This Book Belongs To—

“Friends,” said the General, addressing the crowd, “I have terrible news!”—Chapter One.

The
TEENIE WEENIES
IN THE WILDWOOD

BY

WILLIAM DONAHEY

Illustrated by

THE AUTHOR

The Reilly & Lee Co.

Chicago

Copyright, 1923, by
The Reilly & Lee Co.
———
All Rights Reserved
———
PRINTED IN
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Mr. Donahey is of the staff of The Chicago Tribune, and to that newspaper the author-artist and the publishers extend thanks for courtesies in connection with the publication of this book.

LIST OF CHAPTERS

The Teenie Weenies

In the Wildwood

Chapter One
ALARMING NEWS

The Teenie Weenies had known for some time that a tribe of tiny wild men lived in a big swamp many teenie weenie miles from the shoe house. Field mice and birds had carried the news of these strange little people to the Teenie Weenies. The wild men lived in the heart of a big forest and they spoke a language quite different from the Teenie Weenies.

“These wild men are very cruel,” a friendly bird told the Teenie Weenies. “They are called Saboes, or frog eaters, and they would just as soon destroy a person as look at him.”

“Well, they will never hurt us,” the General said, “for we shall leave them alone and, besides, they live a great distance from the shoe house.”

“Well, you’d better watch out for them; there are a great many of these wild men and you can never tell when they might come along,” said the bird, who was a mourning dove and always looked on the dark side of things.

The Teenie Weenies didn’t worry about the wild men much, for they lived so far away and, besides, there was the Teenie Weenie army ever ready to protect them against an enemy. But the little people soon had cause for worry, for a dreadful thing happened.

One afternoon a snail raced slowly up to the shoe house with alarming news—the Lady of Fashion and the Poet had been captured by the wild men!

“Gracious!” gasped the General. “How did you find this out?”

“I-I-I-I saw them captured,” answered the snail. “The wild men took them and put them in their boat and paddled down the creek. There must have been five or six of the wild men. They all had bows and arrows and spears too, and they looked terribly fierce.”

“Ring the bell,” cried the General. “We’ll have a great council and see what can be done.”

Several of the Teenie Weenies ran to the old derby hat which served the little people as a school house and armory, and began furiously to ring the tiny bell. 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.”

The Teenie Weenies and their friends were much shocked by the news, while the snail strutted about, feeling quite important at being the bearer of such an exciting message.

“When did this happen?” asked the mouse with a squeaky voice.

“About five or six hours ago,” answered the snail. “I was walkin’ near the creek when—”

“Five or six hours ago!” shouted the General, turning on the snail. “For the land’s sake, why didn’t you come immediately?”

“I-I-I did,” answered the snail, with an injured expression. “I came just as fast as I could crawl.”

“Of course you did,” said the General kindly. “I beg your pardon. I forgot for the moment that you do not move as fast as most of us.” The snail, who had rather a sensitive nature, was quite hurt by the General’s words and it instantly shrank back into its shell.

After some talk it was decided to scatter up and down the creek in search of the lost Teenie Weenies. The birds flew up and down the creek until it was quite too dark for them to see, while the little people and the rest of their friends hunted all through the night without a sign of the Lady of Fashion and the Poet.

Chapter Two
THE CAPTURED TEENIE WEENIES

While the Teenie Weenies were searching along the creek for the Lady of Fashion and the Poet, those two little people were being rapidly paddled down the stream and away from their friends.

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.

“This is a pretty bag of seeds,” moaned the Poet as the boat shot rapidly down the stream. “It’s hard to tell what will become of us now.”

“If—if we could just get word to the General,” whispered the Lady of Fashion, “he’d bring the army and come after these—these wild men and rescue us.”

“There’s no chance of writing a note and dropping it somewhere, with our hands tied behind us.”

“I’ll tell you what we can do,” whispered the Lady of Fashion. “If we should see a bird we can call to it and ask it to tell the General that we have been captured.”

But the two Teenie Weenies never came close enough to a bird all that day, for the wild men paddled their canoe near the shore of the creek under the cover of the overhanging ferns and grass.

The Queen of the Wild Men, sitting on the back of her turtle.—Chapter Five.

As the canoe floated along down the stream the Lady of Fashion and the Poet spent their time studying the strange little wild men, or Saboes, as they were called. They were sturdily built little chaps, but a trifle smaller than the Teenie Weenies. They had dark brown skins, bushy hair, and around their fierce-looking eyes were painted circles of white. One or two of the wild men wore shirts with skirts almost to their knees, but the most of them were dressed only in trousers which were made from the skins of young frogs. Their spears were made of long sticks with a sharp fish bone tied to the end, and several of them carried bows and arrows, while their war clubs were made by fastening sharp blackberry thorns to a short handle. Many of the little wild men wore strings of beautifully carved raspberry beads about their necks and arms, which the little fellows called “gum gum,” the Sabo name for money.

