't as it should have been.

"Here, you!" he called to Peter Mink. "Pull in your neck! It's too
long! It sticks out and spoils the looks of the whole army."

Now, Peter Mink was a rude fellow. And he made such a rude reply that
Major Monkey discharged him on the spot.

"Go away!" he cried. "We don't want any rowdies in our army."

XI

War in the Woods

Although Major Monkey had ordered him out of the army, Peter Mink
declared that he wasn't going till he was ready to leave.

"Very well," said the Major easily. "You may stay here; and we'll go."

But Peter Mink was an obstinate fellow. The moment the army started to
move, he went along with it. And what was worse, he insisted on
walking right behind Major Monkey, and trying to strut just as the
Major did.

Some of the generals couldn't help snickering. And of course Major
Monkey couldn't overlook such behavior.

"Order in the ranks!" he shouted as fiercely as he knew how.

The generals stopped tittering at once. For a minute or two everybody
marched on in silence. And then the cry, "Halt!" rang suddenly out.

The generals all stopped. Major Monkey stopped, too. And his face
seemed more wrinkled than ever as he looked every general in the face.

Naturally, that took some time, for there were several dozens of them.

"Who shouted 'Halt?'" the Major asked at last.

But nobody knew. At least, nobody answered. And there was a good deal
of low talking and craning of necks. For some reason or other,
everybody peered at Peter Mink. But he stared straight ahead in the
most innocent fashion.

Major Monkey said nothing more. But he walked behind the army and
picked up a stick.

"Forward, march!" he commanded then. And as the army moved on, he
continued to walk in the rear, just behind old Mr. Crow.

Soon the cry, "Halt!" sounded again. And as soon as he heard it, Major
Monkey threw his stick with great force and caught Peter Mink neatly
in the back of his head. Peter Mink toppled over where he stood.

"There!" Major Monkey remarked. "He won't bother us any more to-day."
And before the army had stopped gasping, he marched it forward again,
leaving Peter Mink stretched upon the ground.

Some of the generals objected, and said that they thought that Peter
Mink ought to be looked after.

But Major Monkey told them that they were in the army, and that it was
_war_, and they must expect even worse things to happen.

Now, Jimmy Rabbit was a tender-hearted