“Not once,” says he, with a grin.
“How ever did you work it?” says Plunk.
“Well,” says Mark, tickled to be getting some more admiration, “I f-found that nest the other day and sat down to figger out how we could use it. It wasn’t hard to figger what to do with it, but it took more calc’latin’ to f-f-find how to do what I wanted to. But there’s always some way.”
Now that was just like Mark Tidd. Always some way. He believed that. It didn’t matter what happened, or what had to be done, he knew there was some way to do it, and usually he’d figure and plan and calculate till he found it.
“I got the idee,” he went on, “to take the n-nest in a pail and keep the hornets in with a cover. So, when I n-needed ’em I sneaked up and shoved the pail over the nest gentle-like and cautious. Then, mighty quick, I can t-t-tell you, I cut down the nest with the cover and s-s-slapped the cover on the pail. It was as easy as p-p-pie.”
“Yes,” says I, “and it made it easy for the enemy.”
Well, that was the last we saw of those Japanese that day. I guess the whole army went into the hospital. But we didn’t feel like organizing any Red Cross to help their wounded. Not much.
CHAPTER XVI
Next morning we saw a little procession come out of the hotel. Walking ahead was The Man, as jaunty as ever, or at least trying to be. A man can’t be very jaunty with a limp in his left leg and his eyes swelled ’most shut with hornet stings. Behind him were three Japanese carrying bundles over their shoulders. It looked like they were abandoning the siege.
“Hey, Mark!” I yelled. “Come look! The war’s over.”