he Ripple
Lands, and he did not find it a pleasant thing to do. Perhaps having
his whiskers pulled out one by one and being used as a pin-cushion for
the innocent amusement of a good natured jailer had not improved the
quality of Guph's temper, for the old Nome raved and raged at the
recollection of the wrongs he had suffered, and vowed to take vengeance
upon the Growleywogs after he had used them for his purposes and Oz had
been conquered. He went on in this furious way until he was half
across the Ripple Land. Then he became seasick, and the rest of the
way this naughty Nome was almost as miserable as he deserved to be.

But when he reached the plains again and the ground was firm under his
feet he began to feel better, and instead of going back home he turned
directly west. A squirrel, perched in a tree, saw him take this road
and called to him warningly: "Look out!" But he paid no attention. An
eagle paused in its flight through the air to look at him wonderingly
and say: "Look out!" But on he went.

No one can say that Guph was not brave, for he had determined to visit
those dangerous creatures the Phanfasms, who resided upon the very top
of the dread Mountain of Phantastico. The Phanfasms were Erbs, and so
dreaded by mortals and immortals alike that no one had been near their
mountain home for several thousand years. Yet General Guph hoped to
induce them to join in his proposed warfare against the good and happy
Oz people.

Guph knew very well that the Phanfasms would be almost as dangerous to
the Nomes as they would to the Ozites, but he thought himself so clever
that he believed he could manage these strange creatures and make them
obey him. And there was no doubt at all that if he could enlist the
services of the Phanfasms, their tremendous power, united to the
strength of the Growleywogs and the cunning of the Whimsies would doom
the Land of Oz to absolute destruction.

So the old Nome climbed the foothills and trudged along the wild
mountain paths until he came to a big gully that encircled the Mountain
of Phantastico and marked the boundary line of the dominion of the
Phanfasms. This gully was about a third of the way up the mountain,
and it was filled to the brim with red-hot molten lava in which swam
fire-serpents and poisonous salamanders. The heat from this mass and
its poisonous smell were both so unbearable that even birds hesitated
to fly over the gully, but circled around it. All liv