"How in the world did you happen to be in
that well, when I left you safe in Oz?" inquired
Shaggy.
"It is a long sto-ry," replied Tik-Tok, "but
I'll tell it in a few words. Af-ter you had gone
in search of your broth-er, Oz-ma saw you wan-der-
ing in strange lands when-ev-er she looked in her
mag-ic pic-ture, and she also saw your broth-er in
the Nome King's cavern; so she sent me to tell you
where to find your broth-er and told me to help you
if I could. The Sor-cer-ess, Glin-da the Good,
trans-port-ed me to this place in the wink of an
eye; but here I met the Nome King him-self--old
Rug-ge-do, who is called in these parts the Met-al
Mon-arch. Rug-ge-do knew what I had come for, and
he was so an-gry that he threw me down the well.
Af-ter my works ran down I was help-less un-til you
came a-long and pulled me out a-gain. Ma-ny
thanks."
"This is, indeed, good news," said Shaggy. "I
suspected that my brother was the prisoner of
Ruggedo; but now I know it. Tell us, Tik-Tok, how
shall we get to the Nome King's underground
cavern?"
"The best way is to walk," said Tik-Tok. "We
might crawl, or jump, or roll o-ver and o-ver
until we get there; but the best way is to walk."
"I know; but which road shall we take?"
"My ma-chin-er-y is-n't made to tell that,"
replied Tik-Tok.
"There is more than one entrance to the
underground cavern," said Polychrome; "but old
Ruggedo has cleverly concealed every opening, so
that earth dwellers can not intrude in his domain.
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