uch astonished at this speech that for a time they
could only glare at her silently, not finding words to reply. The King
finally recovered the use of his tongue and said:

"Earth-crawler! this insolence to my majesty shall be your
death-warrant. You are an ordinary mortal, and to stop a mortal from
living is so easy a thing to do that I will not keep you waiting half
so long as you did for my conquest."

"I'd rather you wouldn't stop me from living," remarked Betsy, getting
off Hank's back and standing beside him. "And it would be a pretty
cheap King who killed a visitor while she was hungry. If you'll give me
something to eat, I'll talk this killing business over with you
afterward; only, I warn you now that I don't approve of it, and never
will."

Her coolness and lack of fear impressed the Nome King, although he bore
an intense hatred toward all mortals.

"What do you wish to eat?" he asked gruffly.

"Oh, a ham-sandwich would do, or perhaps a couple of hard-boiled eggs--"

"Eggs!" shrieked the three nomes who were present, shuddering till
their teeth chattered.

"What's the matter?" asked Betsy wonderingly. "Are eggs as high here as
they are at home?"

"Guph," said the King in an agitated voice, turning to his General,
"let us destroy this rash mortal at once! Seize her and take her to the
Slimy Cave and lock her in."

Guph glanced at Tik-Tok, whose gun was still pointed, but just then
Kaliko stole softly behind the copper man and kicked his knee-joints so
that they suddenly bent forward and tumbled Tik-Tok to the floor, his
gun falling from his grasp.

Then Guph, seeing Tik-Tok helpless, made a grab at Betsy. At the same
time Hank's heels shot out and caught the General just where his belt
was buckled. He rose into the air swift as a cannon-ball, struck the
Nome King fairly and flattened his Majesty against the wall of rock on
the opposite side of the cavern. Together they fell to the floor in a
dazed and crumpled condition, seeing which Kaliko whispered to Betsy:

"Come with me--quick!--and I will save you."

She looked into Kaliko's face inquiringly and thought he seemed honest
and good-natured, so she decided to follow him. He led her and the mule
through several passages and into a small cavern very nicely and
comfortably furnished.

"This is my own room," said he, "but you are quite welcome to use it.
Wait here a minute and I'll get you something to eat."

When Kaliko returned he brought a tr