ng lamps behind them. There was no
one to escort them, or to show them the way, but all the party pressed
through the passage until they came to a round, domed cavern that was
grandly furnished.

In the center of this room was a throne carved out of a solid boulder of
rock, rude and rugged in shape but glittering with great rubies and
diamonds and emeralds on every part of its surface. And upon the throne
sat the Nome King.

This important monarch of the Underground World was a little fat man
clothed in gray-brown garments that were the exact color of the rock
throne in which he was seated. His bushy hair and flowing beard were
also colored like the rocks, and so was his face. He wore no crown of
any sort, and his only ornament was a broad, jewel-studded belt that
encircled his fat little body. As for his features, they seemed kindly
and good humored, and his eyes were turned merrily upon his visitors as
Ozma and Dorothy stood before him with their followers ranged in close
order behind them.

"Why, he looks just like Santa Claus--only he isn't the same color!"
whispered Dorothy to her friend; but the Nome King heard the speech, and
it made him laugh aloud.

"'He had a red face and a round little belly
That shook when he laughed like a bowl full of jelly!'"

quoth the monarch, in a pleasant voice; and they could all see that he
really did shake like jelly when he laughed.

Both Ozma and Dorothy were much relieved to find the Nome King so jolly,
and a minute later he waved his right hand and the girls each found a
cushioned stool at her side.

"Sit down, my dears," said the King, "and tell me why you have come all
this way to see me, and what I can do to make you happy."

While they seated themselves the Nome King picked up a pipe, and taking
a glowing red coal out of his pocket he placed it in the bowl of the
pipe and began puffing out clouds of smoke that curled in rings above
his head. Dorothy thought this made the little monarch look more like
Santa Claus than ever; but Ozma now began speaking, and every one
listened intently to her words.

"Your Majesty," said she, "I am the ruler of the Land of Oz, and I have
come here to ask you to release the good Queen of Ev and her ten
children, whom you have enchanted and hold as your prisoners."

[Illustration]

"Oh, no; you are mistaken about that," replied the King. "They are not
my prisoners, but my slaves, whom I purchased from the King of Ev."

"B