"
"Where was he lost?" asked the girl
sympathetically.
"Back in Colorado, where I used to live before I
went to Oz. Brother was a miner, and dug gold out
of a mine. One day he went into his mine and never
came out. They searched for him, but he was not
there. Disappeared entirely," Shaggy ended
miserably.
"For goodness sake! What do you s'pose became of
him?" she asked.
"There is only one explanation," replied
Shaggy, taking another apple from his pocket
and eating it to relieve his misery. "The Nome
King probably got him."
"The Nome King! Who is he?"
"Why, he's sometimes called the Metal Monarch,
and his name is Ruggedo. Lives in some underground
cavern. Claims to own all the metals hidden in the
earth. Don't ask me why."
"Why?"
"Cause I don't know. But this Ruggedo gets
wild with anger if anyone digs gold out of the
earth, and my private opinion is that he captured
brother and carried him off to his underground
kingdom. No--don't ask me why. I see you're
dying to ask me why. But I don't know."
"But--dear me!--in that case you will never
find your lost brother!" exclaimed the girl.
"Maybe not; but it's my duty to try," answered
Shaggy. "I've wandered so far without finding
him, but that only proves he is not where I've
been looking. What I seek now is the hidden
passage to the underground cavern of the terrible
Metal Monarch."
"Well," said Betsy doubtfully, "it strikes me
that if you ever manage to get there the Metal
Monarch will make you, too, his prisoner.
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