little beside himself. "And try not to be such a chatterbox. You're
making my head buzz."

He _did_ hear a distinct buzzing, a small roaring right by his
head where he was holding on to a thin branch. He tried to move his
hand away from the sound. Something small sat down on his thumb and set
it on fire.

"Ya-yowch!" he said, loudly.

"Tee-hee-hee!" went the yamam'ba, coming up with an intimate rustling
of leaves.

Goro sucked his thumb which had swollen surprisingly and stared at the
ball-like thing hanging only an arm's length away. The buzzing came
from it. Very carefully he reached out to see if he would be able to
grab it instantly. He thought the size would be about right.

A hard, scaly hand with claws came groping through the branches. He
moved his foot out of the way and waited for the head. It appeared, the
top mouth gaping.

"Tee-hee-hee," said the yamam'ba, using both mouths.

"Tee-hee-hee yourself," said Goro. "Have a goody." And into the top of
her head he dropped the buzzing ball.

"Whatever it was, it had a bad taste and your blood will wash it away,"
said the yamam'ba but just then the hornets woke up, highly irritated
from lack of sleep.

They flew 'round and 'round inside the yamam'ba. A few of them tickled.
Most of them stung. And all of them together worked a havoc in the
delicate equipment that makes up the yamam'ba interior.

The yamam'ba made a noise like a frying and a noise like a boiling,
and a noise like nameless things running through the night with their
ears on fire. She tumbled from the tree, into the tub waiting below
and bounced about inside it making unpleasant sounds too numerous to
mention.       *       *       *       *       *

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