The Nome King was in an angry
mood, and at such times he was
very disagreeable. Every one
kept away from him, even his
Chief Steward Kaliko.
Therefore the King stormed
and raved all by himself, walking
up and down in his jewel-studded
cavern and getting angrier all
the time. Then he remembered
that it was no fun being angry
unless he had some one to frighten
and make miserable, and he rushed
to his big gong and made it clatter
as loud as he could.
In came the Chief Steward,
trying not to show the Nome King
how frightened he was.
"Send the Chief Counselor here!" shouted
the angry monarch.
Kaliko ran out as fast as his
spindle legs could carry his
fat, round body, and soon the
Chief Counselor entered the cavern.
The King scowled and said to
him:
"I'm in great
trouble over the loss of my
Magic Belt. Every
little while I want to do something
magical, and find I can't because
the Belt is gone. That makes
me angry, and when I'm angry
I can't have a good time. Now,
what do you advise?"
"Some people," said the Chief
Counselor, "enjoy getting angry."
"But not all the time," declared
the King. "To be angry once in
a while is really good fun, because
it makes others so miserable.
But to be angry morning, noon
and night, as I am, grows monotonous
and prevents my gaining any other
pleasure in life. Now what do
you advise?"
"Why, if you
are angry because you want
to do magical things
and can't, and if you don't want
to get angry at all, my advice
is not to want to do magical
things."
Hearing this, the King glared
at his Counselor with a furious
expression and tugged at his
own long white whiskers until
he pulled them so hard that he
yelled with pain.
"You are a fool!" he
exclaimed.
"I share that honor with your
Majesty," said the Chief Counselor.
The King roared with rage and
stamped his foot.
"Ho, there, my guards!" he
cried. "Ho" is a royal way of
saying, "Come here." So, when
the guards had hoed, the King
said to them:
"Take this
Chief Counselor and throw him
away."
Then the guards took the Chief
Counselor, and bound him with
chains to prevent his struggling,
and threw him away. And the King
paced up and down his cavern
more angry than before.
Finally he rushed to his big
gong and made it clatter like
a fire alarm. Kaliko appeared
again, trembling and white with
fear.
"Fetch my pipe!" yelled
the King.
"Your pipe is already here,
your Majesty," replied Kaliko.
"Then get my tobacco!" roared
the King.
"The tobacco is in your pipe,
your Majesty," returned the Steward.
"Then bring a live coal from
the furnace!" commanded the King.
"The tobacco is lighted, and
your Majesty is already smoking
your pipe," answered the Steward.
"Why, so I am!" said the King,
who had forgotten this fact; "but
you are very rude to remind me
of it."
"I am a lowborn, miserable
villain," declared the Chief
Steward, humbly.
The Nome King could think of
nothing to say next, so he puffed
away at his pipe and paced up
and down the room. Finally, he
remembered how angry he was,
and cried out:
"What do you
mean, Kaliko, by being so contented
when your
monarch is unhappy?"
"What makes you unhappy?" asked
the Steward.
"I've lost my Magic Belt. A
little girl named Dorothy, who
was here with Ozma of Oz, stole
my Belt and carried it away with
her," said the King, grinding
his teeth with rage.
"She captured it in a fair
fight," Kaliko ventured to say.
"But I want it! I must have
it! Half my power is gone with
that Belt!" roared the King.
"You will have to go to the
Land of Oz to recover it, and
your Majesty can't get to the
Land of Oz in any possible way," said
the Steward, yawning because
he had been on duty ninety-six
hours, and was sleepy.
"Why not?" asked
the King.
"Because there
is a deadly desert all around
that fairy
country, which no one is able
to cross. You know that fact
as well as I do, your Majesty.
Never mind the lost Belt. You
have plenty of power left, for
you rule this underground kingdom
like a tyrant, and thousands
of Nomes obey your commands.
I advise you to drink a glass
of melted silver, to quiet your
nerves, and then go to bed."
The King grabbed a big ruby
and threw it at Kaliko's head.
The Steward ducked to escape
the heavy jewel, which crashed
against the door just over his
left ear.
"Get out of my sight! Vanish!
Go away--and send General Blug
here," screamed the Nome King.
Kaliko hastily withdrew, and
the Nome King stamped up and
down until the General of his
armies appeared.
