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.
