as could the Gargoyles. All
the way to the great rock the wooden people followed them, and when Jim
finally alighted at the mouth of the cavern the pursuers were still some
distance away.

"But, I'm afraid they'll catch us yet," said Dorothy, greatly excited.

"No; we must stop them," declared the Wizard. "Quick Zeb, help me pull
off these wooden wings!"

They tore off the wings, for which they had no further use, and the
Wizard piled them in a heap just outside the entrance to the cavern.
Then he poured over them all the kerosene oil that was left in his
oil-can, and lighting a match set fire to the pile.

The flames leaped up at once and the bonfire began to smoke and roar and
crackle just as the great army of wooden Gargoyles arrived. The
creatures drew back at once, being filled with fear and horror; for such
a dreadful thing as a fire they had never before known in all the
history of their wooden land.

Inside the archway were several doors, leading to different rooms built
into the mountain, and Zeb and the Wizard lifted these wooden doors from
their hinges and tossed them all on the flames.

"That will prove a barrier for some time to come," said the little man,
smiling pleasantly all over his wrinkled face at the success of their
stratagem. "Perhaps the flames will set fire to all that miserable
wooden country, and if it does the loss will be very small and the
Gargoyles never will be missed. But come, my children; let us explore
the mountain and discover which way we must go in order to escape from
this cavern, which is getting to be almost as hot as a bake-oven."

To their disappointment there was within this mountain no regular flight
of steps by means of which they could mount to the earth's surface. A
sort of inclined tunnel led upward for a way, and they found the floor
of it both rough and steep. Then a sudden turn brought them to a narrow
gallery where the buggy could not pass. This delayed and bothered them
for a while, because they did not wish to leave the buggy behind them.
It carried their baggage and was useful to ride in wherever there were
good roads, and since it had accompanied them so far in their travels
they felt it their duty to preserve it. So Zeb and the Wizard set to
work and took off the wheels and the top, and then they put the buggy
edgewise, so it would take up the smallest space. In this position they
managed, with the aid of the patient cab-horse, to drag the vehicle
throu