hard labor finished the work and not one Teenie Weenie had been shot, thanks to the Old Soldier’s screen.

Chapter Twenty THE DUNCE LOOKS FOR EXCITEMENT

From the new trenches the Teenie Weenies could see the wild men’s fort plainly. The little soldiers had to be very careful, however, for every time they showed themselves the wild men would let fly a shower of arrows. The soldiers thought it great fun to put their hats on sticks and push them out in sight of the wild men. At first this brought a tremendous number of arrows, but finally the wild men caught onto the trick and only an occasional arrow would fly at the exposed hat.

The men took turns guarding the front trenches. It was very tiresome work sitting in the narrow ditch waiting for something to happen and most of the soldiers would have welcomed the order to storm the wild men’s fort.

“I can’t see why the General doesn’t get busy and take the fort,” growled the Scotchman one afternoon. Several of the men, who were off duty, were lying in a mossy place under some big ferns, discussing the matter. “We’ve got everything ready for the attack, the men are more than anxious to go into action and we could lick the stuffin’ out of the Saboes.”

“Keep cool, Scotty; we’ll get a chance soon enough,” said the Turk, who was very quiet and always took things calmly. “The General knows what he’s about and when he gets his plans ready, we’ll get all the excitement we want.”

“Excitement!” exclaimed the Dunce. “That’s me. I’ve got to have some excitement; I’m sick and tired of sittin’ around here without anything doin’.”

“Let’s get our guns and go out and see if we can’t shoot some dragon flies or mosquitoes,” suggested the Sailor.

“Nah, that ain’t dangerous enough,” answered the Dunce. “I want to do something that will give me a thrill,” and getting up he slowly walked towards the tall grass near the Teenie Weenie camp.

The General had given orders that none of the soldiers should leave camp, for the grass was so tangled and thick that it would be an easy thing to get lost and, besides, the savage wild men might be hiding behind the thick stalks of grass.

“Jinks!” thought the Dunce as he peered into the dense grass, “the General wouldn’t scold me if I happened to stroll out there and capture a wild man.”

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