"All the magic isn't in fairyland," he said
gravely. "There's lots of magic in all Nature,
and you may see it as well in the United States,
where you and I once lived, as you can here."
"I never did," she replied.
"Because you were so used to it all that you
didn't realize it was magic. Is anything more
wonderful than to see a flower grow and blossom,
or to get light out of the electricity in the air?
The cows that manufacture milk for us must have
machinery fully as remarkable as that in Tik-Tok's
copper body, and perhaps you've noticed that--"
And then, before Shaggy could finish his speech,
the strong light of day suddenly broke upon them,
grew brighter, and completely enveloped them. The
dragon's claws no longer scraped against the metal
Tube, for he shot into the open air a hundred feet
or more and sailed so far away from the slanting
hole that when he landed it was on the peak of a
mountain and just over the entrance to the many
underground caverns of the Nome King.
Some of the officers tumbled off their seats
when Quox struck the ground, but most of the
dragon's passengers only felt a slight jar. All
were glad to be on solid earth again and they at
once dismounted and began to look about them.
Queerly enough, as soon as they had left the
dragon, the seats that were strapped to the
monster's back disappeared, and this probably
happened because there was no further use for them
and because Quox looked far more dignified in just
his silver scales.
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