rd, after enduring a few stabs from the thorns, were glad to
follow her. At once the Mangaboos began piling up the rocks of glass
again, and as the little man realized that they were all about to be
entombed in the mountain he said to the children:

"My dears, what shall we do? Jump out and fight?"

"What's the use?" replied Dorothy. "I'd as soon die here as live much
longer among those cruel and heartless people."

"That's the way I feel about it," remarked Zeb, rubbing his wounds.
"I've had enough of the Mangaboos."

"All right," said the Wizard; "I'm with you, whatever you decide. But we
can't live long in this cavern, that's certain."

Noticing that the light was growing dim he picked up his nine piglets,
patted each one lovingly on its fat little head, and placed them
carefully in his inside pocket.

Zeb struck a match and lighted one of the lanterns. The rays of the
colored suns were now shut out from them forever, for the last chinks
had been filled up in the wall that separated their prison from the Land
of the Mangaboos.

"How big is this hole?" asked Dorothy.

"I'll explore it and see," replied the boy.

So he carried the lantern back for quite a distance, while Dorothy and
the Wizard followed at his side. The cavern did not come to an end, as
they had expected it would, but slanted upward through the great glass
mountain, running in a direction that promised to lead them to the side
opposite the Mangaboo country.

"It isn't a bad road," observed the Wizard, "and if we followed it it
might lead us to some place that is more comfortable than this black
pocket we are now in. I suppose the vegetable folk were always afraid to
enter this cavern because it is dark; but we have our lanterns to light
the way, so I propose that we start out and discover where this tunnel
in the mountain leads to."

The others agreed readily to this sensible suggestion, and at once the
boy began to harness Jim to the buggy. When all was in readiness the
three took their seats in the buggy and Jim started cautiously along the
way, Zeb driving while the Wizard and Dorothy each held a lighted
lantern so the horse could see where to go.

Sometimes the tunnel was so narrow that the wheels of the buggy grazed
the sides; then it would broaden out as wide as a street; but the floor
was usually smooth, and for a long time they travelled on without any
accident. Jim stopped sometimes to rest, for the climb was rather steep
and tir