I have found my lost
brother, and he is now beside me, freed from the
enchantment of ugliness which Ruggedo cast upon
him. Tik-Tok has served me and my comrades
faithfully, as you requested him to do, and I hope
you will now transport the Clockwork Man back to
your fairyland of Oz."
"I will do that," replied Ozma. "But how
about yourself, Shaggy?"
"I have been very happy in Oz," he said, "but my
duty to others forces me to exile myself from that
delightful land. I must take care of my new-found
brother, for one thing, and I have a new comrade
in a dear little girl named Betsy Bobbin, who has
no home to go to, and no other friends but me and
a small donkey named Hank. I have promised Betsy
never to desert her as long as she needs a friend,
and so I must give up the delights of the Land of
Oz forever."
He said this with a sigh of regret, and Ozma
made no reply but laid the tiny instrument on her
table, thus cutting off all further communication
with the Shaggy Man. But the lovely Ruler of Oz
still watched her magic picture, with a thoughtful
expression upon her face, and the little Wizard of
Oz watched Ozma and smiled softly to himself.
In the cavern of the Nome King Shaggy replaced
the wireless telephone in his pocket and turning
to Betsy said in as cheerful a voice as he could
muster:
"Well, little comrade, what shall we do next?"
"I don't know, I'm sure," she answered with a
puzzled face. "I'm kind of sorry our adventures
are over, for I enjoyed them, and now that Queen
Ann and her people are gone, and Polychrome is
gone, and--dear me!--where's Tik-Tok, Shaggy?"
"He also has disappeared," said Shaggy, looking
around the cavern and nodding wisely.
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