The canoe, which the little men paddled very skillfully, was made from a huge cucumber, and on the end of the boat was painted a queer face. This face was supposed to look like a cat and was meant to frighten the Saboes’ enemies.

When evening came on and it began to grow dark, the wild men stopped on a sandy beach, where they made the two Teenie Weenies understand by motions that they would rest a while.

Several of the Saboes bent over the stem of a tall dandelion, while one of the little men gathered an armful of the soft, fluffy down, which he put on the ground and covered with dry grass and sticks. He then took two sticks and rubbed them together so hard that they grew very hot and soon a spark fell into the dandelion down, which blazed up and quickly set fire to the grass and sticks.

Presently two of the wild men, who had disappeared in the direction of the creek, returned and one of them carried the leg of a frog over his shoulder. The little men cut the leg into great chunks almost as big as a pea and these were soon roasting over the fire.

The Lady of Fashion and the Poet sat on a log beside the fire and although the Lady of Fashion tried hard to keep from crying, every now and then a tear would trickle down her tiny cheek.

“Don’t worry,” said the Poet. “The General will find some way to come to our rescue. He won’t let any harm come to us.”

“I-I-I s-s-s-suppose so,” sobbed the little lady. “But I-I-I haven’t a clean handkerchief and—and—and my hair is a sight!”

In spite of the fact that the Teenie Weenies were terribly worried, the roasting meat smelled wonderfully good and when it was done the prisoners’ hands were untied and they were each given a piece. Both ate a good portion and agreed that it was delicious. They wiped their fingers on a leaf and then the wild men tied their hands again and made them understand that they were to sleep.

All night long the wild men kept up a bright fire. They took turns sleeping and watching their prisoners, but the two Teenie Weenies needed very little watching, for they were quite tired out with the day’s experience and slept most of the night.

At the very first break of day the wild men were awake and after a hurried breakfast of frog ham and a blackberry which one of the men found, they once more pushed out in the canoe and paddled down the stream.

Two days later they landed on the island where the wild men lived. When the two Teenie Weenies stepped out of the canoe a great number of the wild little people came running toward them. The women and children stared at them in great astonishment, while the men danced and swung their clubs and spears in a most terrible way.

Chapter Three
CAMPAIGN PREPARATIONS

All night long the Teenie Weenies searched without success for the captured Lady of Fashion and the Poet. The Indian found the spot where they had been surprised and taken. Their tiny footprints and the tracks of the wild men, as well as the spot where the canoe had been pushed into the water, showed plainly in the moist sand.

“Him wild man, him get good start,” grunted the Indian after he had studied the footprints for some time. “We no catch ’um before him get home.”

“I’m afraid not,” answered the General. “If that slow-poke snail had been a little faster we might have caught them.”

“Ugh!” was all the Indian said.

When all the Teenie Weenies had returned to the little village after the search, the General called a meeting.

“Men,” he began, “we have got to do something and do it quickly!”

“Call out the army, why don’t you?” shouted an excited mouse that had joined the crowd.

“I believe we’ll have to,” answered the General. “I hate to use the army, but I don’t see what else we can do. These wild men are very savage and I have been told that there are many of them. If we go after the Lady of Fashion and the Poet, we are going on a hard and dangerous mission. We will have many long miles to march and there—there may be fighting. Now, men, I will put it to a vote. All those in favor of sending the army after the wild men in order to free our friends will say ‘yes.’”

“Yes!” shouted every single Teenie Weenie, so loudly that they made the leaves tremble on the old rose bush overhead.

The little people started at once to prepare for the trip into the forest, for it was there that the wild men lived. It takes a great deal of work to outfit an army and the little men were soon buzzing about as busy as bees.

Two squirrels offered their services, but the General was forced to refuse them, for they were such big eaters that the army could not afford to feed them.

Several mice were hired to pull the wagons and the cannons and also for the officers to ride.

A great quantity of food and tools had to be brought out and loaded into the wagons. It took seven hundred grains of wheat, six hundred grains of corn, thirty raisins, six dried prunes, fifty-eight beans, to say nothing of cocoa, salt, pepper, baking powder, picks, shovels, pulleys, ropes, tents, a great quantity of cheese for the mice-horses and many other things.

It was quite late that night before the wagons were loaded and most of the little soldiers slept in their uniforms, for the army was to start into the forest soon after daylight.

