A TALE BY THE WAYSIDE. 239 



been taken up by Nabi Noh, so Nabi Tuakal had 

 no alternative but to plant these roots upon growing 

 trees. He did so, and the orchids are the result, 

 and they are in the charge of Nabi Tuakal, not of 

 Nabi Noh." 



After the interruption Ali continued 



" The Otter plunged into the river, and Sir Peace 

 of the Forest . remained on the bank, playing and 

 nibbling the young grass, and keeping an eye on 

 the Otter's babies. 



"Suddenly he heard 'tap-a-tap tap-a-tap tap 

 tap tap/ He listened, and then heard it again, 

 and recognised the notes of the drum of the Wood- 

 pecker, and the call was that of the war-alarm. 



" You know Blato' the Woodpecker," Ali said, 

 turning to me, "the bird that lights on the tree- 

 trunks, and drums with his beak upon the bark ? 



" Well, of the birds of the forest the Woodpecker 

 is the one that may beat the war -drum. And 

 when Sir Peace of the Forest heard the alarm, he 

 knew that somewhere killing was afoot, and he is 

 as skilled at drumming on the ground as the wood- 

 pecker is at drumming on a tree, and among the 

 four-footed animals of the forest he is the chief 

 dancer and drum-beater. 



"So he proceeded to spread the alarm, and with 

 his little heels he tap-a-tap tap-a- tapped on 

 the ground, in exactly the way that Sahak played 

 with those two twigs just now. But in his excite- 

 ment he did not see what he was doing, and, before 

 he realised it, all the Otter's babies lay dead, trodden 

 flat under his prancing hooves. 



