"You'd better save your strength to fight the
enemy," suggested Kaliko. "There will be a
terrible battle when the Army of Oogaboo gets
here."
"The Army won't get here," said the King,
still coughing and panting. "I'll drop 'em down
the Hollow Tube--every man Jack and every
girl Jill of 'em!"
"And defy Tititi-Hoochoo?" asked Kaliko.
"Yes. Go at once to my Chief Magician and
order him to turn the path toward the Hollow
Tube, and to make the tip of the Tube invisible,
so they'll all fall into it."
Kaliko went away shaking his head, for he
thought Ruggedo was making a great mistake. He
found the Magician and had the path twisted so
that it led directly to the opening of the Hollow
Tube, and this opening he made invisible.
Having obeyed the orders of his master, the
Royal Chamberlain went to his private room and
began to write letters of recommendation of
himself, stating that he was an honest man, a good
servant and a small eater.
"Pretty soon," he said to himself, "I shall have
to look for another job, for it is certain that
Ruggedo has ruined himself by this reckless
defiance of the mighty Tititi-Hoochoo. And in
seeking a job nothing is so effective as a letter
of recommendation."
Chapter Ten
A Terrible Tumble Through a Tube
I suppose that Polychrome, and perhaps Queen Ann
and her Army, might have been able to dispel the
enchantment of Ruggedo's Chief Magician had they
known that danger lay in their pathway; for the
Rainbow's Daughter was a fairy and as Oogaboo is
a part of the Land of Oz its inhabitants cannot
easily be deceived by such common magic as the
Nome King could command.
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