CHAPTER 10
A Terrible Tumble Through a Tube
I suppose that Polychrome, and perhaps Queen Ann and her Army, might havebeen able to dispel the enchantment of Ruggedo's Chief Magician had theyknown that danger lay in their pathway; for the Rainbow's Daughter was afairy and as Oogaboo is a part of the Land of Oz its inhabitants cannoteasily be deceived by such common magic as the Nome King could command.But no one suspected any especial danger until after they had enteredRuggedo's cavern, and so they were journeying along in quite a contentedmanner when Tik-Tok, who marched ahead, suddenly disappeared.
The officers thought he must have turned a corner, so they kept on theirway and all of them likewise disappeared--one after another. Queen Annwas rather surprised at this, and in hastening forward to learn thereason she also vanished from sight.
Betsy Bobbin had tired her feet by walking, so she was now riding uponthe back of the stout little mule, facing backward and talking to Shaggyand Polychrome, who were just behind. Suddenly Hank pitched forward andbegan falling and Betsy would have tumbled over his head had she notgrabbed the mule's shaggy neck with both arms and held on for dear life.
All around was darkness, and they were not falling directly downward butseemed to be sliding along a steep incline. Hank's hoofs were restingupon some smooth substance over which he slid with the swiftness of thewind. Once Betsy's heels flew up and struck a similar substance overhead.They were, indeed, descending the "Hollow Tube" that led to the otherside of the world.
"Stop, Hank--stop!" cried the girl; but Hank only uttered a plaintive"Hee-haw!" for it was impossible for him to obey.
After several minutes had passed and no harm had befallen them, Betsygained courage. She could see nothing at all, nor could she hear anythingexcept the rush of air past her ears as they plunged downward along theTube. Whether she and Hank were alone, or the others were with them,she could not tell. But had some one been able to take a flash-lightphotograph of the Tube at that time a most curious picture would haveresulted. There was Tik-Tok, flat upon his back and sliding headforemostdown the incline. And there were the Officers of the Army of Oogaboo, alltangled up in a confused crowd, flapping their arms and trying to shieldtheir faces from the clanking swords, which swung back and forth duringthe swift journey and pommeled everyone within their reach. Now followedQueen Ann, who had struck the Tube in a sitting position and went flyingalong with a dash and abandon that thoroughly bewildered the poor lady,who had no idea what had happened to her. Then, a little distance away,but unseen by the others in the inky darkness, slid Betsy and Hank, whilebehind them were Shaggy and Polychrome and finally Files and the Princess.
When first they tumbled into the Tube all were too dazed to thinkclearly, but the trip was a long one, because the cavity led straightthrough the earth to a place just opposite the Nome King's dominions,and long before the adventurers got to the end they had begun to recovertheir wits.
"This is awful, Hank!" cried Betsy in a loud voice, and Queen Ann heardher and called out: "Are you safe, Betsy?"
"Mercy, no!" answered the little girl. "How could anyone be safe whenshe's going about sixty miles a minute?" Then, after a pause, she added:"But where do you s'pose we're going to, Your Maj'sty?"
"Don't ask her that, please don't!" said Shaggy, who was not too far awayto overhear them. "And please don't ask me why, either."
"Why?" said Betsy.
"No one can tell where we are going until we get there," replied Shaggy,and then he yelled "Ouch!" for Polychrome had overtaken him and was nowsitting on his head.
The Rainbow's Daughter laughed merrily, and so infectious was thisjoyous laugh that Betsy echoed it and Hank said "Hee-haw!" in a mild andsympathetic tone of voice.
"I'd like to know where and when we'll arrive, just the same," exclaimedthe little girl.
"Be patient and you'll find out, my dear," said Polychrome. "But isn'tthis an odd experience? Here am I, whose home is in the skies, making ajourney through the center of the earth--where I never expected to be!"
"How do you know we're in the center of the earth?" asked Betsy, hervoice trembling a little through nervousness.
"Why, we can't be anywhere else," replied Polychrome. "I have often heardof this passage, which was once built by a Magician who was a greattraveler. He thought it would save him the bother of going around theearth's surface, but he tumbled through the Tube so fast that he shot outat the other end and hit a star in the sky, which at once exploded."
"The star exploded?" asked Betsy wonderingly.
"Yes; the Magician hit it so hard."
"And what became of the Magician?" inquired the girl.
"No one knows that," answered Polychrome. "But I don't think it mattersmuch."
"It matters a good deal, if we also hit the stars when we come out," saidQueen Ann, with a moan.
"Don't worry," advised Polychrome. "I believe the Magician was going theother way, and probably he went much faster than we are going."
"It's fast enough to suit me," remarked Shaggy, gently removingPolychrome's heel from his left eye. "Couldn't you manage to fall all byyourself, my dear?"
"I'll try," laughed the Rainbow's Daughter.
All this time they were swiftly falling through the Tube, and it was notso easy for them to talk as you may imagine when you read their words.But although they were so helpless and altogether in the dark as totheir fate, the fact that they were able to converse at all cheered themconsiderably.
Files and Ozga were also conversing as they clung tightly to one another,and the young fellow bravely strove to reassure the Princess, although hewas terribly frightened, both on her account and on his own.
An hour, under such trying circumstances, is a very long time, and formore than an hour they continued their fearful journey. Then, just asthey began to fear the Tube would never end, Tik-Tok popped out intobroad daylight and, after making a graceful circle in the air, fell witha splash into a great marble fountain.
Out came the officers, in quick succession, tumbling heels over head andstriking the ground in many undignified attitudes.
"For the love of sassafras!" exclaimed a Peculiar Person who was hoeingpink violets in a garden. "What can all this mean?"
