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.”

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