Evening star., 1919-10-12

mans frown," said the private. with
a shudder.
~ thought he was honest. but was
mis.tak-en." remarked Tiktok. my
thoughts are us-u-al-ly correct. but
n ia Smith and Thinkers fault IL they
sometimes go wrong or do not WORK
property"
smith and Tinker made very good
Job Of YOU" said Ozma. kindly. Il do
not think they should be blamed II you
are not quite perfect"
THANK you," replied Tiktok.
"Then," said Billina, in her brisk
little voice, "let us all go back to the
Nome King, and see what he has to
say for himself"
So they started for the entrance,
Ozma going first, with the Queen and
her train of little Princes and
Princesses following. Then came Tx
toF and the Scarecrow with Billina
perched upon his straw stuffed shoulder.
shoulder The twenty-seven officers
and the private brought up the rear.
AS they reached the hall the doors
flew open before them; but then they
all stopped and stared into the domeo
cavern with faces of astonshment and
6smay. For the room was filled with
the mall-clad warriors Of the Nome
King. rank after rank standing in Or
derby array. The electric lights upon
their brows CLEANED brightly, their bat
tle-aXes were poised as if to strike down
their foes; yet they remained motion.
less as statues. awaiting the word of
command
And in the center of this terrible
army sat the little King upon his
throne Of rock. But he neither smiled
nor laughed Instead, his face was dis
tcrted with rag and most dreadful to
behold.
After Billina had entered the palace
Torothy and Evring sat down to await
the success or failure Of her mission.
and the Nome King occupied his throne
and smoked his long pipe for while in
a cheerful and ortented mood.
Then the bell above the throne. which
sounded whenever an enchantment was
broken. began to ring. and the King
gave a start of annoyance and ex-
claimed. 'Rocketty ricketts!'
When the bell rang a second time the
King shouted anerily. "Smudge and
blazes!" and at third ring he screamed
in fury, "Hippikalorc!" which must
be a dreadful word because we don't
know what 1t means.
After that the bel! went on ringing
time afte: time: but the King was now
SO violently enraged that he could not
utter a word. but hoped out of his
throne and ran all around the room in a
mad frenzy, so that he reminded Dor
othy of a jumping jack.
The girl was, for her part. filled with
Joy at every peal OF the bell. for It an
rcunccd the fact that Bi..ira had trans
formed one n,"re ornament into living
person. Dorothy was also amazed al
Rillina's success. for she could not
imagine how the yellow hen was able
to guess correctly from all the bcwilder-
Ing number of articles clustered In the
rooms Of the palace. But after she mad
counted ten, and the bell continued to
ring, she knew that not only the royal
family OF Ev. but OZma and her follow.
ers also. were being restored to their
natural forms. and she was so delighted
that the antics Of the angry King only
made her laugh merrily.
Perhaps the little monarch could not
be more furious than he was before.
hut the girls laughter nearly drove him
frantic. and he reared at her like a
savage beast. Then, as he found that
all his entertainments were likely to be
dispelled and his victims every one set
free, he suddenly ran to the little door
that opened the balcony and gave the
shrill whistle that summoned his war
riors
Copyright. 1919. by l.. Frank Baum for Geo.
Matthew Adams Service.)