round, so that it pointed down the
opening of the Tube. Then he put his eye to the glass and was able to
gaze along all the turns and windings of the Magic Spyglass and then
deep into the Tube, to where our friends were at that time falling.

"Dear me!" he exclaimed. "Here comes a dragon."

"A big one?" asked Ruggedo.

"A monster. He has an electric light on the end of his tail, so I can
see him very plainly. And the other people are all riding upon his
back."

"How about the eggs?" inquired the King.

Kaliko looked again.

"I can see no eggs at all," said he; "but I imagine that the dragon is
as dangerous as eggs. Probably Tititi-Hoochoo has sent him here to
punish you for dropping those strangers into the Forbidden Tube. I
warned you not to do it, Your Majesty."

This news made the Nome King anxious. For a few minutes he paced up and
down, stroking his long beard and thinking with all his might. After
this he turned to Kaliko and said:

"All the harm a dragon can do is to scratch with his claws and bite
with his teeth."

"That is not all, but it's quite enough," returned Kaliko earnestly.
"On the other hand, no one can hurt a dragon, because he's the toughest
creature alive. One flop of his huge tail could smash a hundred nomes
to pancakes, and with teeth and claws he could tear even you or me into
small bits, so that it would be almost impossible to put us together
again. Once, a few hundred years ago, while wandering through some
deserted caverns, I came upon a small piece of a nome lying on the
rocky floor. I asked the piece of nome what had happened to it.
Fortunately the mouth was a part of this piece--the mouth and the left
eye--so it was able to tell me that a fierce dragon was the cause. It
had attacked the poor nome and scattered him in every direction, and as
there was no friend near to collect his pieces and put him together,
they had been separated for a great many years. So you see, Your
Majesty, it is not in good taste to sneer at a dragon."

The King had listened attentively to Kaliko. Said he:

"It will only be necessary to chain this dragon which Tititi-Hoochoo
has sent here, in order to prevent his reaching us with his claws and
teeth."

"He also breathes flames," Kaliko reminded him.

"My nomes are not afraid of fire, nor am I," said Ruggedo.

"Well, how about the Army of Oogaboo?"

"Sixteen cowardly officers and Tik-Tok! Why, I could defeat them
single-handed; but I won't try to