ow Wins the Fight

After Billina had entered the palace Dorothy and Evring sat down to
await the success or failure of her mission, and the Nome King occupied
his throne and smoked his long pipe for a while in a cheerful and
contented mood.

Then the bell above the throne, which sounded whenever an enchantment
was broken, began to ring, and the King gave a start of annoyance and
exclaimed, "Rocketty-ricketts!"

When the bell rang a second time the King shouted angrily, "Smudge and
blazes!" and at a third ring he screamed in a fury, "Hippikaloric!"
which must be a dreadful word because we don't know what it means.

After that the bell went on ringing time after time; but the King was
now so violently enraged that he could not utter a word, but hopped out
of his throne and all around the room in a mad frenzy, so that he
reminded Dorothy of a jumping-jack.

The girl was, for her part, filled with joy at every peal of the bell,
for it announced the fact that Billina had transformed one more
ornament into a living person. Dorothy was also amazed at Billina's
success, for she could not imagine how the yellow hen was able to guess
correctly from all the bewildering number of articles clustered in the
rooms of the palace. But after she had counted ten, and the bell
continued to ring, she knew that not only the royal family of Ev, but
Ozma and her followers also, were being restored to their natural
forms, and she was so delighted that the antics of the angry King only
made her laugh merrily.

Perhaps the little monarch could not be more furious than he was
before, but the girl's laughter nearly drove him frantic, and he roared
at her like a savage beast. Then, as he found that all his
enchantments were likely to be dispelled and his victims every one set
free, he suddenly ran to the little door that opened upon the balcony
and gave the shrill whistle that summoned his warriors.

At once the army filed out of the gold and silver doors in great
numbers, and marched up a winding stairs and into the throne room, led
by a stern featured Nome who was their captain. When they had nearly
filled the throne room they formed ranks in the big underground cavern
below, and then stood still until they were told what to do next.

Dorothy had pressed back to one side of the cavern when the warriors
entered, and now she stood holding little Prince Evring's hand while
the great Lion crouched upon one side and the enormous Tiger cr