es arose in a flock and
flew swiftly toward the strangers, their long arms stretched out before
them like the bowsprits of a fleet of sail-boats. The horse had
especially attracted their notice, because it was the biggest and
strangest creature they had ever seen; so it became the center of their
first attack.

But Jim was ready for them, and when he saw them coming he turned his
heels toward them and began kicking out as hard as he could. Crack!
crash! bang! went his iron-shod hoofs against the wooden bodies of the
Gargoyles, and they were battered right and left with such force that
they scattered like straws in the wind. But the noise and clatter
seemed as dreadful to them as Jim's heels, for all who were able
swiftly turned and flew away to a great distance. The others picked
themselves up from the ground one by one and quickly rejoined their
fellows, so for a moment the horse thought he had won the fight with
ease.

But the Wizard was not so confident.

"Those wooden things are impossible to hurt," he said, "and all the
damage Jim has done to them is to knock a few splinters from their
noses and ears. That cannot make them look any uglier, I'm sure, and
it is my opinion they will soon renew the attack."

"What made them fly away?" asked Dorothy.

"The noise, of course. Don't you remember how the Champion escaped
them by shouting his battle-cry?"

"Suppose we escape down the stairs, too," suggested the boy. "We have
time, just now, and I'd rather face the invis'ble bears than those
wooden imps."

"No," returned Dorothy, stoutly, "it won't do to go back, for then we
would never get home. Let's fight it out."

"That is what I advise," said the Wizard. "They haven't defeated us
yet, and Jim is worth a whole army."

But the Gargoyles were clever enough not to attack the horse the next
time. They advanced in a great swarm, having been joined by many more
of their kind, and they flew straight over Jim's head to where the
others were standing.

The Wizard raised one of his revolvers and fired into the throng of his
enemies, and the shot resounded like a clap of thunder in that silent
place.

Some of the wooden beings fell flat upon the ground, where they
quivered and trembled in every limb; but most of them managed to wheel
and escape again to a distance.

Zeb ran and picked up one of the Gargoyles that lay nearest to him.
The top of its head was carved into a crown and the Wizard's bullet had
s