CHAPTER 1

The Carelessness of Sizzeroo

T0-NIGHT, I shall wear my green padded coat, my 
silver boots and the purple pantaloons," murmured
King Sizzeroo of Umbrella Island, stroking his 
braided beard with one hand and giving the wheel 
that controlled the motion of the island a lazy 
turn with the other. "And to-morrow-"
	"Watch out! Watch out!" Four sharp claws
dug into his Majesty's
plump shoulder and Pansy, the Royal Watch Cat,
dropping from the ribs of an umbrella tree overhead,
began screaming hysterically into the King's left ear.
	"How many times must I ask you not to do that?"
shivered Sizzeroo, jerking his head to the right.
	"Am I your Majesty's Watch Cat, or am I not?"
shrilled Pansy, arching her back defiantly. "Is it my
duty to watch out for you when you are not watching
out for yourself-and us-or is it not?"
	"Not so loud, not so loud," begged the King fret-
fully. "You're taking all the curl out of my ear, be-
side~"
	"Watch out! Ough! Qugh! Meouch!" Poor Pansy!
Already her warning was too late. With a thump
that sent the hundred silver bells in the top-most
silver tower into a rattle of frightened discords, with
a bump that flung Sizzeroo over the fountain and
Pansy into the fish pond, Umbrella Island came to a
shuddering stop. As its startled sovereign raised
himself painfully on one elbow, he could hear the
furniture and ornaments in his palace still crashing
about. Looking gloomily down into the village, he
could see that dozens of cottages were now without
roofs and chimneys, and many of the Islanders strewn
about in strange and uncomfortable attitudes.
	"I'll not wear my green coat and silver boots, after
all," groaned Sizzeroo, feeling about for his crown.
"The old black skull cap, the grey carpet slippers,
my snuff colored robe. Anything! Anything, will
do! My! My! and My Land!"
	For about as long as it would take you to count
ten, the Umbrellians lay where they had fallen.
Then, snatching up their parasols and umbrellas, they
leapt to their feet and started on a run for the castle,
and panting ahead of all the rest, came the King's
three counselors. They had been having a quiet cup
of tea on the terrace and had not only been upset,
but severely scalded by the overturn of the tea table
when the island came to so sudden a standstill. Not-
ing their shocked and anxious faces, Sizzeroo sighed
heavily.
	"There are times," moaned the many-chinned mon-
arch, pulling himself with great difficulty out of the
rose bush into which he had fallen, "there are times
when I wish I were not a King. what now? And
what next and what ever? Pansy, Pansy, drop that
gold fish at once."
	"If you fling me to the fishes, what do you expect?"
snarled the Watch Cat, speaking indistinctly, for the
gold fish was still in her mouth. Sullenly she scram-
bled out of the pond.
	"I did not fling you to the fishes and well you know
it," reproved Sizzeroo. Taking the fish from Pansy,
he gently threw it back in the pond and, tucking the
Watch Cat under his arm, turned uneasily to meet
his sputtering counselors. "Dear, dear and dear! I
suppose they will blame this all on me," he muttered,
dabbing unhappily at the dripping cat with the end
of his padded coat.
	"And whom else could they blame?" inquired Pansy
sarcastically. "If you had listened when I first called
out, you would not have run into a mountain. You'll
wreck this island yet, you careless old thing!"
	"Did you call me a King or a Thing?" Sizzeroo
gave Pansy a stern shake.
	"Oh, save your breath for the others," advised
Pansy, and springing lightly to his shoulder, the
Watch Cat began energetically to lick herself dry.
	"Here they come." And Pansy was right, for as
she finished speaking, up the long flight of marble
steps to Sizzeroo's high and private terrace, bounded
Bamboula, the Imperial Su-jester, Kachewka, the
King's Chief Counselor, and Waddy, the enormous
and enormously clever Wizard of the Realm. The
rest of the Islanders milled noisily about on the level
below, talking in hoarse and excited voices, empha-
sizing their remarks with little jerks of their um-
brellas and parasols. Kachewka, first to reach the
King's side, was tall and thin, with a long nervous
