Officers,
give the command to march."
"Fall--in!" yelled the Generals, drawing their
swords.
"Fall--in!" cried the Colonels, drawing their
swords.
"Fall--in!" shouted the Majors, drawing their
swords.
"Fall--in!" bawled the Captains, drawing their
swords.
Tik-Tok looked at them and then around him in
surprise.
"Fall in what? The well?" he asked.
"No," said Queen Ann, "you must fall in marching
order."
"Can-not I march without fall-ing in-to it?"
asked the Clockwork Man.
"Shoulder your gun and stand ready to march,"
advised Files; so Tik-Tok held the gun straight
and stood still.
"What next?" he asked.
The Queen turned to Shaggy.
"Which road leads to the Metal Monarch's
cavern?"
"We don't know, Your Majesty," was the reply.
"But this is absurd!" said Ann with a frown.
"If we can't get to Ruggedo, it is certain that we
can't conquer him."
"You are right," admitted Shaggy; "but I did
not say we could not get to him. We have only
to discover the way, and that was the matter we
were considering when you and your magnificent
Army arrived here."
"Well, then, get busy and discover it," snapped
the Queen.
That was no easy task. They all stood looking
from one road to another in perplexity. The paths
radiated from the little clearing like the rays of
the midday sun, and each path seemed like all the
others.
Files and the Rose Princess, who had by this
time become good friends, advanced a little way
along one of the roads and found that it was
bordered by pretty wild flowers.
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