Chapter Twenty-Four LET THERE BE PEACE

 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 dodged¹ about among the stalks of big grass. They were surely in the tall grass, for the savage² 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 truce³.”

“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 gee⁴ 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 halfway⁵ 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 warriors⁶ and the Poet.

 

As the Teenie Weenies drew near, the Queen and her followers⁷ 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 wagon⁸ (the name, “Men of the Thunder Wagon,” was given to the Teenie Weenies on account of the cannon⁹ 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 mighty¹⁰ 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 loyalty¹¹ of every soldier in our army that your rescue has been accomplished¹².”

“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 giggled¹³ until early morning.

 

1 dodged   

v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避

参考例句：

• He dodged cleverly when she threw her sabot at him. 她用木底鞋砸向他时，他机敏地闪开了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He dodged the book that I threw at him. 他躲开了我扔向他的书。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 savage   

adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人

参考例句：

• The poor man received a savage beating from the thugs.那可怜的人遭到暴徒的痛打。
• He has a savage temper.他脾气粗暴。

3 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

4 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

5 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

6 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

7 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

8 wagon   

n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车

参考例句：

• We have to fork the hay into the wagon.我们得把干草用叉子挑进马车里去。
• The muddy road bemired the wagon.马车陷入了泥泞的道路。

9 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

10 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

11 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

12 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

13 giggled   

v.咯咯地笑( giggle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The girls giggled at the joke. 女孩子们让这笑话逗得咯咯笑。
• The children giggled hysterically. 孩子们歇斯底里地傻笑。 来自《简明英汉词典》