ing the island, and now the ugly expression
which passed over its face when it defied and sneered at Cap'n Bill and
Trot, had changed to one of amusement and curiosity. When it saw the
adventurers had actually reached the island and were standing beside
the Magic Flower, it heaved a breath of satisfaction--a long, deep
breath that swelled its deep chest until the beast could feel the stake
that held him move a little, as if withdrawing itself from the ground.

"Ah ha!" murmured the Kalidah, "a little more of this will set me free
and allow me to escape!"

So he began breathing as hard as he could, puffing out his chest as
much as possible with each indrawing breath, and by doing this he
managed to raise the stake with each powerful breath, until at last the
Kalidah--using the muscles of his four legs as well as his deep
breaths--found itself free of the sandy soil. The stake was sticking
right through him, however, so he found a rock deeply set in the bank
and pressed the sharp point of the stake upon the surface of this rock
until he had driven it clear through his body. Then, by getting the
stake tangled among some thorny bushes, and wiggling his body, he
managed to draw it out altogether.

"There!" he exclaimed, "except for those two holes in me, I'm as good
as ever; but I must admit that that old wooden-legged fellow saved both
himself and the girl by making me a prisoner."

Now the Kalidahs, although the most disagreeable creatures in the Land
of Oz, were nevertheless magical inhabitants of a magical Fairyland,
and in their natures a certain amount of good was mingled with the
evil. This one was not very revengeful, and now that his late foes
were in danger of perishing, his anger against them faded away.

"Our own Kalidah King," he reflected, "has certain magical powers of
his own. Perhaps he knows how to fill up these two holes in my body."

So without paying any more attention to Trot and Cap'n Bill than they
were paying to him, he entered the forest and trotted along a secret
path that led to the hidden lair of all the Kalidahs.

While the Kalidah was making good its escape Cap'n Bill took his pipe
from his pocket and filled it with tobacco and lighted it. Then, as he
puffed out the smoke, he tried to think what could be done.

"The Glass Cat seems all right," he said, "an' my wooden leg didn't
take roots and grow, either. So it's only flesh that gets caught."

"It's magic that does it, Cap'n!"