nose, at present twitching with annoyance and dis-
pleasure.
	"What happened?" he demanded, snapping his lit-
tle eyes savagely. "What is the meaning of all this
toss-up and shake aboutery? Have I not cautioned
your Majesty to look where you are going, to go
where you are looking, when sailing this island
through the sky? What were you doing, may I ask,
at the time of the crash?"
	"I was thinking," admitted the King, glancing re-
morsefully from one to the other of his counselors.
	"Thinking!" exploded Kachewka, taking out his
red handkerchief and giving his nose a violent blow.
"What right have you to think? Thinking is my busi-
ness. Thinking is what I am paid to do, and poorly
paid at that. Thinking! Bah! Thinking causes all
the trouble out of the world. Of what were you think-
ing, pray?"
	"Of my green padded coat, my silver boots and so
on-
	"And so on the rocks," choked Kachewka, stuffing
his handkerchief back into his pocket. "We will all
have to wear padded coats and crash pants if this
keeps up."
	Now Waddy, seeing Sizzeroo looking so downcast,
Slipped hastily back of the King and, giving him a
sly poke in the ribs, touched a gold button in the
great silver shaft that supported the tremendous
billowing umbrella that spread like a canopy over
the entire island. This button, Waddy's own inven-
tion, controlled and guided the island automatically
like the electric steering devices on some of our own
ocean liners.
	"There now," puffed the Wizard, giving Sizzeroo
a comforting thump between the shoulders, "every-
thing will be all right. Think no more of it, dear old
Gum Drop. We have had a shock but no bones are
broken and chimneys and roofs are soon mended."
	Waddy's further remarks were completely drowned
out by the furious beating of Bamboula's drum.
Bamboula, like the Wizard, was round and jolly and
whenever the King's Su-jester had anything to sug-
gest, he preceded his speech by a loud tattoo on his
drum, thus assuring himself of Sizzeroo's attention.
	As the King, wincing slightly, leaned forward,
Bamboula stopped drumming and spoke.
	"I suggest that we immediately go about restoring
order. I suggest that your high and mighty absent-
minded Majesty retire to the palace for a nap," pro-
posed Bamboula, sensibly enough.
	"Why, I believe I will," sighed Sizzeroo, thought-
fully touching a long scratch on his cheek. "A little
sleep will be good for me."
	"It will be good for us all," said Kachewka stiffly.
	"And now that the island is moving again-"
	"Moving?" muttered Waddy, who had been glanc-
mg critically out over the silvering twilight sky.
	"We're sinking. Can't you feel it? We're going
down~~down~~when the umbrella is still up! Down,
do you understand? Meander! Meander!"
The Wizard clapped his hands sharply and beck-
oned energetically to the King's messenger, who
stood in the crowd below, gazing up at the group on
the terrace with dazed and stupid grin. "Run to the
edge of the island, my boy, and look over. Quickly!"
	"Quickly! Quickly!" shouted Bamboula, with two
terrified thumps on his drum. Thus urged, Meander
began to run and shuffle down the slopping terrace
that stetched to the edge of the island - at this point
no more than a hundred yards away.
"Well! Well!" bawled	Sizzeroo, as Meander, lean-
ing on the top rail of the golden fence that ran all
the way round the island, stared fearfully downward.
	"Oh, why do you say 'Well'?" moaned Kachewka,
covering his eyes. "There is nothing well about it.
I knew the minute that tea-pot hit me on the nose
that a dreadful disaster had overtaken us."
	To be perfectly truthful, Umbrella Island was now
rushing downward at a sickening speed.
	"Be still! Stand where you are. Do nothing until I
sneeze," commanded Kachewka, as the frightened
Umbrellians showed signs of dashing in all direc-
tions.
	"Meander, my boy, do you see anything?" pleaded
Sizzeroo, starting heavily down the terrace.
	"Anything! Oh, King!" Instead of explaining,
Meander put his head down on the top rail and trem-
bled so violently that he loosened three palings from
the golden fence. No wonder. A giant had hold of
the umbrella handle that went through and pro-
truded from the under side of the island and was
dragging it roughly downward.

