The main difficulty was to get them to rally to their flag the instant the call was sounded.

Most of them were armed with slings, some of the bigger boys with bows and arrows.

The bigger girls carried aloe-spikes, strong as steel and sharp as needles, fitted to longish shafts--rather formidable weapons.

Their sole duty was the charge of such as were too small to fight.
Lona had herself grown a good deal, but did not seem aware of it: she had always been, as she still was, the tallest! Her hair was much longer, and she was become almost a woman, but not one beauty of childhood had she outgrown.

When first we met after our long separation, she laid down her infant, put her arms round my neck, and clung to me silent, her face glowing with gladness: the child whimpered; she sprang to him, and had him in her bosom instantly.