"Don't worry," advised Polychrome. "I believe
the Magician was going the other way, and probably
he went much faster than we are going."
"It's fast enough to suit me," remarked
Shaggy, gently removing Polychrome's heel
from his left eye. "Couldn't you manage to fall
all by yourself, my dear?"
"I'll try," laughed the Rainbow's Daughter.
All this time they were swiftly falling through
the Tube, and it was not so easy for them to talk
as you may imagine when you read their words. But
although they were so helpless and altogether in
the dark as to their fate, the fact that they were
able to converse at all cheered them,
considerably.
Files and Ozga were also conversing as they
clung tightly to one another, and the young
fellow bravely strove to reassure the Princess,
although he was terribly frightened, both on her
account and on his own.
An hour, under such trying circumstances, is
a very long time, and for more than an hour they
continued their fearful journey. Then, just as
they began to fear the Tube would never end,
Tik-Tok popped out into broad daylight and,
after making a graceful circle in the air, fell
with a splash into a great marble fountain.
Out came the officers, in quick succession,
tumbling heels over head and striking the
ground in many undignified attitudes.
"For the love of sassafras!" exclaimed a
Peculiar Person who was hoeing pink violets in a
garden. "What can all this mean?"
For answer, Queen Ann sailed up from the
Tube, took a ride through the air as high as the
treetops, and alighted squarely on top of the
Peculiar Person's head, smashing a jeweled
crown over his eyes and tumbling him to the
ground.
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