e passages, they must encounter
scores of such enemies.

"Swim straight for the opening in the dome!" cried Aquareine, and in
answer to the command, the four whisked their glittering tails,
waved their fins, and shot away through the water at full speed,
their course slanting upward toward the top of the dome.

CHAPTER 19

KING ANKO TO THE RESCUE

The great magician Zog never slept. He was always watchful and
alert. Some strange power warned him that his prisoners were about
to escape.

Scarcely had the four left the castle by the broken window when the
monster stepped from a doorway below and saw them. Instantly he blew
upon a golden whistle, and at the summons a band of wolf-fish
appeared and dashed after the prisoners. These creatures swam so
swiftly that soon they were between the fugitives and the dome, and
then they turned and with wicked eyes and sharp fangs began a fierce
attack upon the mermaids and the earth dwellers.

Trot was a little frightened at the evil looks of the sea wolves,
whose heads were enormous, and whose jaws contained rows of curved
and pointed teeth. But Aquareine advanced upon them with her golden
sword, and every touch of the charmed weapon instantly killed an
enemy, so that one by one the wolf-fish rolled over upon their backs
and sank helplessly downward through the water, leaving the
prisoners free to continue their way toward the opening in the dome.

Zog witnessed the destruction of his wolves and uttered a loud laugh
that was terrible to hear. Then the dread monster determined to
arrest the fugitives himself, and in order to do this he was forced
to discover himself in all the horror of his awful form, a form he
was so ashamed of and loathed so greatly that he always strove to
keep it concealed, even from his own view. But it was important that
his prisoners should not escape. Hastily casting off the folds of
the robe that enveloped him, Zog allowed his body to uncoil and
shoot upward through the water in swift pursuit of his victims. His
cloven hoofs, upon which he usually walked, being now useless, were
drawn up under him, while coil after coil of his eel-like body
wriggled away like a serpent. At his shoulders two broad, feathery
wings expanded, and these enabled the monster to cleave his way
through the water with terrific force.

Zog was part man, part beast, part fish, part fowl, and part
reptile. His undulating body was broad and thin and like the body of
an