I have now a fine pair of shoes for my daughter Zella, who will be much
pleased to find I have brought her a present from the city."

And while the charcoal-burner turned into the forest and trudged along
the path toward his home, Inga and Rinkitink were still searching for
the missing shoes. Of course, they could not know that Nikobob had found
them, nor did the honest man think he had taken anything more than a
pair of cast-off shoes which nobody wanted.

Nikobob had several miles to travel through the forest before he could
reach the little log cabin where his wife, as well as his little
daughter Zella, awaited his return, but he was used to long walks and
tramped along the path whistling cheerfully to beguile the time.

Few people, as I said before, ever passed through the dark and tangled
forests of Regos, except to go to the mines in the mountain beyond, for
many dangerous creatures lurked in the wild jungles, and King Gos never
knew, when he sent a messenger to the mines, whether he would reach
there safely or not.

The charcoal-burner, however, knew the wild forest well, and especially
this part of it lying between the city and his home. It was the favorite
haunt of the ferocious beast Choggenmugger, dreaded by every dweller in
the Island of Regos. Choggenmugger was so old that everyone thought it
must have been there since the world was made, and each year of its life
the huge scales that covered its body grew thicker and harder and its
jaws grew wider and its teeth grew sharper and its appetite grew more
keen than ever.

In former ages there had been many dragons in Regos, but Choggenmugger
was so fond of dragons that he had eaten all of them long ago. There had
also been great serpents and crocodiles in the forest marshes, but all
had gone to feed the hunger of Choggenmugger. The people of Regos knew
well there was no use opposing the Great Beast, so when one
unfortunately met with it he gave himself up for lost.

[Illustration]

All this Nikobob knew well, but fortune had always favored him in his
journeys through the forest, and although he had at times met many
savage beasts and fought them with his sharp ax, he had never to this
day encountered the terrible Choggenmugger. Indeed, he was not thinking
of the Great Beast at all as he walked along, but suddenly he heard a
crashing of broken trees and felt a trembling of the earth and saw the
immense jaws of Choggenmugger opening before him. Then Nikobo