arted on
this journey our beloved Ruler, Ozma of Oz, allowed me to take it with
me."

"Oh!" cried Betsy, staring hard at him; "are you really from the
wonderful Land of Oz?"

"Yes. Ever been there, my dear?"

"No; but I've heard about it. And do you know Princess Ozma?"

"Very well indeed."

"And--and Princess Dorothy?"

"Dorothy's an old chum of mine," declared Shaggy.

"Dear me!" exclaimed Betsy. "And why did you ever leave such a
beautiful land as Oz?"

"On an errand," said Shaggy, looking sad and solemn. "I'm trying to
find my dear little brother."

"Oh! Is he lost?" questioned Betsy, feeling very sorry for the poor man.

"Been lost these ten years," replied Shaggy, taking out a handkerchief
and wiping a tear from his eye. "I didn't know it until lately, when I
saw it recorded in the magic Record Book of the Sorceress Glinda, in
the Land of Oz. So now I'm trying to find him."

"Where was he lost?" asked the girl sympathetically.

"Back in Colorado, where I used to live before I went to Oz. Brother
was a miner, and dug gold out of a mine. One day he went into his mine
and never came out. They searched for him, but he was not there.
Disappeared entirely," Shaggy ended miserably.

"For goodness sake! What do you s'pose became of him?" she asked.

"There is only one explanation," replied Shaggy, taking another apple
from his pocket and eating it to relieve his misery. "The Nome King
probably got him."

"The Nome King! Who is he?"

"Why, he's sometimes called the Metal Monarch, and his name is Ruggedo.
Lives in some underground cavern. Claims to own all the metals hidden
in the earth. Don't ask me why."

"Why?"

"Cause I don't know. But this Ruggedo gets wild with anger if anyone
digs gold out of the earth, and my private opinion is that he captured
brother and carried him off to his underground kingdom. No--don't ask
me why. I see you're dying to ask me why. But I don't know."

"But--dear me!--in that case you will never find your lost brother!"
exclaimed the girl.

"Maybe not; but it's my duty to try," answered Shaggy. "I've wandered
so far without finding him, but that only proves he is not where I've
been looking. What I seek now is the hidden passage to the underground
cavern of the terrible Metal Monarch."

"Well," said Betsy doubtfully, "it strikes me that if you ever manage
to get there the Metal Monarch will make you, too, his prisoner."

"Nonsense!" answered Shaggy, carelessly. "Yo