r
direction again, the gaudy fowl entered the water and swam gracefully
away.

16. The Glass Cat Finds the Black Bag

When the six monkeys were transformed by Kiki Aru into six giant
soldiers fifty feet tall, their heads came above the top of the trees,
which in this part of the forest were not so high as in some other
parts; and, although the trees were somewhat scattered, the bodies of
the giant soldiers were so big that they quite filled the spaces in
which they stood and the branches pressed them on every side.

Of course, Kiki was foolish to have made his soldiers so big, for now
they could not get out of the forest. Indeed, they could not stir a
step, but were imprisoned by the trees. Even had they been in the
little clearing they could not have made their way out of it, but they
were a little beyond the clearing. At first, the other monkeys who had
not been enchanted were afraid of the soldiers, and hastily quitted the
place; but soon finding that the great men stood stock still, although
grunting indignantly at their transformation, the band of monkeys
returned to the spot and looked at them curiously, not guessing that
they were really monkeys and their own friends.

The soldiers couldn't see them, their heads being above the trees; they
could not even raise their arms or draw their sharp swords, so closely
were they held by the leafy branches. So the monkeys, finding the
giants helpless, began climbing up their bodies, and presently all the
band were perched on the shoulders of the giants and peering into their
faces.

"I'm Ebu, your father," cried one soldier to a monkey who had perched
upon his left ear, "but some cruel person has enchanted me."

"I'm your Uncle Peeker," said another soldier to another monkey.

So, very soon all the monkeys knew the truth and were sorry for their
friends and relations and angry at the person--whoever it was--who had
transformed them. There was a great chattering among the tree-tops,
and the noise attracted other monkeys, so that the clearing and all the
trees around were full of them.

Rango the Gray Ape, who was the Chief of all the monkey tribes of the
forest, heard the uproar and came to see what was wrong with his
people. And Rango, being wiser and more experienced, at once knew that
the strange magician who looked like a mixed-up beast was responsible
for the transformations. He realized that the six giant soldiers were
helpless prisoners, beca