the men to start work at once. Pulleys and ropes were brought out of the army wagons and some big logs for supports were cut from a bush near by. Several cattails, which grew near the stream, were sawed up into logs for the floor of the bridge. The bird airplane carried the workmen and ropes to the other side of the stream, where work was soon started on a bridge fifty-two Teenie Weenie feet long.
Chapter Eight
A BADLY FRIGHTENED ARMY It took a lot of hard work to build the big bridge. ”

“ The General had given orders that none of the soldiers should leave camp, for the grass was so tangled and thick that it would be an easy thing to get lost and, besides, the savage wild men might be hiding behind the thick stalks of grass. ”

“ The Old Soldier was ordered to take a squad of men and go after the prisoners, while the Doctor was sent to dress the bump on the head of the wild man that Gogo had knocked down. After a great deal of work the soldiers managed to pull the three wild men out of the bottle and when they were brought into camp they were securely tied to a strong blade of grass. ”

“ You see, we are about eight hundred and fifty feet from the wild men’s fort and it is quite necessary that trenches be built forward so we will not have too great a distance to charge when we explode the mine under the enemy’s fort. ”