CHAPTER 2

Loxo, the Lucky

BEFORE Meander could open his mouth to
report this appalling piece of news, the Urn-
brellians found themselves staring into the
face of the giant himself. It was a face twice
as large as their island, topped by hair like 
awaving  forest,  with eyes like two burning
lakes of lava, with a mountainous nose and
a mouth resembling a yawning cave, full of
crooked and mossgrown rocks.
	"Oh! Oh! and Oh!" wailed Sizzeroo, clutching
Waddy's sleeve, while Pansy dove hurriedly into the
King's pocket. "Tell me I'm asleep and dreaming.
Tell me it isn't so. If I'm awake, I'm perfectly petri-
fled and simply a-quiver.
	"You're a-quiver, then! Me too!" Waddy clapped
a plump hand to his loudly beating heart and looked
wildly across at Kachewka. As he did, Kachewka
sneezed five times, which in the island code of sig-
nals meant, "Silence everyone.' Our Wizard will
handle this matter."
	The command for silence was quite unnecessary.
The Umbrellians were too terrified to utter a sound,
but now they stopped looking at the giant and turned
frantic and appealing eyes on the Wizard. Poor
Waddy, after an indignant glance at Kachewka,
whom he felt was being entirely too generous, drew
himself up and prepared for the worst.
	"So !" hissed the giant, glaring down at them all
with his red and burning eyes. "So, this is what hit
me! How dare you hit me in the head with an island?
If there's one thing that makes me madder than an-
other, it's being hit in the head with an island. What
right has an island rocketing through the sky in
this reckless fashion? What right has an island in
the air, anyway?" he bellowed in a voice that blew
fifty umbrellas inside out and flattened back the ears
of the Islanders themselves.
	"By right of invention and wizardry!" shouted
Waddy, assuming as bold and unconcerned an atti-
tude as an old fellow of two hundred and fifty pounds
well can. "I see your Highness has never studied
Unnatural History?"
	"Study! Why should I study?" roared the giant
wrathfullv. "I am above such things. Besides. I do
not need to study Unnatural History to know when
I am hit in the head. Look at this lump." He raised
a huge hairy hand to a large protuberance between
his eyes. "Well, someone is going to pay for this. I,
Loxo the Lucky, have spoken."
	"Permit me to observe that it is a great honor to
meet so celebrated a character," quavered the Wiz-
ard, while the Islanders continued to tremble and
hold their tongues.
	"If you call knocking me in the head with your
island, meeting me, I certainly decline the honor,"
rumbled Loxo with a scowl. "Besides I already know
all the people I care to know."
	"But do let me explain," implored Waddy, clasping
his hands earnestly.
	"Explain!" The giant leaned forward and tearing
up a palm-leaf fan tree began angrily to pick his
teeth. "There is a deal to be explained. Explain
away this bump, if you will. Explain yourselve~
that is, if you can." Loxo stared long and disdain-
fully at the gay and flowery little isle spread out like
a saucer beneath his nose. But even so, his voice was
a bit less angry and, noting a gleam of unmistakable
interest and curiosity in his gigantic eye, Waddy
took heart and began quickly to explain Umbrella
Island and its unusual inhabitants as best he could.
	"To begin with," announced the Wizard impres-
sively, "we were a tidy but quite ordinary little
island, surrounded by the usual ocean and covered
by the customary sky. We lay by fisherman's reck-
oning seventy leagues from the mainland of Ev,
which, you know, lies across the Deadly Desert from
the great and flourishing Kingdom of Oz. As we
are at present over Oz, I presume that you, your-
self, hail from that incomparable and enchanting
Fairy Land?"
	"Where else would I come from?" demanded the
giant gruffly. "Go on! Go on!"
	Now I have suspected that the Umbrellians were
of some strange fairy origin, for how otherwise
could we account for a talking cat, a practicing wiz-
ard, or the flying island itself? But I must not inter-
rupt Waddy and as the giant continued to call in an
impatient voice for him to proceed, he gravely went
on with his recital.
	"In the early days of our history," explained the
Wizard complacently, "we engaged in the raising of
silk worms and the manufacture of fine silken fab-
rics. By energy, industry and successful trade with
Pingaree and the nearby Island of Impossipillio, we
amassed a considerable fortune for ourselves and
our gracious sovereign." Waddy bowed ceremoni-
ously to the King, and Sizzeroo with a nervous jerk
of his head acknowledged the salute and the fortune.
