ly small ugly birds."

"But look dere, missie," persisted Chunga, pointing towards the forest,
from the dark shades of which Shiny-pate and his battalions were
emerging.

"Why, it is an army of ants!" cried the Irish lady. "How curious! how
pretty!"

"Dey is coming here," remarked Chunga carelessly, as she watched the
procession.

[Illustration: "THE WARRIORS DASHED IN."]

"Here!" echoed Mrs. Wolf in horror; "what for? What shall we do? They
will eat all the things in my store-room, they will bite my children!"
and she flew to the nursery as she spoke.

But the advancing host moved steadily along, the officers gave orders to
enter the house, and our young hero, though quite a novice in the work,
was one of the first to creep through a slit in the walls.

"Now," cried Long-legs, "first kill the cockroaches and other small
game. Come on; don't be afraid."

So the warriors dashed into the principal room, mounted the rafters, and
began a fierce battle. The sleepy cockroaches, fat and heavy from good
living, sprawled about, but made a very poor fight. Shiny-pate and two
or three of his men would seize one of the kicking old fellows, and
either push him or pull him to the edge of the rafters, whence he would
fall with a dull thud on the floor, when he was generally too much
stunned to make any more resistance, but even if he did he was soon
overpowered, bitten, and dragged out of the house.

When the rafters were cleared, our hero was running swiftly across the
floor, when a choky voice called him, and he saw his old friend's head
protruding from an aperture in a large wooden chest.

"Come here! come here!" cried Long-legs. "There are loads of them
inside, and I want help."

"Loads of what?" inquired Shiny-pate, rather incredulously.

"Of all kinds of food," replied the colonel; "but unfortunately it is
very hard to get at them; they are hidden among the folds of some white
stuff that almost suffocates me."

Shiny-pate at once proceeded to crawl into the chest, but fortunately
Chunga, who knew the habits of the little insects, had been going
round the house opening every press and box, and now she flung aside the
cover of the great linen-chest, and in darted the little marauders, and
speedily drew forth hundreds of the hideous cockroaches.

But soon all the small game was cleared off, and yet the attacking party
cried for more, and cast hungry eyes at Mrs. Wolfe and the children, who
had been skipping about