kly rejoined their fellows, so for a
moment the horse thought he had won the fight with ease.

But the Wizard was not so confident.

"Those wooden things are impossible to hurt," he said, "and all the
damage Jim has done to them is to knock a few splinters from their noses
and ears. That cannot make them look any uglier, I'm sure, and it is my
opinion they will soon renew the attack."

"What made them fly away?" asked Dorothy.

"The noise, of course. Don't you remember how the Champion escaped them
by shouting his battle-cry?"

"Suppose we escape down the stairs, too," suggested the boy. "We have
time, just now, and I'd rather face the invis'ble bears than those
wooden imps."

"No," returned Dorothy, stoutly, "it won't do to go back, for then we
would never get home. Let's fight it out."

"That is what I advise," said the Wizard. "They haven't defeated us yet,
and Jim is worth a whole army."

But the Gargoyles were clever enough not to attack the horse the next
time. They advanced in a great swarm, having been joined by many more of
their kind, and they flew straight over Jim's head to where the others
were standing.

The Wizard raised one of his revolvers and fired into the throng of his
enemies, and the shot resounded like a clap of thunder in that silent
place.

Some of the wooden beings fell flat upon the ground, where they quivered
and trembled in every limb; but most of them managed to wheel and escape
again to a distance.

Zeb ran and picked up one of the Gargoyles that lay nearest to him. The
top of its head was carved into a crown and the Wizard's bullet had
struck it exactly in the left eye, which was a hard wooden knot. Half of
the bullet stuck in the wood and half stuck out, so it had been the jar
and the sudden noise that had knocked the creature down, more than the
fact that it was really hurt. Before this crowned Gargoyle had recovered
himself Zeb had wound a strap several times around its body, confining
its wings and arms so that it could not move. Then, having tied the
wooden creature securely, the boy buckled the strap and tossed his
prisoner into the buggy. By that time the others had all retired.

[Illustration]

CHAPTER 12.

A WONDERFUL ESCAPE

For a while the enemy hesitated to renew the attack. Then a few of them
advanced until another shot from the Wizard's revolver made them
retreat.

"That's fine," said Zeb. "We've got 'em on the run now, sure enough."

"But onl