"Then, about seven years ago," Waddy fixed the
giant with an anxious and solemn eye, "seven years
ago, our amiable monarch developed an overpower-
ing desire for travel and adventure. But being un-
fond of ships, opposed to caravans and unwilling to
go anywhere without taking every courtier, coun-
selor, islander and animal along, I, as Chief Magi-
cian of the Realm, did set myself to devise a way
in which this might happily be accomplished. After
seven months of deep thought," Waddy cleared his
throat with scarcely concealed pride, "after seven
months, I conceived the idea of an enormous umbrella
that would go through the center of the island and
carry us safely and buoyantly through the air or
over the water, giving us all the interest and ex-
citements of travel with the comforts and luxury of
home. How well I succeeded with this idea, your
Greatness may judge for yourself."
	"Umph!" grunted the giant, touching the lump
on his head tenderly.
	"And so," the Wizard, anxious to be done with the
conversation, hurried on, "by a judicious mixture of
mechanics and magic I was able to construct and
install this huge umbrella, and lift our island from
its permanent resting place. We can now sail at
will over the ocean, anchoring off strange continents
and shores, or explore the high and hitherto un-
chartered regions of the air. We have even crossed
over into the realms of Reality on the other side
of the rainbow and noted with interest and profit
the curious customs of its monarchies and republics
In the course of these journeys, the foliage of our
island has changed considerably, becoming rich and
tropical. The numerous umbrella and shade trees
you see scattered about our hills are the result of
my profound study and experimentation. They pro-
duce in profusion the umbrellas and parasols that
our mode of life makes so necessary and essential.
Every man, woman and child is required by law to
carry an umbrella or parasol at all times, not only
for Pleasure and style, but as a precaution as well.
Should the island tilt and any of them fall over the
fence, the umbrellas act as parachutes, keeping them
safely afloat until rescued."
	"I see you have supplied the cows and goats with
umbrellas, too," remarked the giant, throwing away
his palm leaf fan tree tooth pick.
	"Ah, but naturally," Waddy assured him in a
dignified voice. "We are a kind and humane people
and would not think of denying our animals com-
forts and luxuries that we enjoy ourselves."
Somewhat exhausted, the Wizard paused for
breath and the Umbrellians, noting the interest Loxo
was taking in their affairs, stopped trembling and
began to straighten their hats, smooth down their
silk blouses and tilt their umbrellas and parasols at
more comfortable and becoming angles. Even Pansy
came out of the King's pocket and perched inquis-
itively on his shoulder.
	"But about the braids," inquired the giant, as
Waddy stood staring silently and hopefully up al
him.
	"Braids? Oh, braids are our peculiarity," admit-
ted the Wizard, and with a little chuckle drew the
long plait that hung down his back over one shoul-
der, thoughtfully stroked the braided whiskers on
each side of his cheeks and his long luxuriant braid-
ed beard. "We find them comfortable, convenient
and, we hope, ornamental," he explained indulgently.
	Now I am not surprised that Loxo mentioned
braids. They are the first thing you would notice
about an Umbrella Islander. The dark hair of the
women and girls was braided in shining plaits,
reaching often below their waists. The men and
boys wore their hair in a single braid, like a China-
man's queue, and the braided side-whiskers and
beards of the older men gave them an exceedingly
merry and mischievous expression. Even the ani-
mals on Umbrella Island had braided tails and manes
and Pansy, the Watch Cat, not only had a braided
tail, tied with a red ribbon, but the soft hair growing
from the tips of her ears was also braided and finished 
with perky red bows.
	As a race, the Umbrellians were dark haired, fair
skinned, slender and handsome. Men and women 
alike wore loose coats or blouses, wide silk trousers
and bright leather boots. The men and boys carried
umbrellas, the women and girls parasols, and the
pleasing contrast of their costumes and umbrellas
made any group of Islanders not only a gay and
cheerful sight, but a simply charming one, as well.
But Loxo, I am afraid, did not wish to be cheered or
charmed, and his eye, roving discontentedly over the
subjects of Sizzeroo, came to a surprised stop on
Pansy.
	"What's that?" he coughed, pointing a finger as
long as a telegraph post at the King's Watch Cat.

