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When the time came for the war to begin, the willow-wren sent out

spies to discover who was the enemy's commander-in-chief. The

gnat, who was the most crafty, flew into the forest where the

enemy was assembled, and hid herself beneath a leaf of the tree

where the password was to be announced. There stood the bear, and

he called the fox before him and said: 'Fox, you are the most

cunning of all animals, you shall be general and lead us.'

'Good,' said the fox, 'but what signal shall we agree upon?' No

one knew that, so the fox said: 'I have a fine long bushy tail,

which almost looks like a plume of red feathers. When I lift my

tail up quite high, all is going well, and you must charge; but

if I let it hang down, run away as fast as you can.' When the

gnat had heard that, she flew away again, and revealed

everything, down to the minutest detail, to the willow-wren.