The army was to be made up of a division of ten infantrymen, two artillerymen, two mounted scouts, two cooks, a doctor and two nurses.

The General was in command, with the Old Soldier as chief of staff, while Paddy Pinn had command of the artillery.

When the little soldiers had said their last good-byes, the men stepped into line and at the gruff command of the General they swung away towards the great forest in which the wild men lived. 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.

At noon the army halted for lunch beneath the shade of a lilac bush, where each man eagerly devoured the grain of baked wheat which had been given to each soldier that morning as his ration.

After they had rested a bit, and when they had filled their tiny canteens with water from an old tin can, the command was given to “fall in.” Once more the army took up the march.

The army had a hard time that afternoon, for the road it traveled was very rough. The little soldiers had to stop every now and then to chop weeds and dandelions from the road so the wagons and cannon could pass. Late in the afternoon the Turk told the General he had sighted an excellent place for a camp, and all the tired little chaps were made very happy when the order was given to make camp for the night.

Chapter Four
A WARNING IN CAMP

The first day’s march was very hard on the soldiers, for the sun was hot and the little fellows were not used to such long tramps. When the order came for the army to break ranks and make camp ready for the night, the soldiers worked with a will unloading the wagons and putting up the tents. The kitchen tent was put up first so the Cook and the Chinaman would lose no time in getting dinner ready for the hungry army.

The mice that pulled the army wagons were given a good feed of cheese and they were quartered in a hollow tree for the night. The airplane ate ten grains of bird seed and hopped onto the limb of the bush under which the tiny camp lay.

When the camp had been put in order for the night, mess call was sounded and the soldiers formed in line with their tin plates. The Cook had prepared two boiled beans and a thimbleful of corn soup for the army. Each man was given a plate of soup, a big spoonful of bean and a large piece of bread.

After dinner the little soldiers gathered on the bank of a puddle of water, where they bathed their aching feet, while others took off their uniforms and enjoyed a good swim. The foolish Dunce dived head first into the pool without first testing the water to see how deep it was and he nearly broke his silly neck, for the hole was only three Teenie Weenie feet (a little over an inch and a half) deep.

“Believe me!” exclaimed the Dunce after he was pulled out of the water and sat on the bank rubbing a big bump on his head, “I’m through diving. I wouldn’t dive into a teacup full of water even if I could see the bottom.”

The General decided to let the army rest for a day, as the soldiers all complained of sore feet and, besides, one of the horses was bothered with a lame leg, which had been hurt in a mouse trap a few days before. 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.

“What’s the trouble?” asked a bright-eyed chipmunk. “Is there a war or somethin’?”

“No,” answered the General kindly. “We are on our way to rescue a couple of Teenie Weenies who have been stolen by the wild men who live in the heart of the big woods.”

“Well, you’d better go back,” warned the Chipmunk. “Those wild men are a bad lot and they are as thick as bees in clover time.”

“We are not afraid,” answered the General. “We will keep on until we have rescued our friends.”

“All right! All right!” said the Chipmunk solemnly. “I wouldn’t give a wormy chestnut for your lives, but that’s your choosing, not mine. Let me tell you one thing—don’t forget that I warned you.”

“Thank you just the same for your advice,” said the General, “but we must go on.”

“All right!” muttered the Chipmunk. “But remember I warned you.” And shaking his head wisely he scampered off into the thick weeds.

The little soldiers rolled themselves up in their tiny blankets almost immediately after supper and almost before the sun had disappeared over the western hills they were sound asleep, for they were to be up and well on the march before daylight again would appear.

Chapter Five
THE QUEEN OF THE WILD MEN

Although the wild men who had captured the Lady of Fashion and the Poet were good to them, the two Teenie Weenies nevertheless were much alarmed as to what might happen, for the wild men kept their captives’ hands securely tied, and they watched them closely at all times.

When the wild men brought the two Teenie Weenies to the island where the savages lived, the captives were the center of much interest.

The Sabo men and women came swarming down to the water’s edge from all directions. They shouted and jabbered in a language the Lady of Fashion and the Poet had never before heard. Some came gliding out of the tall grass, while others peered from behind bushes and pebbles, quite as though they were a little afraid of the two helpless Teenie Weenies.

The women were curious little people. They were dressed in short dresses which came down to their knees and the cloth was woven out of thistledown and was wonderfully soft. The women dressed their hair in a strange manner. The Lady of Fashion could hardly keep from laughing at them, for it was coiled up to a point high in the air, shaped much like an ice cream cone. Most of the men were dressed in frogskin trousers, while the children wore bits of cloth about their waists.

