after the battle the front lines were moved quite a distance towards the center of the island, where the wild men’s village stood. a strong breastwork of sticks and grass was built and a most careful watch was kept at all times. nothing was seen of the wild men except shadowy forms that every now and then dodged about among the stalks of big grass. they were surely in the tall grass, for the savage little fellows could slip about in the jungle almost unseen.
it was quite certain that the general intended to move again in a short time, for everything was made ready for another battle.
one morning the scotchman, who was in the front lines, happened to see a wild man crawling along on his stomach towards a stick that lay in front of the teenie weenie breastwork. the tiny soldier raised his gun and waited, thinking the wild men were about to charge, but instead a blade of grass appeared above the stick and to it was tied a white rag.
“jinks!” exclaimed the scotchman, lowering his gun, “the wild men are showing a flag of truce.”
“hold your fire, men!” shouted the cowboy, who was in charge of the teenie weenie fort at the time. “they are sending out a flag of truce.”
presently the wild man crawled out from behind the stick and timidly made his way toward the teenie weenies.
“what do you want?” asked the cowboy, peering over the top of the fort.
“wap gee goo mah be gum,” answered the wild man as he approached the teenie weenies. of course none of them could understand a word of this.
“talk english, you goof,” cried the cowboy. “i can’t understand that kind of talk.”
the wild man carried a piece of folded birch bark in his hand and when he reached the fort he handed it over to the cowboy. it was addressed to the general, and the cowboy at once sent the note to him.
when the note was delivered to the general, he found that it was from the queen of the wild men, written by the poet, and this is what he read:
commander in chief, teenie weenie army. my dear general:
her royal highness, mooie, queen of the wild men, sends greetings. her highness wishes to talk over terms of peace with you and suggests that you and your staff meet her at the stream which crosses the path halfway between the sabo village and your camp. her highness awaits your pleasure and asks your excellency to set a date for the meeting.
respectfully yours
rufus rhyme.
p. s.—although the lady of fashion and i have been closely guarded since we have been prisoners, we have been very well treated and i ask that you take this into consideration when you arrange peace terms.
r. r.
the general answered the note at once, making arrangements to meet the queen on the following day.
the next day at the appointed time the general, the old soldier and a guard of eight soldiers marched off to the meeting place, where they found the queen awaiting them.
the queen sat on her favorite turtle and she had with her several of her warriors and the poet.
as the teenie weenies drew near, the queen and her followers raised their left hands above their heads, which is the sabo custom when friends meet. the queen was the first to speak, and the poet, who had learned the sabo language while he was held prisoner, translated her words to the teenie weenies as follows:
“o, great chief of the thunder wagon (the name, “men of the thunder wagon,” was given to the teenie weenies on account of the cannon which the wild men said sounded like thunder), we have come here to ask for peace. 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. the hams you have offered we could not think of taking, for we took up arms against you, not for gain, but only for the freedom of the lady of fashion and the poet.”
the queen was greatly pleased at the general’s words and arrangements were made for the exchange of the prisoners.
that same day all the wild men, except the ones who were in the hospital and who were too sick to leave, were set free.
the general and the queen of the wild men at the peace dance.—chapter twenty-five.
they were taken, under guard of several soldiers, to the stream where the general had met the queen. the lady of fashion and the poet were waiting for them and the teenie weenie soldiers gave three mighty cheers when they saw their friends. the prisoners were exchanged and the lady of fashion and the poet were taken to the teenie weenie camp, where they were given a royal welcome.
the lady of fashion was so happy to be again among her friends that she did a very ladylike thing—she cried. the nurses cried and several of the men were seen to blow their tiny noses and blink their eyes.
“oh, i’m so happy to be safe with you all again,” cried the lady of fashion as she hugged the general for the tenth time. “i don’t know what those nasty wild men captured us for, we never could find out, but i will say for them that they were very good to us.”
“well, we are mighty glad to have you with us again,” said the general. “and it’s through the loyalty of every soldier in our army that your rescue has been accomplished.”
“i know it. i know it,” cried the little lady, and she hugged every single man in the army except the chinaman, who was so embarrassed that he ran off and hid in a hollow log for nearly an hour.
the two nurses took the lady of fashion to their tent, where she washed until she was as clean as a drop of dew.
that night the army gathered around a roaring bonfire and eagerly listened to the poet while he told them how he and the lady of fashion had spent their time as prisoners of the wild men. when he had finished, the little people sang songs, told stories and gossiped until after midnight, when the general ordered everyone to bed.
“it’s so nice to sleep in a clean, honest-to-goodness bed again,” said the lady of fashion when she crawled into one of the tiny cots in the nurses’ tent, but she didn’t sleep a great deal, for the three little women had so much to talk about. they whispered and giggled until early morning.