	"I am a cat with my tail in a plait,
	I watch out for the King and at danger, cry 'Scat!'
	Can a giant find anything wrong about that?"

purred Pansy, delighted to find herself the center
of attraction. Now whether Pansy's saucy verse, or
the red ribbons in her ears irritated the giant and re-
minded him of his grievance, I cannot say, I only
know that he gave a sudden grunt and then, blow-
ing his lips first in and then out, cried furiously,
"Wrong? Everything is wrong! I don't care a cooky
how you wear your hair, trim up your cats, make
your fortunes or run your ridiculous island, except
when you run it into me. What I care about is this
bump on my head and for tha~I'll tak~I'll-"
Savagely the glance of Loxo ranged from one end
of the island to the other, settling at last on a small
figure that had just run out of the palace and was
standing quietly beside the King. "I'll take that boy
to lace my boots," he roared vindictively. "And I'll
take him now!"

HAPTER 3

Waddy Fools the Giant

AT Loxo's dreadful decision the King
gave a bounce that dislodged his crown and a
groan  that  loosened three of his favorite
teeth. Indeed, the whole island groaned as one,
and if you have never beard 769 Umbrellians,
46 cows, 37 sheep, 22 horses, 13 dogs, a herd
of goats and a flock of Umbrella Birds groan
as one, you can have no idea of the sorrowful
sound that presently
arose from the shuddering subjects of Sizzeroo. But
I am sure you can understand it when I explain
that the small figure indicated by the giant was the
only child of this Island King. Even Loxo was star-
tled by the ear-shattering cry and, with the hand he
had ready to snatch the child still poised in air, he
blinked uncomfortably downward.
	"Oh!" panted Sizzeroo. Taking advantage of the
short delay, he turned first to Bamboula and then to
Kachewka. "What would you suggest? What would
you advise?"
	Bamboula had not strength to raise even a drum
stick, but Kachewka, feeling that Waddy had been
handling the giant with great cleverness until the
unfortunate interruption of Pansy, again sneezed
five times. So Waddy, giving the cord round his
great waist a tremendous tug again stepped forward
to see what could be done.
	"Your Greatness is right," he shouted valiantly.
"It was inexcusably careless for us to hit you in the
head with our island and this boy"-Waddy's voice
trembled woefully as he pointed to the little figure
beside Sizzerro - "this boy will make but small
amends for such an injury. Therefore, I beg that
Your Greatness will give us three months to prepare
and train him for the task and honor that has come
to him. Three months, 0 Loxo !"
	Now, Waddy's voice, loud but coaxing, had a re-
markable effect on the scowling giant. His hand
dropped heavily to his side and with a solemn nod
he regarded the Wizard. After all, three months is
but an hour to an ogre and the request of Waddy
seemed reasonable enough.
	"See that you teach him well, then," he rumbled
testily. "It breaks my back to lean over and lace my
boots and I'll break his if he does it wrong. I toler-
ate no knots, and if you do not have the boy ready
in three months I will find you wherever you are,
break the island off this umbrella and save it up for
a rainy day. Mind that. Remember now, no knots!"
	"Not a knot," promised Waddy in a hollow voice.
So the giant, after a baleful glare at Sizzeroo, let
go the handle of the umbrella and strode sulkily to-
ward a mountain he sometimes used as a bench.
Umbrella Island, released from his horrid grip,
soared buoyantly aloft, then quickly righting itself
and guided by the Wizard's marvelous steering con-
trol, sailed smoothly and rhythmically toward the set-
ting sun.
The clouds and evening sky had never been more
rosy, but without a glance or a thought for their
beauty, the Umbrellians moved slowly toward their
homes, picking up their scattered belongings as they
trudged along, casting sorrowful and frightened
glances over their shoulders at the little group on
the terrace. In stunned silence, Sizzeroo had heard
the Wizard's promise and watched the giant depart.
Turning to Waddy he pressed his hand convulsively.
	"How can I ever thank you," wheezed the poor
King in a choked whisper. "You have, by your quick
thought and action, saved us from a horrible dis-
aster."
	"Only postponed it, I fear," sighed Waddy, leaning
heavily against the silver umbrella shaft.
	"But anything may happen in three months," Barn-
boula reminded them hopefully. "A war-a fortu-
nate accident-"
	"Yes, at least you have gained us some time," ad-
mitted Kachewka grudgingly. "But the whole thing
is perfectly preposterous and impossible. In the first
place"
	"I'm a girl," announced the calm voice of the
King's only child, offspring, successor and descend-
ant. "And how could I lace that fellow's boots when
I cannot even braid my own hair?"
"Yes, and this is what comes of wearing it in one
braid like a boy and dashing about without sense or
ceremony," complained Kachewka, whom grief al-
ways made cross and sarcastic. "Oh, why did you
have to come running out at that particular minute?
Why can you not stay quietly in the castle, embroid-
ering birds on screens and fans or or reading. I
suppose you were reading at the time we struck the
giant?"
	"Oh yes," sighed the Princess, holding up the huge
volume she still had clutched under her arm. "Some-
thing did knock me out of my chair, but the story
was so interesting I did not bother about that, but
when all the pictures and ornaments began to fall
down on my head, I thought I'd better come out and
see what Father was doing."
Then remembering the terrible fright she had got
when she first caught sight of Loxo, and at the awful
thought of lacing his boots, the unfortunate child
began to cry softly into her purple silk handkerchief.
	"No wonder she rushed out of the castle," groaned
Sizzeroo, tearing the bow off his beard and throwing
it on the ground. "I might have killed you all, rush-
ing into a great hulk of a giant, knocking everything
east and west. It's all my fault! All my fault. I'll
have myself beheaded at once. Meander! Meander!
Call the executioner. I am a miserable, muddled,
marble headed old monster!"
	"Yes, but even so, we are monstrously fond of
you," sighed Waddy, waving the messenger away
and picking up the sobbing little Princess. "Come,
the evening star is directly over your Majesty's head.
It is a good omen! Come, let us return quietly to the
palace and there in solemn conference, take counsel
and devise some plan to outwit this outrageous en-
emy."
	"How about supper?" purred Pansy, blinking her
eyes sleepily. "I, for one, cannot think on an empty
stomach."
	"You were thinking with your stomach when you
made that verse, I suppose," suggested Kachewka,
staring bitterly at the King's Watch Cat. "When I
sneeze for silence, I expect silence. Waddy was pro-
gressing splendidly when you put in your miserable
Purr. You did it on purpose and now that you have
ruined everything, I hope you are satisfied."
	"Ah, Pansy meant no harm," Sizzeroo assured him
hastily. "If I had listened to Pansy, we would never
have run into the giant."
	So, arguing and explaining and anxiously convers-
ing, the King and his counselors entered the many-
windowed palace. Here silken coated, soft slippered
attendants were already engaged in restoring order,
sweeping up broken glass, straightening pictures
and hangings, removing all trace of the unfortunate
accident that threatened to change the whole history
of the happy little isle.


