put together!
I don't know how I came here, but I'm going to fight the fight of my
life--and I'll win!"

His long white hair and beard waved in the breeze; his eyes flashed
hate and vengeance, and so astonished and shocked were they by the
sudden appearance of this old enemy of the Oz people that they could
only stare at him in silence and shrink away from his wild glare.

Ruggedo laughed. He drank the water, threw the cup on the ground and
said fiercely:

"And now--and now--and--"

His voice grew gentle. He rubbed his forehead with a puzzled air and
stroked his long beard.

"What was I going to say?" he asked, pleadingly.

"Don't you remember?" said the Wizard.

"No; I've forgotten."

"Who ARE you?" asked Dorothy.

He tried to think. "I--I'm sure I don't know," he stammered.

"Don't you know who WE are, either?" questioned the girl.

"I haven't the slightest idea," said the Nome.

"Tell us who this Munchkin boy is," suggested Ozma.

Ruggedo looked at the boy and shook his head.

"He's a stranger to me. You are all strangers. I--I'm a stranger to
myself," he said.

Then he patted the Lion's head and murmured, "Good doggie!" and the
Lion growled indignantly.

"What shall we do with him?" asked the Wizard, perplexed.

"Once before the wicked old Nome came here to conquer us, and then, as
now, he drank of the Water of Oblivion and became harmless. But we
sent him back to the Nome Kingdom, where he soon learned the old evil
ways again.

"For that reason," said Ozma, "we must find a place for him in the Land
of Oz, and keep him here. For here he can learn no evil and will
always be as innocent of guile as our own people."

And so the wandering ex-King of the Nomes found a new home, a peaceful
and happy home, where he was quite content and passed his days in
innocent enjoyment.

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Magic of Oz, by L. Frank Baum

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