ut that was wrong," said Ozma.

"According to the laws of Ev, the king can do no wrong," answered the
monarch, eyeing a ring of smoke he had just blown from his mouth; "so
that he had a perfect right to sell his family to me in exchange for a
long life."

"You cheated him, though," declared Dorothy; "for the King of Ev did not
have a long life. He jumped into the sea and was drowned."

"That was not my fault," said the Nome King, crossing his legs and
smiling contentedly. "I gave him the long life, all right; but he
destroyed it."

"Then how could it be a long life?" asked Dorothy.

"Easily enough," was the reply. "Now suppose, my dear, that I gave you a
pretty doll in exchange for a lock of your hair, and that after you had
received the doll you smashed it into pieces and destroyed it. Could you
say that I had not given you a pretty doll?"

"No," answered Dorothy.

"And could you, in fairness, ask me to return to you the lock of hair,
just because you had smashed the doll?"

"No," said Dorothy, again.

"Of course not," the Nome King returned. "Nor will I give up the Queen
and her children because the King of Ev destroyed his long life by
jumping into the sea. They belong to me and I shall keep them."

[Illustration: "THEY BELONG TO ME AND I SHALL KEEP THEM"]

"But you are treating them cruelly," said Ozma, who was much distressed
by the King's refusal.

"In what way?" he asked.

"By making them your slaves," said she.

"Cruelty," remarked the monarch, puffing out wreathes of smoke and
watching them float into the air, "is a thing I can't abide. So, as
slaves must work hard, and the Queen of Ev and her children were
delicate and tender, I transformed them all into articles of ornament
and bric-a-brac and scattered them around the various rooms of my
palace. Instead of being obliged to labor, they merely decorate my
apartments, and I really think I have treated them with great kindness."

"But what a dreadful fate is theirs!" exclaimed Ozma, earnestly. "And
the Kingdom of Ev is in great need of its royal family to govern it. If
you will liberate them, and restore them to their proper forms, I will
give you ten ornaments to replace each one you lose."

The Nome King looked grave.

"Suppose I refuse?" he asked.

"Then," said Ozma, firmly, "I am here with my friends and my army to
conquer your kingdom and oblige you to obey my wishes."

The Nome King laughed until he choked; and he choked until he co