plied the girl--who only promised to marry him in
order to get rid of him--'in four days you will hardly be out of sight.'

'Oh, I did not mean four days, but four YEARS,' answered the turtle,
hastily; 'whatever happens I shall be back by then.'

The army marched on, till one day, when they felt as if they must have
got half round the earth, though they were scarcely four miles from the
camp, they found a large tree lying across their path. They looked at it
with dismay, and the oldest among them put their heads together to see
what was to be done.

'Can't we manage to get past by the top?' asked one.

'Why, it would take us YEARS,' exclaimed another. 'Just look at all
those tall green branches, spreading in every direction. If once we got
entangled in THEM, we should never get out again!'

'Well then, let us go round by the bottom,' said a third.

'How are we to do that, when the roots have made a deep hole, and above
that is a high bank?' replied a fourth. 'No; the only way I can think
of, is to burn a large hole in the trunk.' And this they did, but the
trunk was very thick, and would not burn through.

'It is no use, we must give it up,' they agreed at last. 'After all,
nobody need ever know! We have been away such a long while that we
might easily have had all sorts of adventures.' And so the whole company
turned homewards again.

They took even longer to go back than they had to come, for they were
tired and footsore with their journey. When they drew near the camp
they plucked up their courage, and began to sing a war-song. At this the
villagers came flocking to see what spoils the turtles had won, but, as
they approached, each turtle seized some one by the wrist, exclaiming:
'You are our spoils; you are our prisoners!'

'Now that I have got you I will keep you,' said the leader, who had
happened to seize his betrothed.

Everybody was naturally very angry at this behaviour, and the girl most
of all, and in her secret heart she determined to have her revenge. But,
just at present, the turtles were too strong, so the prisoners had to
put on their smartest slippers and their brightest clothes, and dance a
war dance while the turtles sang. They danced so long that it seemed as
if they would never stop, till the turtle who was leading the singing
suddenly broke into a loud chant:

Whoever comes here, will die, will die!

At this all the dancers grew so frightened that they burst through
the ring of their