ders. And if you try to run away again I will
have her reduce all the twenty-six officers to privates, and make the
private your general."

This terrible threat so frightened them that they at once returned to
where Ozma was standing beside the Cowardly Lion.

Then Ozma cried out in a loud voice:

"I demand that the Nome King appear to us!"

There was no reply, except that the shifting Nomes upon the mountain
laughed in derision.

"You must not command the Nome King," said Tiktok, "for you do not rule
him, as you do your own peo-ple."

[Illustration: ONLY THE MOCKING LAUGHTER REPLIED TO HER]

So Ozma called again, saying:

"I request the Nome King to appear to us."

Only the mocking laughter replied to her, and the shadowy Nomes
continued to flit here and there upon the rocky cliff.

"Try en-treat-y," said Tiktok to Ozma. "If he will not come at your
re-quest, then the Nome King may list-en to your plead-ing."

Ozma looked around her proudly.

"Do you wish your ruler to plead with this wicked Nome King?" she asked.
"Shall Ozma of Oz humble herself to a creature who lives in an
underground kingdom?"

"No!" they all shouted, with big voices; and the Scarecrow added:

"If he will not come, we will dig him out of his hole, like a fox, and
conquer his stubbornness. But our sweet little ruler must always
maintain her dignity, just as I maintain mine."

"I'm not afraid to plead with him," said Dorothy. "I'm only a little
girl from Kansas, and we've got more dignity at home than we know what
to do with. _I'll_ call the Nome King."

"Do," said the Hungry Tiger; "and if he makes hash of you I'll willingly
eat you for breakfast tomorrow morning."

So Dorothy stepped forward and said:

"_Please_ Mr. Nome King, come here and see us."

The Nomes started to laugh again; but a low growl came from the
mountain, and in a flash they had all vanished from sight and were
silent.

Then a door in the rock opened, and a voice cried:

[Illustration]

"Enter!"

"Isn't it a trick?" asked the Tin Woodman.

"Never mind," replied Ozma. "We came here to rescue the poor Queen of Ev
and her ten children, and we must run some risks to do so."

"The Nome King is hon-est and good na-tured," said Tiktok. "You can
trust him to do what is right."

So Ozma led the way, hand in hand with Dorothy, and they passed through
the arched doorway of rock and entered a long passage which was lighted
by jewels set in the walls and havi