This Nome was known far and
wide as a terrible fighter and
a cruel, desperate commander.
He had fifty thousand Nome soldiers,
all well drilled, who feared
nothing but their stern master.
Yet General Blug was a trifle
uneasy when he arrived and saw
how angry the Nome King was.
"Ha! So you're here!" cried
the King.
"So I am," said
the General.
"March your army at once to
the Land of Oz, capture and destroy
the Emerald City, and bring back
to me my Magic Belt!" roared
the King.
"You're crazy," calmly
remarked the General.
"What's that? What's that?
What's that?" And the Nome King
danced around on his pointed
toes, he was so enraged.
"You don't know what you're
talking about," continued the
General, seating himself upon
a large cut diamond. "I advise
you to stand in a corner and
count sixty before you speak
again. By that time you may be
more sensible."
The King looked around for
something to throw at General
Blug, but as nothing was handy
he began to consider that perhaps
the man was right and he had
been talking foolishly. So he
merely threw himself into his
glittering throne and tipped
his crown over his ear and curled
his feet up under him and glared
wickedly at Blug.
"In the first place," said
the General, "we cannot march
across the deadly desert to the
Land of Oz. And if we could,
the Ruler of that country, Princess
Ozma, has certain fairy powers
that would render my army helpless.
Had you not lost your Magic Belt
we might have some chance of
defeating Ozma; but the Belt
is gone."
"I want it!" screamed the King. "I
must have it."
"Well, then, let us try in
a sensible way to get it," replied
the General. "The Belt was captured
by a little girl named Dorothy,
who lives in Kansas, in the United
States of America."
"But she left it in the Emerald
City, with Ozma," declared the
King.
"How do you know that?" asked
the General.
"One of my spies, who is a
Blackbird, flew over the desert
to the Land of Oz, and saw the
Magic Belt in Ozma's palace," replied
the King with a groan.
"Now that gives me an idea," said
General Blug, thoughtfully. "There
are two ways to get to the Land
of Oz without traveling across
the sandy desert."
"What are they?" demanded
the King, eagerly.
"One way is
OVER the desert, through the
air; and the other
way is UNDER the desert, through
the earth."
Hearing this the Nome King
uttered a yell of joy and leaped
from his throne, to resume his
wild walk up and down the cavern.
"That's it, Blug!" he shouted. "That's
the idea, General! I'm King of
the Under World, and my subjects
are all miners. I'll make a secret
tunnel under the desert to the
Land of Oz--yes! right up to
the Emerald City--and you will
march your armies there and capture
the whole country!"
"Softly, softly, your Majesty.
Don't go too fast," warned the
General. "My Nomes are good fighters,
but they are not strong enough
to conquer the Emerald City."
"Are you sure?" asked
the King.
"Absolutely
certain, your Majesty."
"Then what
am I to do?"
"Give up the idea and mind
your own business," advised the
General. "You have plenty to
do trying to rule your underground
kingdom."
"But I want the Magic Belt--and
I'm going to have it!" roared
the Nome King.
"I'd like to see you get it," replied
the General, laughing maliciously.
The King was by this time so
exasperated that he picked up
his scepter, which had a heavy
ball, made from a sapphire, at
the end of it, and threw it with
all his force at General Blug.
The sapphire hit the General
upon his forehead and knocked
him flat upon the ground, where
he lay motionless. Then the King
rang his gong and told his guards
to drag out the General and throw
him away; which they did.
This Nome King was named Roquat
the Red, and no one loved him.
He was a bad man and a powerful
monarch, and he had resolved
to destroy the Land of Oz and
its magnificent Emerald City,
to enslave Princess Ozma and
little Dorothy and all the Oz
people, and recover his Magic
Belt. This same Belt had once
enabled Roquat the Red to carry
out many wicked plans; but that
was before Ozma and her people
marched to the underground cavern
and captured it. The Nome King
could not forgive Dorothy or
Princess Ozma, and he had determined
to be revenged upon them.
But they, for their part, did
not know they had so dangerous
an enemy. Indeed, Ozma and Dorothy
had both almost forgotten that
such a person as the Nome King
yet lived under the mountains
of the Land of Ev--which lay
just across the deadly desert
to the south of the Land of Oz.
An unsuspected enemy is doubly
dangerous.
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