The men and women gathered around and carefully examined the clothes of the two Teenie Weenies, especially the Poet’s glasses, which were considered very wonderful by the wild little people.

After a time the Lady of Fashion and the Poet were led along a path toward the center of the island, followed by a great crowd of Saboes. Presently one of the wild men who was walking ahead suddenly dropped to his knees and kissed the ground. Looking up, the two Teenie Weenies saw a very big turtle with a very short, fat woman sitting on its back. A man who walked beside the turtle with a hook in his hand, gave the turtle a sharp blow on the nose and the big fellow pulled his head into his shell and stopped.

“Well!” exclaimed the Lady of Fashion. “I wonder who this fine lady can be.”

“Why, why, this must be a sort of queen,” answered the Poet. “Maybe she is the queen of the wild men.”

The Poet had guessed correctly. The fat lady on the turtle was no other than Her Royal Highness, Queen Mooie, ruler of the wild men.

Chapter Six
THE STORM

Before the sun had time to peep over the eastern hills the third morning, the little army was on the march. All day the soldiers tramped along, stopping every now and then to rest a few minutes beneath the shade of a friendly dandelion or burdock. All along the line of march many bugs, ants and birds gathered by the roadside to cheer the brave little army as it trudged by.

“General,” said the Turk, as he slid off the back of the airplane, “it looks to me as though we were going to have a storm and I would suggest that you lose no time in finding a dry place to house the army.”

“All right,” answered the General, “I’ll order the Indian to ride ahead and select a place to camp.”

Even as the General spoke, the little soldiers heard the distant rumble of thunder, and the Indian, putting spurs to his mouse, quickly bounded away in search of a camp. Presently he returned with the good news that he had found a fine place to weather the storm.

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 storm passed quickly and the General ordered the army to be on its way, but the marching was hard and the men made slow progress, for the ground was muddy. The army marched around most of the mud holes, but one was too long and they were forced to wade through the thick mud. Most of the soldiers got over safely, but one of the wagons stuck in the mud and to make things worse, one of the back wheels was broken in trying to pull it out.

“This is a pretty pickle!” growled the Old Soldier, sliding off his mouse at the edge of the puddle. “We’ll have to work fast to get this wagon out before dark.”

“We might just as well unload the wagon, for we will never be able to pull it out while it’s loaded,” said the General.

As the mud was quite deep, several of the soldiers were ordered to put on bathing suits and carry the baggage to solid ground. After much hard work the wagon was finally pulled out of the mud, although it took half the army and six of the mice to do it. As it was quite late in the afternoon, the army went into camp, while the Turk and the Old Soldier set to work to mend the broken wheel.

The Teenie Weenie captives view the fire-dance of the Wild Men.—Chapter Nine.

Chapter Seven
A SUSPENSION BRIDGE

The General fumed and fussed over the delay caused by the broken wheel.

“It’s just one thing after another,” he grumbled. “If it isn’t one thing it’s something else.”

“Well, General, it won’t do a bit of good to worry,” said Tess Bone, one of the Red Cross Nurses. “We’ll have to do the best we can and that’s all anybody can do—even a Teenie Weenie can’t do more.”

“Of course, of course,” answered the General, as he paced up and down before his tiny tent. “I know it doesn’t do a bit of good to worry, but we must hurry if we ever expect to rescue the Lady of Fashion and the Poet.”

The anxious General had the army up before daylight the next morning. They ate a hurried breakfast and were well on the way before the sun came up. In fact, the Dunce marched nearly an hour before he was fully awake.

The big rain of the day before had left many puddles along the way and the little army often had to splash through them.

With the help of the scouts, the army was able to find the best roads, for the Indian and the Cowboy, mounted on mice, rode ahead and picked out the best path. The Turk was of much help, too, in picking out the best roads, for he was able to see a great distance from the back of his bird airplane.

“General,” said the Cowboy one afternoon as he rode up to the commander of the little army, “I believe there’s more trouble ahead of us.”

“What!” shouted the General. “Great guns, now what’s the trouble?”

“Well, sir, there’s a stream of water and I’m afraid we’ll be forced to march a long way out of our road before we can find a place shallow enough to cross. I talked to a field mouse who seemed to be familiar with the country, and he said there was no place where the stream could be crossed for many miles in each direction.”

“I hope, sir, you were careful not to say where you were going,” said the General. “We are now nearing the land of our enemies and we are liable to meet with a spy at almost any time.”

“I was mighty careful, sir, and told him nothing that might be used against us,” answered the Cowboy.

The General ordered the Turk to fly up and down the stream on a scouting trip while the army stopped for lunch. Late in the afternoon the Turk reported to the General that they would have to take a two days’ march out of their road to a place where the stream could be crossed. The army pushed on and shortly after dark stopped near the stream, where camp was made for the night.

