CHAPTER 15
The Dragon Defies Danger
Although the journey through the Tube was longer, this time, than before,it was so much more comfortable that none of our friends minded it atall. They talked together most of the time and as they found the dragongood-natured and fond of the sound of his own voice they soon became wellacquainted with him and accepted him as a companion.
"You see," said Shaggy, in his frank way, "Quox is on our side, andtherefore the dragon is a good fellow. If he happened to be an enemy,instead of a friend, I am sure I should dislike him very much, for hisbreath smells of brimstone, he is very conceited and he is so strong andfierce that he would prove a dangerous foe."
"Yes, indeed," returned Quox, who had listened to this speech withpleasure; "I suppose I am about as terrible as any living thing. I amglad you find me conceited, for that proves I know my good qualities. Asfor my breath smelling of brimstone, I really can't help it, and I oncemet a man whose breath smelled of onions, which I consider far worse."
"I don't," said Betsy; "I love onions."
"And I love brimstone," declared the dragon, "so don't let us quarrelover one another's peculiarities."
Saying this, he breathed a long breath and shot a flame fifty feet fromhis mouth. The brimstone made Betsy cough, but she remembered about theonions and said nothing.
They had no idea how far they had gone through the center of the earth,nor when to expect the trip to end. At one time the little girl remarked:
"I wonder when we'll reach the bottom of this hole. And isn't it funny,Shaggy Man, that what is the bottom to us now, was the top when we fellthe other way?"
"What puzzles me," said Files, "is that we are able to fall both ways."
"That," announced Tik-Tok, "is be-cause the world is round."
"Exactly," responded Shaggy. "The machinery in your head is in fineworking order, Tik-Tok. You know, Betsy, that there is such a thing asthe Attraction of Gravitation, which draws everything toward the centerof the earth. That is why we fall out of bed, and why everything clingsto the surface of the earth."
"Then why doesn't everything go on down to the center of the earth?"inquired the little girl.
"I was afraid you were going to ask me that," replied Shaggy in a sadtone. "The reason, my dear, is that the earth is so solid that othersolid things can't get through it. But when there's a hole, as there isin this case, we drop right down to the center of the world."
"Why don't we stop there?" asked Betsy.
"Because we go so fast that we acquire speed enough to carry us right upto the other end."
"I don't understand that, and it makes my head ache to try to figure itout," she said after some thought. "One thing draws us to the center andanother thing pushes us away from it. But--"
"Don't ask me why, please," interrupted the Shaggy Man. "If you can'tunderstand it, let it go at that."
"Do _you_ understand it?" she inquired.
"All the magic isn't in fairyland," he said gravely. "There's lots ofmagic in all Nature, and you may see it as well in the United States,where you and I once lived, as you can here."
"I never did," she replied.
"Because you were so used to it all that you didn't realize it was magic.Is anything more wonderful than to see a flower grow and blossom, or toget light out of the electricity in the air? The cows that manufacturemilk for us must have machinery fully as remarkable as that in Tik-Tok'scopper body, and perhaps you've noticed that--"
And then, before Shaggy could finish his speech, the strong light of daysuddenly broke upon them, grew brighter, and completely enveloped them.The dragon's claws no longer scraped against the metal Tube, for he shotinto the open air a hundred feet or more and sailed so far away from theslanting hole that when he landed it was on the peak of a mountain andjust over the entrance to the many underground caverns of the Nome King.
Some of the officers tumbled off their seats when Quox struck the ground,but most of the dragon's passengers only felt a slight jar. All wereglad to be on solid earth again and they at once dismounted and began tolook about them. Queerly enough, as soon as they had left the dragon,the seats that were strapped to the monster's back disappeared, andthis probably happened because there was no further use for them andbecause Quox looked far more dignified in just his silver scales. Ofcourse he still wore the forty yards of ribbon around his neck, as wellas the great locket, but these only made him look "dressed up," as Betsyremarked.
Now the army of nomes had gathered thickly around the mouth of the Tube,in order to be ready to capture the band of invaders as soon as theypopped out. There were, indeed, hundreds of nomes assembled, and theywere led by Guph, their most famous General. But they did not expect thedragon to fly so high, and he shot out of the Tube so suddenly that ittook them by surprise. When the nomes had rubbed the astonishment out oftheir eyes and regained their wits, they discovered the dragon quietlyseated on the mountain-side far above their heads, while the otherstrangers were standing in a group and calmly looking down upon them.
General Guph was very angry at the escape, which was no one's fault buthis own.
"Come down here and be captured!" he shouted, waving his sword at them.
"Come up here and capture us--if you dare!" replied Queen Ann, who waswinding up the clockwork of her Private Soldier, so he could fight morebriskly.
Guph's first answer was a roar of rage at the defiance; then he turnedand issued a command to his nomes. These were all armed with sharp spearsand with one accord they raised these spears and threw them straight attheir foes, so that they rushed through the air in a perfect cloud offlying weapons.
Some damage might have been done had not the dragon quickly crawledbefore the others, his body being so big that it shielded every one ofthem, including Hank. The spears rattled against the silver scales ofQuox and then fell harmlessly to the ground. They were magic spears, ofcourse, and all straightway bounded back into the hands of those who hadthrown them, but even Guph could see that it was useless to repeat theattack.
It was now Queen Ann's turn to attack, so the Generals yelled "For--wardmarch!" and the Colonels and Majors and Captains repeated the commandand the valiant Army of Oogaboo, which seemed to be composed mainly ofTik-Tok, marched forward in single column toward the nomes, while Betsyand Polychrome cheered and Hank gave a loud "Hee-haw!" and Shaggy shouted"Hooray!" and Queen Ann screamed: "At 'em, Tik-Tok--at 'em!"
The nomes did not await the Clockwork Man's attack but in a twinklingdisappeared into the underground caverns. They made a great mistake inbeing so hasty, for Tik-Tok had not taken a dozen steps before he stubbedhis copper toe on a rock and fell flat to the ground, where he cried:"Pick me up! Pick me up! Pick me up!" until Shaggy and Files ran forwardand raised him to his feet again.
The dragon chuckled softly to himself as he scratched his left ear withhis hind claw, but no one was paying much attention to Quox just then.
It was evident to Ann and her officers that there could be no fightingunless the enemy was present, and in order to find the enemy they mustboldly enter the underground Kingdom of the nomes. So bold a stepdemanded a council of war.
"Don't you think I'd better drop in on Ruggedo and obey the orders of theJinjin?" asked Quox.
"By no means!" returned Queen Ann. "We have already put the army of nomesto flight and all that yet remains is to force our way into those cavernsand conquer the Nome King and all his people."
"That seems to me something of a job," said the dragon, closing his eyessleepily. "But go ahead, if you like, and I'll wait here for you. Don'tbe in any hurry on my account. To one who lives thousands of years thedelay of a few days means nothing at all, and I shall probably sleepuntil the time comes for me to act."
Ann was provoked at this speech.
"You may as well go back to Tititi-Hoochoo now," she said, "for the NomeKing is as good as conquered already."
But Quox shook his head. "No," said he
; "I'll wait."
Tik-Tok of Oz Page 17