CHAPTER 4

The King's Counselors Disagree

	IN the great blue council chamber there was not
a sound except the snores of Meander, the King's
messenger, asleep on a bench beside the throne,
and the occasional sneezes of Kachewka, who was por-
ing earnestly over the Encyclopedia of Giants, from
which he hoped to extract some helpful information
about Loxo the Lucky. Sizzeroo had finally taken
Pansy's advice and the royal household had dined,
though very sorrowfully.
	Then, Reeda, the little Princess, after being solemnly
assured that she would never be turned over to the
giant, had gone happily to bed with her favorite vol-
ume of Unfairy Tales. So fond of reading was the
King's small daughter that she had been jokingly
nicknamed "Gureeda Book" by the merry old Wiz-
ard, and in spite of the annoyance of Kachewka, who
was a stickler for dignity and order, the name had
stuck. No wonder! This strange child was never
without a huge story book and during all the amaz-
ing voyages of Umbrella Island and even during the
visits of powerful kings and rulers, the Princess
could not be coaxed to raise her eyes from the
printed page. Like many another, Gureeda pre-
ferred reading about adventures, to having them.
And now, snuggled down on her cozy canopied couch
she was soon so engrossed in the history of a silver
dragon that she completely forgot the ugly giant
and his boot laces.
	But the King, Waddy, Kachewka and Bamboula
and all the rest of the Umbrellians could think of
nothing else. Even Pansy, coiled up on the window
ledge above Sizzeroo's head, even Pansy, usually so
saucy and sociable, stared mournfully and silently
out at the stars as Umbrella Island skimmed lightly
and smoothly and soundlessly across the evening sky.
	As for Sizzeroo, his appearance eloquently ex-
pressed his feelings. His braided beard and whiskers
were tied with old shoe strings; instead of his crown
he had on a shabby black skull cap and wore also
the grey carpet slippers and snuff colored robe he
had so gloomily resolved upon when he ran into the
giant. With his elbows resting on the carved table in
front of him, he glanced anxiously from one to the
other of his counselors. Waddy, his plump hands
clasped on his huge stomach, was staring unhappily
at the ceiling. Bamboula, his drum on the floor be-
tween his knees and a drum stick behind each ear,
looked thoughtfully down at the carpet.  Neither
spoke, nor moved and after an hour of this utter
and awful silence. Sizzeroo could contain himself no
longer.
	"Merciful Mariners!" cried the King, bounding
out of his seat and thumping frantically on the table.
"Have you thought of nothing yet? Why can we not
sail at full speed to the other side of the world and
stay there?"
	"Because" Kachewka looked morosely up from
the huge volume before him-"it says here that Loxo
is possessed of a magic magnet with which he can
draw to himself anything he desires. If, therefore,
we fail to return of our own free will, he can force
us to do so by using this powerful magnet."
	"Ugh !" Falling into his seat, Sizzeroo clasped his
head in both hands. "Then what are we to do? De-
stroy him by force of arms?"
	"Whose?" demanded Waddy practically. "Your
Majesty must remember that our Parashooters would
do small damage to a creature of that size and solid-
ity. But be patient, I beg of you. Acres of hours
stretch ahead of us and in due course we will find
some way out of this dreadful dilemma."
	"So that's what you call it," sniffed the King in a
desperate voice, and seeing his Master was on the
verge of tears, Bamboula beat a hasty measure on
his drum.
	"I have something to suggest now," announced
Bamboula, as all eyes turned hopefully toward him.
"I suggest that we rise and sing the National An-
them."

