ere heavy
things, these diamonds and rubies and emeralds and amethysts and the
like, so before long Ruggedo was staggering with the weight he bore,
while the pockets were not yet filled. When he could no longer stoop
over without falling, Betsy and Polychrome and the Rose Princess came
to his assistance, picking up the finest gems and tucking them into his
pockets.

At last these were all filled and Ruggedo presented a comical sight,
for surely no man ever before had so many pockets, or any at all filled
with such a choice collection of precious stones. He neglected to thank
the young ladies for their kindness, but gave them a surly nod of
farewell and staggered down the path by the way he had come. They let
him depart in silence, for with all he had taken, the masses of jewels
upon the ground seemed scarcely to have been disturbed, so numerous
were they. Also they hoped they had seen the last of the degraded King.

"I'm awful glad he's gone," said Betsy, sighing deeply. "If he doesn't
get reckless and spend his wealth foolishly, he's got enough to start a
bank when he gets to Oklahoma."

"But my brother--my dear brother! Where is he?" inquired Shaggy
anxiously. "Have you seen him, Queen Ann?"

"What does your brother look like?" asked the Queen.

Shaggy hesitated to reply, but Betsy said: "He's called the Ugly One.
Perhaps you'll know him by that."

"The only person we have seen in this cavern," said Ann, "has run away
from us whenever we approached him. He hides over yonder, among the
trees that are not gold, and we have never been able to catch sight of
his face. So I can not tell whether he is ugly or not."

"That must be my dear brother!" exclaimed Shaggy.

"Yes, it must be," assented Kaliko. "No one else inhabits this splendid
dome, so there can be no mistake."

"But why does he hide among those green trees, instead of enjoying all
these glittery golden ones?" asked Betsy.

"Because he finds food among the natural trees," replied Kaliko, "and I
remember that he has built a little house there, to sleep in. As for
these glittery golden trees, I will admit they are very pretty at first
sight. One cannot fail to admire them, as well as the rich jewels
scattered beneath them; but if one has to look at them always, they
become pretty tame."

"I believe that is true," declared Shaggy. "My dear brother is very
wise to prefer real trees to the imitation ones. But come; let us go
there and find him."

Shaggy