The Disobedient Island. 219

run away from me, and there you see all that is
ieft of him.” The bird looked, and saw only the
very top of the oak-tree, waving mournfully to
and fro.

“Well,” he said, ‘that is, of course, a difficult
task, but I think, nevertheless, that I can help you,
for I am a Kimg-bird, and one is not a king for
nothing. You have been kind to me and my
family, and in return, I am glad to do this for
you.”

“But how?”

“Have patience, and you will see,” was the
answer.

The King-bird now flew to the highest point
on the Island, and gave a very loud piercing
whistle, which was immediately answered from
the mainland, and repeated over and over again,
from the right, from the left, and then sounding
fainter and fainter as it came from a distance.

“Now,” said the King-bird, “my subjects all
know that I desire their presence here, at once.”

He had scarcely finished speaking when over-
head a faint “whirring” noise was heard, which