And then the
boys made wooden tomahawks for the girls and bows-and-arrows for their
own use, and then all sixteen went out and hid in the bushes near the
top of the hill.
By and by the baker-man came slowly up the path with a basket of bread
on either arm; and just as he reached the bushes there sounded in his
ears a most unearthly war-whoop. Then a flight of arrows came from the
bushes, and although they were blunt and could do him no harm they
rattled all over his body; and one hit his nose, and another his chin,
while several stuck fast in the loaves of bread.
Altogether, the baker-man was terribly frightened; and when all the
sixteen small Indians rushed from the bushes and flourished their
tomahawks, he took to his heels and ran down the hill as fast as he
could go!
When the grandmother returned she asked,
"Where is the bread for your supper?"
The children looked at one another in surprise, for they had forgotten
all about the bread. And then one of them confessed, and told her the
whole story of how they had frightened the baker-man for saying he
would send them to the poor-house.
"You are sixteen very naughty children!" exclaimed the old woman; "and
for punishment you must eat your broth without any bread, and
afterwards each one shall have a sound whipping and be sent to bed."
Then all the children began to cry at once, and there was such an
uproar that their grandmother had to put cotton in her ears that she
might not lose her hearing.
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