It was on the third day of their pilgrimage
that they encountered their first adventure.
Toward evening the sky was suddenly darkened
and Major Nails exclaimed:
"A fog is coming toward us."
"I do not think it is a fog," replied Files,
looking with interest at the approaching cloud.
"It seems to me more like the breath of a Rak."
"What is a Rak?" asked Ann, looking about
fearfully.
"A terrible beast with a horrible appetite,"
answered the soldier, growing a little paler than
usual. "I have never seen a Rak, to be sure, but I
have read of them in the story-books that grew in
my orchard, and if this is indeed one of those
fearful monsters, we are not likely to conquer the
world."
Hearing this, the officers became quite worried
and gathered closer about their soldier.
"What is the thing like?" asked one.
"The only picture of a Rak that I ever saw in a
book was rather blurred," said Files, "because the
book was not quite ripe when it was picked. But
the creature can fly in the air and run like a
deer and swim like a fish. Inside its body is a
glowing furnace of fire, and the Rak breathes in
air and breathes out smoke, which darkens the sky
for miles around, wherever it goes. It is bigger
than a hundred men and feeds on any living thing."
The officers now began to groan and to tremble,
but Files tried to cheer them, saying:
"It may not be a Rak, after all, that we see
approaching us, and you must not forget that we
people of Oogaboo, which is part of the fairyland
of Oz, cannot be killed.
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