The next morning the Doctor, the Old Soldier, Paddy Pinn and the General gathered on the banks of the raging stream to see what plan could be made for crossing the water.

The banks were very steep and the water was quite too swift to ford, although the stream was only two feet wide (in our measurement). It was finally determined that there was nothing to do but build a bridge.

“We can throw a sort of suspension bridge across the stream,” said the Old Soldier, who was quite an engineer. “It will take us about a day and a half to do the work, but we will save time, for it would take fully two or three days to march to a place where we could cross without a bridge.”

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. Every single Teenie Weenie worked with might and main. Even the mice who pulled the wagons and cannon, helped the work along by dragging the heavy logs up to the place where the bridge was being built.

The little army was a full day and a half building the bridge and when the task was finished the wagons were loaded, the mice hitched to them, and led by the General, the army marched safely across the bridge.

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. Tall, bright-colored toadstools grew by the wayside and everything was dark and mysterious.

At noon the army was halted for lunch. The little soldiers sat on the soft moss under a big fern and each man ate the grain of boiled rice and bit of dried raisin which he had tucked into his tiny haversack that morning.

When the men had eaten, the General ordered them to fall into line and stepping in front of them he said: “Men, I have been informed by our aviator and by our scouts that we are rapidly drawing near the land of the wild men, so from now on straggling will not be permitted. Soldiers wandering away from the army run the chance of being captured and we will soon have need of all our brave men.”

The General’s talk impressed the little soldiers, and the Dunce and Gogo, who often wandered away from the line of march, were very much “on the job” all afternoon.

As the army marched beneath a bush, late in the day, it suddenly came face to face with a small garter snake that lay near a big stone.

“O-O-O-O-O-oh, j-j-j-imminie C-c-c-c-christmas!” screamed the Dunce.

The mouse on which the General rode gave one frightened look at the snake and quickly ran up the bush, dumping the dignified General off on his Teenie Weenie head. The rest of the army fled in all directions, in spite of the Old Soldier, who tried with all his might to stop the frightened soldiers. The snake was almost as badly scared as the army and it wriggled into a hole near by with remarkable speed.

“Well, this is a fine army, I must say!” growled the General when the Old Soldier had finally got the soldiers back in line. “If you men run at the sight of a little snake, what will you do when you face real wild men?”

“Pardon me, sir,” said Gogo, saluting the General. “We-all don’t mind fightin’ the wild men, but—we-all done object to bein’ et.”

“Forward, march!” shouted the General, and the little army moved on towards the wild men’s land.

Chapter Nine
THE CAPTIVES ATTEND A DANCE

While the Teenie Weenie soldiers were gallantly marching to the rescue of their little friends, the Lady of Fashion and the Poet were being kept prisoners in one of the funny little houses of the wild men.

Queen Mooie, ruler of the Saboes, was a very fat little lady, and like all fat people, big or little, she was very good-natured. When the Lady of Fashion and the Poet were brought before her, she was much interested in them and she made a long speech to the two Teenie Weenies in her strange language, but not one word could the little people understand.

The house in which the Lady of Fashion and the Poet were kept was built up on posts about six Teenie Weenie feet (three inches in our measurement) from the ground. The houses were built up high as protection from the dampness, for the Saboes lived on a little island in the heart of a big swamp, and it also protected the little people from bugs. The floor of the house was made of sticks and the roof and sides were covered with a peculiar swamp grass. A flat stone about the size of a half dollar was placed on the floor, on which the wild men built a tiny fire to keep themselves warm in winter, and a small hole in the roof provided a chimney for the smoke.

Twice a day the wild men brought the two Teenie Weenies delicious pieces of smoked frog ham, with many tiny rice cakes, and every other day the two prisoners were given a blackberry.

One night shortly after the Lady of Fashion and the Poet had been brought to the wild men’s village, the two Teenie Weenies heard the beating of a drum. For what seemed hours the little prisoners listened to the tumtum, tumtum, tumtum, of the drum. There was no use asking the wild man who guarded them just outside their door, for he couldn’t understand them, so there was nothing to do but listen to the tumtum, tumtum, tumtum, and wonder what it was all about.

Presently one of the wild men climbed up the ladder to their house and motioned the two Teenie Weenies to follow him. He led them beneath a bush near by, where a lot of wild men were dancing about a great fire. The men sang a queer sort of song as they danced, while one strange-looking fellow, who was a sort of witch doctor, rattled a huge seed pod fastened to the end of a forked stick. The wild men performed this strange dance once a month, as they believed it would keep bad luck away from their tribe.

