piglets, sobbing bitterly, "he
would not see us suffer so."

"We ought to have called him and Dorothy when we were first attacked,"
added Eureka. "But never mind; be brave, my friends, and I will go and
tell our masters where you are, and get them to come to your rescue."

The mouth of the hole was nearly filled up now, but the kitten gave a
leap through the remaining opening and at once scampered up into the
air. The Mangaboos saw her escape, and several of them caught up their
thorns and gave chase, mounting through the air after her. Eureka,
however, was lighter than the Mangaboos, and while they could mount only
about a hundred feet above the earth the kitten found she could go
nearly two hundred feet. So she ran along over their heads until she had
left them far behind and below and had come to the city and the House of
the Sorcerer. There she entered in at Dorothy's window in the dome and
aroused her from her sleep.

As soon as the little girl knew what had happened she awakened the
Wizard and Zeb, and at once preparations were made to go to the rescue
of Jim and the piglets. The Wizard carried his satchel, which was quite
heavy, and Zeb carried the two lanterns and the oil can. Dorothy's
wicker suit-case was still under the seat of the buggy, and by good
fortune the boy had also placed the harness in the buggy when he had
taken it off from Jim to let the horse lie down and rest. So there was
nothing for the girl to carry but the kitten, which she held close to
her bosom and tried to comfort, for its little heart was still beating
rapidly.

Some of the Mangaboos discovered them as soon as they left the House of
the Sorcerer; but when they started toward the mountain the vegetable
people allowed them to proceed without interference, yet followed in a
crowd behind them so that they could not go back again.

Before long they neared the Black Pit, where a busy swarm of Mangaboos,
headed by their Princess, was engaged in piling up glass rocks before
the entrance.

"Stop, I command you!" cried the Wizard, in an angry tone, and at once
began pulling down the rocks to liberate Jim and the piglets. Instead of
opposing him in this they stood back in silence until he had made a
good-sized hole in the barrier, when by order of the Princess they all
sprang forward and thrust out their sharp thorns.

[Illustration: THROUGH THE BLACK PIT.]

Dorothy hopped inside the opening to escape being pricked, and Zeb and
the Wiza