"Was that you speaking?" asked the wolf, of Jumpo, for the wolf didn't see the parrot.
"No," answered Jumpo, "I didn't speak," and the wolf thought it was very queer. Then the voice cried again:
"Let that monkey go, or I'll shoot a lot of guns at you!"
"Pooh. I'm not afraid," said the wolf, for he could not see anyone.
Then, all of a sudden, the voice cried again: "Get ready now, fellows. Aim your guns right at that wolf, but don't shoot Jumpo! Ready! Aim! Fire! Bangity-bang-bang! Boom! Bang!"
And it sounded like forty-'leven guns going off. My! How that parrot did yell!
"Oh, don't shoot me! Don't shoot! I'll be good! Honest I will! I'll let the monkey go! Hurry, monkey, run along and tell them that I let you go!" begged the wolf, letting go of Jumpo. And you can believe that Jumpo hurried away from that stump.
Then the green parrot hopped into sight on the limb of a tree and cried:
"Ha! ha!! That's the time I fooled you, Mr. Wolf. It was I talking, and there aren't any fellows here with guns at all. But I made you let Jumpo go. Ha! Ha!"
Then that wolf was so angry that he almost bit his own tail, but he couldn't catch Jumpo, and the green parrot went home with the monkey boy to see that no one hurt him. Then the parrot, after Jumpo and his brother and mother had thanked him, flew back to his cage, and that's the end of this story, if you please.