The Queen of the wild men sat near the fire on the back of her turtle, while the rest of the Saboes stood in a circle about the dancing men. The fire had been built in a deep hole on top of a large stone and when the stone was almost red-hot, the wild men scraped the fire all out with long sticks.

Then they lined the hole in the stone with sassafras leaves, into which they threw four large frog hams and then covered them over with several big leaves. Sand was then thrown onto the leaves, covering the hams tightly in the hot hole.

The wild men built a fire all around the outside edge of the stone, and while the hams cooked they again took up the wild dance. When the hams were baked they were taken out and a piece was served to each person and the Lady of Fashion and the Poet both enjoyed the delicious meat.

After everyone had eaten of the ham, the Queen ordered the two Teenie Weenies to be taken back to their prison, but although it was very late, the Lady of Fashion and the Poet could hear the loud shouts of the wild little people for many hours.

Chapter Ten
HELP FROM A GROUND ROBIN

The army was now in the very heart of the great forest and it took a lot of hard work to get the heavy wagons and cannon through the jungle. At times a path had to be chopped through the tall grass and all this had to be done as silently as possible, for the army was now likely to run across the wild men at any time.

“I don’t want these wild men to know that we are in the neighborhood,” the General warned the troops. “It is much better to surprise them, and, besides, there is no telling just what they may do to the Lady of Fashion and the Poet if they discover that we have come to rescue them.”

The path the army now followed was so rough that little headway could be made and the General had to order a halt every now and then to rest the mice and men. During one of these stops the General fell into conversation with a pert-looking little ground robin who had hopped onto the limb of a bush near by.

“Do you know just where these wild men live?” asked the General.

“I’ll say I does,” answered the robin, who used very bad grammar. “I knows more about ’em than I wants to. The nasty little scalawags! These wild men get most all the seeds hereabouts and it’s all an honest bird can do to scratch out a bare living.”

“Could you guide us for a few days?” put in the General.

“Gracious!” tittered the bird, “you’d never reach the wild men’s place in a few days with all those wagons and mice. They live on an island. You’ll have to have a boat or somethin’ to carry you over the water.”

“I have heard that they live on an island,” said the General, “but I mean could you show us the way to the water where we would be nearest to the island?”

“Of course I could,” answered the bird; “that is, providin’ it would be worth my time.”

“We will pay you,” said the General. “We’ll give you six sunflower seeds for your work.”

“Make it six and a half seeds and I’ll do it,” cried the bird.

The General agreed and the bird hopped along ahead of the army, jumping onto a bush occasionally to point out the best path. After a couple of hours’ march, the army came out onto a sandy beach, where the General called a halt.

“This is the place and over there is the island,” cried the bird, nodding his head towards the water.

The Teenie Weenies looked across the water and they could see the dim outlines of the island.

The ground robin was paid his six and a half sunflower seeds and in a short time the tired little soldiers put up the tiny tents and made a most cozy little camp. They named it camp Bitem, because of the many mosquitoes about the place.

As the General did not wish a fire to be built for fear the wild men might see the light, the little army made its dinner on two sliced strawberries and a few grains of rice. No lights were lit that night in the camp and a strong guard watched carefully throughout the silent hours, which were disturbed only by the sentinels as they killed mosquitoes with the butts of their rifles or stabbed them with their bayonets.

Early the next morning the men set to work building a raft which was to be used in carrying the army across the water to the wild men’s island.

A great many logs had to be cut, trimmed and brought to the water’s edge. The Cowboy hitched one of the strongest mice to the heavy logs and one by one they were hauled up to the workmen, who labored for nearly three days before the raft was done.

While the men were at work on the raft, the Turk flew over the wild men’s island in search of a good place for the army to land and at the same time he kept an eye open for the Lady of Fashion and the Poet. He flew as near as he could to the wild men’s village without being seen, but he could see no signs of the two Teenie Weenies.

“I think the wild men have the Lady of Fashion and the Poet locked up in one of their houses,” the Turk told the General when he slid off the bird’s back at the army camp. “I noticed one of the houses was closely guarded and I think we shall find them there.”

“We’ll soon find out,” answered the General, “for the army will be on the wild men’s island in a mighty short time.” Taking the Turk by the arm, the General showed him where the raft was being built.

Chapter Eleven
THE POET LEARNS SABO

While the Lady of Fashion and the Poet were being held prisoner by the Saboes, the Poet very carefully listened to the wild men’s strange language and in a short time he was able to speak a few of their words.

“Jinks, but it is hot in this shanty!” he said to the Lady of Fashion one morning as he wiped his forehead with his Teenie Weenie handkerchief and looked out through the tiny hole that served as a window in the house in which they were held prisoners.

