gain, and the Sawhorse pranced across the room to
Dorothy and took a position beside the Hungry Tiger.

At that moment the doors that led to the palace flew open and the people
of Ev and the people of Oz were disclosed to view. They paused,
astonished, at sight of the warriors and the angry Nome King, seated in
their midst.

"Surrender!" cried the King, in a loud voice. "You are my prisoners."

"Go 'long!" answered Billina, from the Scarecrow's shoulder. "You
promised me that if I guessed correctly my friends and I might depart in
safety. And you always keep your promises."

"I said you might leave the palace in safety," retorted the King; "and
so you may, but you cannot leave my dominions. You are my prisoners, and
I will hurl you all into my underground dungeons, where the volcanic
fires glow and the molten lava flows in every direction, and the air is
hotter than blue blazes."

[Illustration: "HELP, HELP!" SCREAMED THE KING]

"That will be the end of me, all right," said the Scarecrow,
sorrowfully. "One small blaze, blue or green, is enough to reduce me to
an ash-heap."

"Do you surrender?" demanded the King.

Billina whispered something in the Scarecrow's ear that made him smile
and put his hands in his jacket pockets.

"No!" returned Ozma, boldly answering the King. Then she said to her
army:

"Forward, my brave soldiers, and fight for your Ruler and yourselves,
unto death!"

"Pardon me, Most Royal Ozma," replied one of her generals; "but I find
that I and my brother officers all suffer from heart disease, and the
slightest excitement might kill us. If we fight we may get excited.
Would it not be well for us to avoid this grave danger?"

"Soldiers should not have heart disease," said Ozma.

"Private soldiers are not, I believe, afflicted that way," declared
another general, twirling his moustache thoughtfully. "If your Royal
Highness desires, we will order our private to attack yonder warriors."

"Do so," replied Ozma.

"For-ward--march!" cried all the generals, with one voice.
"For-ward--march!" yelled the colonels. "For-ward--march!" shouted the
majors. "For-ward--march!" commanded the captains.

And at that the private leveled his spear and dashed furiously upon the
foe.

The captain of the Nomes was so surprised by this sudden onslaught that
he forgot to command his warriors to fight, so that the ten men in the
first row, who stood in front of the private's spear, fell over like so
many t