But pretty soon, with the many colors of their bodies and bright caps, and green hands and red faces, they made such a medley of tints and hues, that the hunters laughed still more uproariously at the jolly sight. They could not tell which was which. From being puzzled, the two men got so confused, that they suffered from a real brain storm. It was as though a hundred rainbows had been all smashed together, or were wobbling about. By and bye, there seemed no color at all, and the men actually became dizzy.
The next bit of fun, on the Red Caps’ program, was to tear up the bits of paper, which they carried in their belts, and roll them round. Or they made their little torches, out of dead twigs and leaves. Then, when all was ready, [[206]]they ranged themselves into two lines again, as if two parties were trying to see which could beat the other in a game of smoke.
Each Red Cap pulled out his lantern and lighted the little roll of paper and leaves. Then he tried to blow the smoke into the face of a rival, on the opposite side. All the time, they kept up their laughing and chattering, like a lot of monkeys.
These Klabbers, were playing the game called camouflet, or smoke-blow. By the time the game was half over, the eyes of most of them were full of smoke, so that hardly any could see where they were going. In their glee, they tumbled over each other, making such a mess of colors, that the hunters were themselves so stupefied, that they began to wonder whether they had any brains left; for they could neither distinguish one color, or one Klabber, from another. When the men thought of rainbows, they wondered if rainbows ever got drunk.
At last, when all were tired out, and the fun lagged, the general of the Klabbers called off the game, and announced which side had gained the victory. The Green Faces had won over the Blues.
Then all the Klabbers picked up their lanterns, and, marching back up the hill, disappeared, in the little holes, or caves. [[207]]
“Saint Christopher, help me! I have it,” said the Flemish hunter. “We’ll go to Africa and play the camouflet game on the lions. We’ll give them a brain storm of color, and then we’ll catch them, when their heads are upset.”
“By Saint Hubert, yes,” said the Walloon. “Come on! Let us make a big thing of it and call it camouflage. We’ll capture our lion with paintpots and brushes. The bigger the lion, the easier he will be fooled.”
When the hunters lay down to sleep, they dreamed of camouflaged houses, ships, lions and men and of their voyage to Africa. [[208]]