LITMIR.BIZ

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am not a traitor, Your Majesty,” protested Files. “I resigned in a proper manner, not liking the job. But there are plenty of people to take my place. Why not make Shaggy Man the private soldier?”

      “He might be killed,” said Ann, looking tenderly at Shaggy, “for he is mortal, and able to die. If anything happened to him, it would break my heart.”

      “It would hurt me worse than that,” declared Shaggy. “You must admit, Your Majesty, that I am commander of this expedition, for it is my brother we are seeking, rather than plunder. But I and my companions would like the assistance of your Army, and if you help us to conquer Ruggedo and to rescue my brother from captivity we will allow you to keep all the gold and jewels and other plunder you may find.”

      This prospect was so tempting that the officers began whispering together and presently Colonel Cheese said: “Your Majesty, by combining our brains we have just evolved a most brilliant idea. We will make the Clockwork Man the private soldier!”

      “Who? Me?” asked Tik-Tok. “Not for a sin-gle sec-ond! I can-not fight, and you must not for-get that it was Rug-ge-do who threw me in the well.”

      “At that time you had no gun,” said Polychrome. “But if you join the Army of Oogaboo you will carry the gun that Mr. Files used.”

      “A soldier must be a-ble to run as well as to fight,” protested Tik-Tok, “and if my works run down, as they of-ten do, I could neither run nor fight.”

      “I’ll keep you wound up, Tik-Tok,” promised Betsy.

      “Why, it isn’t a bad idea,” said Shaggy. “Tik-Tok will make an ideal soldier, for nothing can injure him except a sledge hammer. And, since a private soldier seems to be necessary to this Army, Tik-Tok is the only one of our party fitted to undertake the job.”

      “What must I do?” asked Tik-Tok.

      “Obey orders,” replied Ann. “When the officers command you to do anything, you must do it; that is all.”

      “And that’s enough, too,” said Files.

      “Do I get a salary?” inquired Tik-Tok.

      “You get your share of the plunder,” answered the Queen.

      “Yes,” remarked Files, “one-half of the plunder goes to Queen Ann, the other half is divided among the officers, and the Private gets the rest.”

      “That will be sat-is-fac-tor-y,” said Tik-Tok, picking up the gun and examining it wonderingly, for he had never before seen such a weapon.

      Then Ann strapped the knapsack to Tik-Tok’s copper back and said: “Now we are ready to march to Ruggedo’s Kingdom and conquer it. Officers, give the command to march.”

      “Fall—in!” yelled the Generals, drawing their swords.

      “Fall—in!” cried the Colonels, drawing their swords.

      “Fall—in!” shouted the Majors, drawing their swords.

      “Fall—in!” bawled the Captains, drawing their swords.

      Tik-Tok looked at them and then around him in surprise.

      “Fall in what? The well?” he asked.

      “No,” said Queen Ann, “you must fall in marching order.”

      “Can-not I march without falling in-to it?” asked the Clockwork Man.

      “Shoulder your gun and stand ready to march,” advised Files; so Tik-Tok held the gun straight and stood still.

      “What next?” he asked.

      The Queen turned to Shaggy.

      “Which road leads to the Metal Monarch’s cavern?”

      “We don’t know, Your Majesty,” was the reply.

      “But this is absurd!” said Ann with a frown. “If we can’t get to Ruggedo, it is certain that we can’t conquer him.”

      “You are right,” admitted Shaggy; “but I did not say we could not get to him. We have only to discover the way, and that was the matter we were considering when you and your magnificent Army arrived here.”

      “Well, then, get busy and discover it,” snapped the Queen.

      That was no easy task. They all stood looking from one road to another in perplexity. The paths radiated from the little clearing like the rays of the midday sun, and each path seemed like all the others.

      Files and the Rose Princess, who had by this time become good friends, advanced a little way along one of the roads and found that it was bordered by pretty wild flowers.

      “Why don’t you ask the flowers to tell you the way?” he said to his companion.

      “The flowers?” returned the Princess, surprised at the question.

      “Of course,” said Files. “The field-flowers must be second-cousins to a Rose Princess, and I believe if you ask them they will tell you.”

      She looked more closely at the flowers. There were hundreds of white daisies, golden buttercups, bluebells and daffodils growing by the roadside, and each flower-head was firmly set upon its slender but stout stem. There were even a few wild roses scattered here and there and perhaps it was the sight of these that gave the Princess courage to ask the important question.

      She dropped to her knees, facing the flowers, and extended both her arms pleadingly toward them.

      “Tell me, pretty cousins,” she said in her sweet, gentle voice, “which way will lead us to the Kingdom of Ruggedo, the Nome King?”

      At once all the stems bent gracefully to the right and the flower heads nodded once—twice—thrice in that direction.

      “That’s it!” cried Files joyfully. “Now we know the way.”

      Ozga rose to her feet and looked wonderingly at the field-flowers, which had now resumed their upright position.

      “Was it the wind, do you think?” she asked in a low whisper.

      “No, indeed,” replied Files. “There is not a breath of wind stirring. But these lovely blossoms are indeed your cousins and answered your question at once, as I knew they would.”

      9. Ruggedo’s Rage is Rash and Reckless

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      The way taken by the adventurers led up hill and down dale and wound here and there in a fashion that seemed aimless. But always it drew nearer to a range of low mountains and Files said more than once that he was certain the entrance to Ruggedo’s cavern would be found among these rugged hills.

      In this he was quite correct. Far underneath the nearest mountain was a gorgeous chamber hollowed from the solid rock, the walls and roof of which glittered with thousands of magnificent jewels. Here, on a throne of virgin gold, sat the famous Nome King, dressed in splendid robes and wearing a superb crown cut from a single blood-red ruby.

      Ruggedo, the Monarch of all the Metals and Precious Stones of the Underground World, was a round little man with a flowing white beard, a red face, bright eyes and a scowl that covered all his forehead. One would think, to look at him, that he ought to be jolly; one might think, considering his enormous wealth, that he ought to be happy; but this was not the case. The Metal Monarch was surly and cross because mortals had dug so much treasure out of the earth and kept it above ground, where all the power of Ruggedo and his nomes was unable to recover it. He hated not only the mortals but also the fairies who live upon the earth or above it, and instead of being content with the riches he still possessed he was unhappy because he did not own all the gold and jewels in the world.

      Ruggedo had been nodding, half asleep, in his chair when suddenly

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