“If the Queen would just let us go out and take a little exercise once in a while it would help a lot,” suggested the Lady of Fashion fanning herself with a dry leaf. “Why don’t you ask the Queen? Maybe she will let us take a walk now and then.”

“I’ll do it,” answered the Poet, and looking out through the door he called to one of the wild men who stood near guarding the house.

“Gip bah wah hoo,” said the Poet, which means in Sabo, “We need exercise.” “Tell the Queen we want to get out of this shanty and take a walk once in a while,” he continued in the wild men’s language.

The Wild Men attack the Teenie Weenies, as their raft nears the island.—Chapter Thirteen.

The wild man grunted a couple of times and hurried off through the long grass towards the Queen’s house, while the two Teenie Weenies sat down near the tiny door to await his return.

Presently the wild man came back and told the Poet that the Queen said that the Teenie Weenies could take a walk whenever they liked.

“Well, we’ll take a walk right this minute,” announced the Poet, and he quickly helped the Lady of Fashion down the tiny ladder.

The Teenie Weenies strolled along through the streets of the village while the two guards walked a few feet behind them. A great many children followed the Teenie Weenies about but, although the Lady of Fashion tried to make friends with them, they were very timid and stood off at a safe distance.

At one place two wild women were preparing dinner and the Teenie Weenies were much interested in what they saw. One woman was baking rice cakes on a flat stone under which a fire was burning, while a young girl was grinding wild rice into flour by pounding the rice with a small rock in a hollowed-out stone. Near the house was a hollowed-out log with leaves spread over the top to keep out the dust, and one of the guards told the Poet that the log was filled with salt water in which the frog hams were pickled before they were smoked.

The two Teenie Weenies spent a very pleasant afternoon looking about the village and it was quite late before they returned to their prison.

“Oh, dear me,” said the Lady of Fashion as she threw herself down on one of the soft grass mats, “I wonder what is going to happen to us. Do you think the General will come with the army and rescue us?”

“Of course he will,” answered the Poet. “All we have to do is to be patient and he’ll be here pretty soon.”

“But what if he doesn’t know that we have been captured by these wild men?” asked the Lady of Fashion anxiously.

“He will know all right,” said the Poet. “The Teenie Weenies could see the footprints of the wild men in the sand where we were captured. That is enough to tell them what has happened to us.”

“Oh, dear, if they would only come!” And the poor little lady began to sob.

“Here! Here!” said the Poet anxiously, for he always felt mighty uncomfortable whenever the Lady of Fashion cried. “You must not cry. That won’t do a bit of good—just makes you feel bad and me worse.”

“I-I-I c-c-can’t help it,” sobbed the little lady. “I want clean clothes, my hair needs washing, I want some of the Cook’s good apple butter, I want my toothbrush and I-I-I want to go home.”

The Poet tried his best to comfort her and presently she cried herself to sleep.

Chapter Twelve
GOGO’S BRAVE ACT

After much sawing, chopping and splitting of logs, the Teenie Weenies finally finished building the raft which was to carry the little army to the wild men’s island.

“We’ve got to give the raft a trial before we get all loaded up with supplies,” said the Old Soldier when the work had been done. “I’ll take it on the water this afternoon and give it a good try-out.”

“Quite right, quite right,” agreed the General as he sat down on a dry fern leaf. “We’ll have to send the army over in two trips. First the infantry can be taken over, then the raft can return for the artillery and some supplies.”

“Will the raft carry the cannon and the two mice that pull it?” asked the Doctor.

“Certainly,” said the Old Soldier. “It even ought to hold a good-sized paving brick.”

“Well, you can just bet I won’t get on that old raft until it has been thoroughly tried out,” announced Tess Bone as she arranged her dainty little cap and patted the Red Cross badge on her arm.

“That’s the way I feel about it too,” added Sally Guff, the other nurse with the army.

“You don’t need to worry about this raft,” laughed the Old Soldier. “It’s well made and every log is securely tied with strong, number forty thread.”

Right after lunch the General ordered several of the soldiers to help the Old Soldier take the raft out for a trial trip.

With the help of the big sweep on the stern of the raft and the use of several long poles, the little men slowly pushed the craft out into the stream.

“Jumping beans!” exclaimed the Old Soldier as the raft slid easily out into the water. “That is what I call a good—” but the Old Soldier never finished the sentence, for at that very moment a big frog poked his head out of the water and hopped up onto the raft.

“Oooooo, a-a-a s-s-submarine!” gasped the Dunce. “Jump for your lives,” and he leaped head first into the deep water.

