For a long, long time, things went on very smoothly, but one day some Woodcutters came into the forest. These men lived in a strong village of their own and they used the forest wood to build houses. When anyone wanted a new house, the Woodcutters went into the forest and chopped down trees, sawed them into planks, and built a house.
Now, in the course of their wanderings, the Woodcutters found the stray Camel. They seized him and carried him away to serve them by drawing wood.
“Pooh! You silly little mouse,” laughed the Woodcutters.... “Come and get your Camel if you want him.”
When Sandy told the King that their Camel was caught by the Woodcutters, the Mouse King sent the Fox with a bodyguard to bring the Woodcutters to him. Two of the Woodcutters came before the King, but when they saw the tiny Mouse King, they laughed in his face and mocked him.
“I demand that you return my Camel at once!” squeaked the Mouse King.
“Pooh! You silly little Mouse,” laughed the Woodcutters. “Come and get your Camel if you want him!”
“That is what I will do,” said the Mouse King. “You may tell your Chief that I will make war upon him unless he gives me back my Camel.”
Then the Mouse King called his subjects—millions and millions of them—and they all set out for the village of the Woodcutters.