“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.
i ordered my men to return the fire, and at the first crack of their rifles the wild men were greatly scared and ran off into the tall grass; i believe that it is the first time the wild men have ever heard a rifle shot.
we have taken possession of a high bank where i have ordered the men to begin work on a trench.
the raft is now on its way to your camp, and i want you to rush over the cannon and baggage as soon as possible, for i fully expect the wild men to attack us before long.
i am sending this note by our brave aviator so you can have things ready to load on the raft when it arrives.
respectfully yours,
the general,
commander in chief of the teenie weenie army.
p. s.—i forgot to say that none of my men was hurt in the battle except the dunce, who was badly scared by being shot through the hat.
“yes, sir,” saluted the turk, and springing onto the back of the airplane he quickly flew out of sight over the water.
when the old soldier received the general’s message, he set to work at once breaking camp and when the raft arrived the artillery was quickly loaded. the raft made two trips during the day and most of the necessary baggage was taken over to the island.
a line of trenches was considered necessary by the general, who ordered sergeant gogo to direct the work and that brave little chap had the trenches done in a remarkably short time.
nothing more was seen of the wild men, but the closest watch was kept, for there was no telling when they might appear again.
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.
