CHAPTER 18
A Clever Conquest
The great dragon still had his eyes closed and was even snoring in amanner that resembled distant thunder; but Polychrome was now desperate,because any further delay meant the destruction of her friends. Sheseized the pearl necklace, to which was attached the great locket, andjerked it with all her strength.
The result was encouraging. Quox stopped snoring and his eyelidsflickered. So Polychrome jerked again--and again--till slowly the greatlids raised and the dragon looked at her steadily. Said he, in a sleepytone:
"What's the matter, little Rainbow?"
"Come quick!" exclaimed Polychrome. "Ruggedo has captured all ourfriends and is about to destroy them."
"Well, well," said Quox, "I suspected that would happen. Step a littleout of my path, my dear, and I'll make a rush for the Nome King's cavern."
She fell back a few steps and Quox raised himself on his stout legs,whisked his long tail and in an instant had slid down the rocks and madea dive through the entrance.
Along the passage he swept, nearly filling it with his immense body, andnow he poked his head into the jeweled cavern of Ruggedo.
But the King had long since made arrangements to capture the dragon,whenever he might appear. No sooner did Quox stick his head into the roomthan a thick chain fell from above and encircled his neck. Then the endsof the chain were drawn tight--for in an adjoining cavern a thousandnomes were pulling on them--and so the dragon could advance no furthertoward the King. He could not use his teeth or his claws and as his bodywas still in the passage he had not even room to strike his foes with histerrible tail.
Ruggedo was delighted with the success of his strategem. He had justtransformed the Rose Princess into a fiddle and was about to transformFiles into a fiddle bow, when the dragon appeared to interrupt him. So hecalled out:
"Welcome, my dear Quox, to my royal entertainment. Since you are here,you shall witness some very neat magic, and after I have finished withFiles and Tik-Tok I mean to transform you into a tiny lizard--one of thechameleon sort--and you shall live in my cavern and amuse me."
"Pardon me for contradicting Your Majesty," returned Quox in a quietvoice, "but I don't believe you'll perform any more magic."
"Eh? Why not?" asked the King in surprise.
"There's a reason," said Quox. "Do you see this ribbon around my neck?"
"Yes; and I'm astonished that a dignified dragon should wear such a sillything."
"Do you see it plainly?" persisted the dragon, with a little chuckle ofamusement.
"I do," declared Ruggedo.
"Then you no longer possess any magical powers, and are as helpless asa clam," asserted Quox. "My great master, Tititi-Hoochoo, the Jinjin,enchanted this ribbon in such a way that whenever Your Majesty lookedupon it all knowledge of magic would desert you instantly, nor will anymagical formula you can remember ever perform your bidding."
"Pooh! I don't believe a word of it!" cried Ruggedo, half frightened,nevertheless. Then he turned toward Files and tried to transform him intoa fiddle bow. But he could not remember the right words or the right passof the hands and after several trials he finally gave up the attempt.
By this time the Nome King was so alarmed that he was secretly shaking inhis shoes.
"I told you not to anger Tititi-Hoochoo," grumbled Kaliko, "and now yousee the result of your disobedience."
Ruggedo promptly threw his sceptre at his Royal Chamberlain, who dodgedit with his usual cleverness, and then he said with an attempt to swagger:
"Never mind; I don't need magic to enable me to destroy these invaders;fire and the sword will do the business and I am still King of the Nomesand lord and master of my Underground Kingdom!"
"Again I beg to differ with Your Majesty," said Quox. "The Great Jinjincommands you to depart instantly from this Kingdom and seek the earth'ssurface, where you will wander for all time to come, without a home orcountry, without a friend or follower, and without any more riches thanyou can carry with you in your pockets. The Great Jinjin is so generousthat he will allow you to fill your pockets with jewels or gold, but youmust take nothing more."
Ruggedo now stared at the dragon in amazement.
"Does Tititi-Hoochoo condemn me to such a fate?" he asked in a hoarsevoice.
"He does," said Quox.
"And just for throwing a few strangers down the Forbidden Tube?"
"Just for that," repeated Quox in a stern, gruff voice.
"Well, I won't do it. And your crazy old Jinjin can't make me do it,either!" declared Ruggedo. "I intend to remain here, King of the Nomes,until the end of the world, and I defy your Tititi-Hoochoo and all hisfairies--as well as his clumsy messenger, whom I have been obliged tochain up!"
