They had already,she said,in exploring the forest,made acquaintance with the animals in it,and with most of them personally.Knowing therefore how strong as well as wise and docile some of them were,and how swift as well as manageable many others,they now set themselves to secure their aid against the giants,and with loving,playful approaches,had soon made more than friends of most of them,from the first addressing horse or elephant as Brother or Sister Elephant,Brother or Sister Horse,until before long they had an individual name for each.It was some little time longer before they said Brother or Sister Bear,but that came next,and the other day she had heard one little fellow cry,"Ah,Sister Serpent!"to a snake that bit him as he played with it too roughly.Most of them would have nothing to do with a caterpillar,except watch it through its changes;but when at length it came from its retirement with wings,all would immediately address it as Sister Butterfly,congratulating it on its metamorphosis--for which they used a word that meant something like REPENTANCE--and evidently regarding it as something sacred.
One moonlit evening,as they were going to gather their fruit,they came upon a woman seated on the ground with a baby in her lap--the woman I had met on my way to Bulika.They took her for a giantess that had stolen one of their babies,for they regarded all babies as their property.Filled with anger they fell upon her multitudinously,beating her after a childish,yet sufficiently bewildering fashion.
She would have fled,but a boy threw himself down and held her by the feet.Recovering her wits,she recognised in her assailants the children whose hospitality she sought,and at once yielded the baby.Lona appeared,and carried it away in her bosom.
But while the woman noted that in striking her they were careful not to hurt the child,the Little Ones noted that,as she surrendered her,she hugged and kissed her just as they wanted to do,and came to the conclusion that she must be a giantess of the same kind as the good giant.The moment Lona had the baby,therefore,they brought the mother fruit,and began to show her every sort of childish attention.
Now the woman had been in perplexity whither to betake herself,not daring to go back to the city,because the princess was certain to find out who had lamed her leopardess:delighted with the friendliness of the little people,she resolved to remain with them for the present:she would have no trouble with her infant,and might find some way of returning to her husband,who was rich in money and gems,and very seldom unkind to her.
Here I must supplement,partly from conjecture,what Lona told me about the woman.With the rest of the inhabitants of Bulika,she was aware of the tradition that the princess lived in terror of the birth of an infant destined to her destruction.They were all unacquainted,however,with the frightful means by which she preserved her youth and beauty;and her deteriorating physical condition requiring a larger use of those means,they took the apparent increase of her hostility to children for a sign that she saw her doom approaching.This,although no one dreamed of any attempt against her,nourished in them hopes of change.
Now arose in the mind of the woman the idea of furthering the fulfilment of the shadowy prediction,or of using the myth at least for her own restoration to her husband.For what seemed more probable than that the fate foretold lay with these very children?
They were marvellously brave,and the Bulikans cowards,in abject terror of animals!If she could rouse in the Little Ones the ambition of taking the city,then in the confusion of the attack,she would escape from the little army,reach her house unrecognised,and there lying hidden,await the result!
Should the children now succeed in expelling the giants,she would begin at once,while they were yet flushed with victory,to suggest the loftier aim!By disposition,indeed,they were unfit for warfare;they hardly ever quarrelled,and never fought;loved every live thing,and hated either to hurt or to suffer.Still,they were easily influenced,and could certainly be taught any exercise within their strength!--At once she set some of the smaller ones throwing stones at a mark;and soon they were all engrossed with the new game,and growing skilful in it.
The first practical result was their use of stones in my rescue.
While gathering fruit,they found me asleep,went home,held a council,came the next day with their elephants and horses,overwhelmed the few giants watching me,and carried me off.Jubilant over their victory,the smaller boys were childishly boastful,the bigger boys less ostentatious,while the girls,although their eyes flashed more,were not so talkative as usual.The woman of Bulika no doubt felt encouraged.
We talked the greater part of the night,chiefly about the growth of the children,and what it might indicate.With Lona's power of recognising truth I had long been familiar;now I began to be astonished at her practical wisdom.Probably,had I been more of a child myself,I should have wondered less.