When they came to the mountain
it proved to be a rugged, towering
chunk of deep green glass,
and looked dismal and forbidding
in the extreme. Half way up
the steep was a yawning cave,
black as night beyond the point
where the rainbow rays of the
colored suns reached
into it.
The Mangaboos drove the horse
and the kitten and the piglets
into this dark hole and then,
having pushed the buggy in
after them--for it seemed some
of them had dragged it all
the way from the domed hall--they
began to pile big glass rocks
within the entrance, so that
the prisoners could not get
out again.
"This is dreadful!" groaned
Jim. "It will be about the
end of our adventures, I guess."
"If the Wizard was here," said
one of the piglets, sobbing
bitterly, "he would not see
us suffer so."
"We ought to have called
him and Dorothy when we were
first attacked," added Eureka. "But
never mind; be brave, my friends,
and I will go and tell our
masters where you are, and
get them to come to your rescue."
The mouth of the hole was
nearly filled up now, but the
kitten gave a leap through
the remaining opening and at
once scampered up into the
air. The Mangaboos saw her
escape, and several of them
caught up their thorns and
gave chase, mounting through
the air after her. Eureka,
however, was lighter than the
Mangaboos, and while they could
mount only about a hundred
feet above the earth the kitten
found she could go nearly two
hundred feet. So she ran along
over their heads until she
had left them far behind and
below and had come to the city
and the House of the Sorcerer.
There she entered in at Dorothy's
window in the dome and aroused
her from her sleep.
As soon as the little girl
knew what had happened she
awakened the Wizard and Zeb,
and at once preparations were
made to go to the rescue of
Jim and the piglets. The Wizard
carried his satchel, which
was quite heavy, and Zeb carried
the two lanterns and the oil
can. Dorothy's wicker suit-case
was still under the seat of
the buggy, and by good fortune
the boy had also placed the
harness in the buggy when he
had taken it off from Jim to
let the horse lie down and
rest. So there was nothing
for the girl to carry but the
kitten, which she held close
to her bosom and tried to comfort,
for its little heart was still
beating rapidly.
Some of the Mangaboos discovered
them as soon as they left the
House of the Sorcerer; but
when they started toward the
mountain the vegetable people
allowed them to proceed without
interference, yet followed
in a crowd behind them so that
they could not go back again.
Before long they neared the
Black Pit, where a busy swarm
of Mangaboos, headed by their
Princess, was engaged in piling
up glass rocks before the entrance.
"Stop, I command you!" cried
the Wizard, in an angry tone,
and at once began pulling down
the rocks to liberate Jim and
the piglets. Instead of opposing
him in this they stood back
in silence until he had made
a good-sized hole in the barrier,
when by order of the Princess
they all sprang forward and
thrust out their sharp thorns.
Dorothy hopped inside the
opening to escape being pricked,
and Zeb and the Wizard, after
enduring a few stabs from the
thorns, were glad to follow
her. At once the Mangaboos
began piling up the rocks of
glass again, and as the little
man realized that they were
all about to be entombed in
the mountain he said to the
children:
"My
dears,
what shall
we do?
Jump out
and fight?"
"What's the use?" replied
Dorothy. "I'd as soon die here
as live much longer among these
cruel and heartless people."
"That's the way I feel about
it," remarked Zeb, rubbing
his wounds. "I've had enough
of the Mangaboos."
"All right," said the Wizard; "I'm
with you, whatever you decide.
But we can't live long in this
cavern, that's certain."
Noticing that the light was
growing dim he picked up his
nine piglets, patted each one
lovingly on its fat little
head, and placed them carefully
in his inside pocket.
Zeb struck a match and lighted
one of the lanterns. The rays
of the colored suns were now
shut out from them forever,
for the last chinks had been
filled up in the wall that
separated their prison from
the Land of the Mangaboos.
"How big is this hole?" asked
Dorothy.
"I'll explore it and see," replied
the boy.
So he carried the lantern
back for quite a distance,
while Dorothy and the Wizard
followed at his side. The cavern
did not come to an end, as
they had expected it would,
but slanted upward through
the great glass mountain, running
in a direction that promised
to lead them to the side opposite
the Mangaboo country.
"It isn't a bad road," observed
the Wizard, "and if we followed
it it might lead us to some
place that is more comfortable
than this black pocket we are
now in. I suppose the vegetable
folk were always afraid to
enter this cavern because it
is dark; but we have our lanterns
to light the way, so I propose
that we start out and discover
where this tunnel in the mountain
leads to."
The others agreed readily
to this sensible suggestion,
and at once the boy began to
harness Jim to the buggy. When
all was in readiness the three
took their seats in the buggy
and Jim started cautiously
along the way, Zeb driving
while the Wizard and Dorothy
each held a lighted lantern
so the horse could see where
to go.
Sometimes the tunnel was
so narrow that the wheels of
the buggy grazed the sides;
then it would broaden out as
wide as a street; but the floor
was usually smooth, and for
a long time they travelled
on without any accident. Jim
stopped sometimes to rest,
for the climb was rather steep
and tiresome.
"We must be nearly as high
as the six colored suns, by
this time," said Dorothy. "I
didn't know this mountain was
so tall."
"We are certainly a good
distance away from the Land
of the Mangaboos," added Zeb; "for
we have slanted away from it
ever since we started."
But they kept steadily moving,
and just as Jim was about tired
out with his long journey the
way suddenly grew lighter,
and Zeb put out the lanterns
to save the oil.
To their joy they found it
was a white light that now
greeted them, for all were
weary of the colored rainbow
lights which, after a time,
had made their eyes ache with
their constantly shifting rays.
The sides of the tunnel showed
before them like the inside
of a long spy-glass, and the
floor became more level. Jim
hastened his lagging steps
at this assurance of a quick
relief from the dark passage,
and in a few moments more they
had emerged from the mountain
and found themselves face to
face with a new and charming
country.
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