The dragon smiled again, but it was not the sort of smile that madeRuggedo feel very happy. Instead, there was something so cold andmerciless in the dragon's expression that the condemned Nome Kingtrembled and was sick at heart.
There was little comfort for Ruggedo in the fact that the dragon was nowchained, although he had boasted of it. He glared at the immense head ofQuox as if fascinated and there was fear in the old King's eyes as hewatched his enemy's movements.
For the dragon was now moving; not abruptly, but as if he had somethingto do and was about to do it. Very deliberately he raised one claw,touched the catch of the great jeweled locket that was suspended aroundhis neck, and at once it opened wide.
Nothing much happened at first; half a dozen hen's eggs rolled out uponthe floor and then the locket closed with a sharp click. But the effectupon the nomes of this simple thing was astounding. General Guph, Kaliko,Pang and his band of executioners were all standing close to the doorthat led to the vast series of underground caverns which constitutedthe dominions of the nomes, and as soon as they saw the eggs they raiseda chorus of frantic screams and rushed through the door, slamming it inRuggedo's face and placing a heavy bronze bar across it.
Ruggedo, dancing with terror and uttering loud cries, now leaped upon theseat of his throne to escape the eggs, which had rolled steadily towardhim. Perhaps these eggs, sent by the wise and crafty Tititi-Hoochoo, werein some way enchanted, for they all rolled directly after Ruggedo andwhen they reached the throne where he had taken refuge they began rollingup the legs to the seat.
This was too much for the King to bear. His horror of eggs was real andabsolute and he made a leap from the throne to the center of the room andthen ran to a far corner.
The eggs followed, rolling slowly but steadily in his direction. Ruggedothrew his sceptre at them, and then his ruby crown, and then he drew offhis heavy golden sandals and hurled these at the advancing eggs. But theeggs dodged every missile and continued to draw nearer. The King stoodtrembling, his eyes staring in terror, until they were but half a yarddistant; then with an agile leap he jumped clear over them and made arush for the passage that led to the outer entrance.
Of course the dragon was in his way, being chained in the passage withhis head in the cavern, but when he saw the King making toward him hecrouched as low as he could and dropped his chin to the floor, leaving asmall space between his body and the roof of the passage.
Ruggedo did not hesitate an instant. Impelled by fear, he leaped to thedragon's nose and then scrambled to his back, where he succeeded insqueezing himself through the opening. After the head was passed therewas more room and he slid along the dragon's scales to his tail and thenran as fast as his legs would carry him to the entrance. Not pausinghere, so great was his fright, the King dashed on down the mountain path,but before he had gone very far he stumbled and fell.
When he picked himself up he observed that no one was following him, andwhile he recovered his breath he happened to think of the decree of theJinjin--that he should be driven from his Kingdom and made a wandereron the face of the earth. Well, here he was, driven from his cavern intruth; driven by those dreadful eggs; but he would go back and defy them;he would not submit
to losing his precious Kingdom and his tyrannicalpowers, all because Tititi-Hoochoo had said he must.
So, although still afraid, Ruggedo nerved himself to creep back along thepath to the entrance, and when he arrived there he saw the six eggs lyingin a row just before the arched opening.
At first he paused a safe distance away to consider the case, for theeggs were now motionless. While he was wondering what could be done, heremembered there was a magical charm which would destroy eggs and renderthem harmless to nomes. There were nine passes to be made and six versesof incantation to be recited; but Ruggedo knew them all. Now that he hadample time to be exact, he carefully went through the entire ceremony.
But nothing happened. The eggs did not disappear, as he had expected;so he repeated the charm a second time. When that also failed, heremembered, with a moan of despair, that his magic power had been takenaway from him and in the future he could do no more than any commonmortal.
And there were the eggs, forever barring him from the Kingdom which hehad ruled so long with absolute sway! He threw rocks at them, but couldnot hit a single egg. He raved and scolded and tore his hair and beard,and danced in helpless passion, but that did nothing to avert the justjudgment of the Jinjin, which Ruggedo's own evil deeds had brought uponhim.
From this time on he was an outcast--a wanderer upon the face of theearth--and he had even forgotten to fill his pockets with gold and jewelsbefore he fled from his former Kingdom!
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