Most of the Teenie Weenies gave one look at the ugly frog, followed the Dunce into the water and swam as fast as they could for shore. The Old Soldier and Gogo were the only men to hold their ground, and if it had not been for these brave little fellows, the frog would have captured the transport without a battle. 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.

“My brave lad,” said the General, grasping Gogo by the hand when the raft returned from its trip, “in behalf of the Teenie Weenie army I want to thank you for your great bravery and I hereby promote you to first sergeant in the Teenie Weenie army.”

“Oh, dat’s all right, General,” said Gogo, much confused at the honor thrust upon him. “There’s no fool frog what’s done gonna scare me when I’s mad, and I was certainly mad at that fool frog.”

The raft proved to be thoroughly seaworthy, so the General gave orders for the men to be ready to board her just as soon as the wind and current were favorable for the trip to the wild men’s island.

Chapter Thirteen
THE ATTACK

It was a long trip to the wild men’s island and the General wished to make the journey under cover of darkness. “I want to land on the island before daybreak so we can surprise the wild men,” the General told his officers, who were gathered for a council of war.

“The Sailor tells me,” continued the General, “that the wind and current are just right to sail the raft over to-night. I will take over the infantry on the first trip and then the raft can return for the artillery and the baggage and the rear guard, which the Old Soldier will command.”

The Cook had a great pot of rice cooked and he had stewed five lima beans. This great amount of food was portioned out, and three days’ rations were given to each soldier.

A number of picks and shovels, with a lot of bags and a chest of bullets, was loaded onto the raft.

Promptly at eleven o’clock the General, followed by several men, marched onto the raft and some of the soldiers with long poles quickly pushed out into the dark stream.

The Teenie Weenies pull the captured Wild Men out of the bottle.—Chapter Sixteen.

The Sailor and the Cowboy handled the big sweep at the back of the raft, while the Policeman and the Scotchman pushed wherever they could with the long poles.

No lights were allowed on the raft and the men were ordered to talk only in whispers, for the General wished to land on the island unknown to the wild men.

“J-j-j-jimminie C-c-christmas!” stuttered the trembling Dunce, “I-I-I’m not a-a bit s-s-scared. Are you, G-g-gogo?”

“Not v-v-very m-m-much,” answered the colored lad, trying to keep his knees from knocking together. “I done hope we-all—”

But at that minute, the raft struck something with such a bang it nearly upset most of the little soldiers. In fact, the Scotchman would have tumbled into the water if the Cowboy hadn’t caught him.

The raft had struck the limb of an old tree that lay in the water and to the alarm of the General it stuck fast.

“This is terrible. Perfectly terrible,” groaned the General, glancing towards the eastern sky. “It will soon be daylight and the wild men will see us if we are delayed here.”

The men worked with might and main to free the raft, but it was stuck tight to the snag and before they managed to get it free it was broad daylight.

“The wild men have very likely seen us by this time,” said the General, peering towards the island. “So instead of our surprising them, they probably will surprise us, but we have got to land. Examine your rifles and see that they are in condition to use, for we are likely to have a fight.”

“Look there!” cried the Sailor, pointing towards the shore, for the raft was now only a short distance from the island. “There’s something behind that stick.”

“Maybe it’s a wild man,” suggested the Dunce, turning a trifle pale. “Don’t you think we had better go back, General?”

“We intend to go on,” said the General, glancing scornfully at the frightened Dunce, “but if you want to you can jump into the water and swim back.”

“I-I-I think I’ll stay here,” said the Dunce as he thought of the many frogs and turtles that might snap him up if he tried to swim back.

As the raft drew near the shore, several arrows whistled over the soldiers’ heads and instantly a number of wild men sprang up from behind a stick that lay on the shore and began shooting at the raft.

“Make ready, men!” shouted the General, drawing his sword. “Shoot over the wild men’s heads when I give the word to fire. We don’t want to hurt any of them if we can avoid it.”

“O-o-o-oh, I-I-I’m shot!” screamed the Dunce, as an arrow knocked his hat from his head, but the rest of the little soldiers never heard the foolish fellow, for they stood ready, awaiting the General’s order to fire.

Chapter Fourteen
ON THE WILD MEN’S ISLAND

“Deliver this note at once to the Old Soldier,” said the General, as he handed the following letter to the army aviator:

Commander of the rear guard of the Teenie Weenie Army, Camp Bitem, on the Swamp Road:

My dear Captain:

We have had a battle with the enemy and our brave men have put them to rout.

Our transport met with an accident and it was broad daylight before we landed on the island.

The wild men attacked us as we neared the shore and sent a shower of arrows at us.