For answer, Queen Ann sailed up from the Tube, took a ride through theair as high as the treetops, and alighted squarely on top of the PeculiarPerson's head, smashing a jeweled crown over his eyes and tumbling him tothe ground.
The mule was heavier and had Betsy clinging to his back, so he did notgo so high up. Fortunately for his little rider he struck the groundupon his four feet. Betsy was jarred a trifle but not hurt and when shelooked around her she saw the Queen and the Peculiar Person strugglingtogether upon the ground, where the man was trying to choke Ann and shehad both hands in his bushy hair and was pulling with all her might. Someof the officers, when they got upon their feet, hastened to separate thecombatants and sought to restrain the Peculiar Person so that he couldnot attack their Queen again.
By this time, Shaggy, Polychrome, Ozga and Files had all arrived and werecuriously examining the strange country in which they found themselvesand which they knew to be exactly on the opposite side of the world fromthe place where they had fallen into the Tube. It was a lovely place,indeed, and seemed to be the garden of some great Prince, for throughthe vistas of trees and shrubbery could be seen the towers of an immensecastle. But as yet the only inhabitant to greet them was the PeculiarPerson just mentioned, who had shaken off the grasp of the officerswithout effort and was now trying to pull the battered crown from off hiseyes.
Shaggy, who was always polite, helped him to do this and when the man wasfree and could see again he looked at his visitors with evident amazement.
"Well, well, well!" he exclaimed. "Where did you come from and how didyou get here?"
Betsy tried to answer him, for Queen Ann was surly and silent.
"I can't say, exac'ly where we came from, 'cause I don'
t know the nameof the place," said the girl, "but the way we got here was through theHollow Tube."
"Don't call it a 'hollow' Tube, please," exclaimed the Peculiar Person inan irritated tone of voice. "If it's a tube, it's sure to be hollow."
"Why?" asked Betsy.
"Because all tubes are made that way. But this Tube is private propertyand everyone is forbidden to fall into it."
"We didn't do it on purpose," explained Betsy, and Polychrome added:
"I am quite sure that Ruggedo, the Nome King, pushed us down that Tube."
"Ha! Ruggedo! Did you say Ruggedo?" cried the man, becoming much excited.
"That is what she said," replied Shaggy, "and I believe she is right. Wewere on our way to conquer the Nome King when suddenly we fell into theTube."
"Then you are enemies of Ruggedo?" inquired the Peculiar Person.
"Not exac'ly enemies," said Betsy, a little puzzled by the question,"'cause we don't know him at all; but we started out to conquer him,which isn't as friendly as it might be."
"True," agreed the man. He looked thoughtfully from one to another ofthem for a while and then he turned his head over his shoulder and said:"Never mind the fire and pincers, my good brothers. It will be best totake these strangers to the Private Citizen."
"Very well, Tubekins," responded a Voice, deep and powerful, that seemedto come out of the air, for the speaker was invisible.
All our friends gave a jump, at this. Even Polychrome was so startledthat her gauze draperies fluttered like a banner in a breeze. Shaggyshook his head and sighed; Queen Ann looked very unhappy; the officersclung to each other, trembling violently.
But soon they gained courage to look more closely at the Peculiar Person.As he was a type of all the inhabitants of this extraordinary land whomthey afterward met, I will try to tell you what he looked like.
His face was beautiful, but lacked expression. His eyes were large andblue in color and his teeth finely formed and white as snow. His hairwas black and bushy and seemed inclined to curl at the ends. So far noone could find any fault with his appearance. He wore a robe of scarlet,which did not cover his arms and extended no lower than his bare knees.On the bosom of the robe was embroidered a terrible dragon's head, ashorrible to look at as the man was beautiful. His arms and legs were leftbare and the skin of one arm was bright yellow and the skin of the otherarm a vivid green. He had one blue leg and one pink one, while both hisfeet--which showed through the open sandals he wore--were jet black.
Betsy could not decide whether these gorgeous colors were dyes or thenatural tints of the skin, but while she was thinking it over the man whohad been called "Tubekins" said:
"Follow me to the Residence--all of you!"
But just then a Voice exclaimed: "Here's another of them, Tubekins, lyingin the water of the fountain."
"Gracious!" cried Betsy; "it must be Tik-Tok, and he'll drown."
"Water is a bad thing for his clockworks, anyhow," agreed Shaggy, as withone accord they all started for the fountain. But before they could reachit, invisible hands raised Tik-Tok from the marble basin and set him uponhis feet beside it, water dripping from every joint of his copper body.
"Ma--ny tha--tha--tha--thanks!" he said; and then his copper jaws clickedtogether and he could say no more. He next made an attempt to walk butafter several awkward trials found he could not move his joints.
Peals of jeering laughter from persons unseen greeted Tik-Tok's failure,and the new arrivals in this strange land found it very uncomfortable torealize that there were many creatures around them who were invisible,yet could be heard plainly.
"Shall I wind him up?" asked Betsy, feeling very sorry for Tik-Tok.
"I think his machinery is wound; but he needs oiling," replied Shaggy.
At once an oil-can appeared before him, held on a level with his eyes bysome unseen hand. Shaggy took the can and tried to oil Tik-Tok's joints.As if to assist him, a strong current of warm air was directed againstthe copper man, which quickly dried him. Soon he was able to say "Ma-nythanks!" quite smoothly and his joints worked fairly well.
"Come!" commanded Tubekins, and turning his back upon them he walked upthe path toward the castle.
"Shall we go?" asked Queen Ann, uncertainly; but just then she received ashove that almost pitched her forward on her head; so she decided to go.The officers who hesitated received several energetic kicks, but couldnot see who delivered them; therefore they also decided--very wisely--togo. The others followed willingly enough, for unless they ventured uponanother terrible journey through the Tube they must make the best of theunknown country they were in, and the best seemed to be to obey orders.
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