	"Umbrella Island, Low or High
	Umbrella Island far or nigh
	where'er you rest, where'er you fly
	On land or sea, on sea or sky, My Island!"

	"You're always suggesting simple things," grum-
bled Kachewka, getting unwillingly to his feet, but
Bamboula had already flung open the long windows
and was bawling boisterous directions to the crowd
in the Royal Courtyard.  They had been patiently
waiting for good news from the council chamber,
but lustily and obediently raised their voices and
umbrellas in an effort to cheer the unhappy King. I
cannot tell you exactly how the tune of this anthem
goes, but here are the words, as well as I can remem-
ber them.

	Umbrellians all now stand and cheer
	Our Island Highland home so dear,
	Give three huzzahs and loud applause,
	For your land and for my land!

	Give three cheers for our Suzerain
	King Sizzeroo! Three cheers again!
	Long live the King-King Sizzeroo
	Long live the wise old wizard who

	Has sent us wizzing here and yon
	And there and back and up and on!
	Now cheer our sage Kachewka Chew
	And three for Bam Barn Boula Boo.

	Now one for me and one for you
	And three more for our island!

	The vigorous rendering of the National Anthem
had set every curtain in the council chamber aflutter
and even awakened Meander, but Sizzeroo did not
even raise his head.
	"There, there! Do you feel any better?" Bamboula
patted the King sympathetically on the back.
	"Worse," mumbled Sizzeroo, covering his face with
his arms. "I do not deserve to live long. There's
such a lump in my throat I cannot even swallow."
	"Meander, just fetch his Majesty a cough drop,"
directed Kachewka and sinking into his chair, he
again began his earnest perusal of the Encyclopedia
of Giants. Then, quite suddenly, the King's sage
snatched off his specs and sprang into the air.
	"I have it! I have it!" he sputtered, snapping his
fingers energetically and bursting into his usual
spasm of sneezes.
	"The flu-a fit or an idea?" inquired Waddy indul-
gently.
	"The solution of our difficulties," cried Kachewka,
controlling himself with a great effort.  "As you
heard him say quite plainly, Loxo is a citizen of Oz
and therefore subject to its laws and sovereign. Now
then, do you for one minute suppose that Ozma, the
amiable and charming young ruler of Oz a ruler
whom we have heard praised on all sides for her
gentleness and wisdom - do you suppose Ozma would
permit one of her subjects to enslave one of ours for
pernicious boot-lacing purposes? No, certainly not!"
Kachewka answered himself to save time and argu-
ment. "Therefore, our procedure is clear. We have
but to anchor over The Emerald City, Ozma's capital,
send a representative from this island to explain the
matter to her and her advisers and let Ozrna herself
handle this great rogue of a giant. At the court of
Ozma, as you well know, is the famous Wizard of Oz.
Should Loxo refuse to obey the ruler of his country
and give up all claim to our King's child, the Wizard
can, by his magic, change him into a pigmy or goat
and render him safe and harmless."
	The King, as Kachewka explained his plan, bright-
ened up considerably.
"Splendid! Splendid!" he murmured in a relieved
voice. "Run up on the terrace at once, Kachewka,
and set our course for the Emerald City of Oz."
	"One moment, your Highness!" Waddy heaved
himself sternly out of his chair. "You will first ac-
cept my resignation as Wizard of this Island."
"W-W-hat?" gulped Sizzeroo, taking a hasty swal-
low from the glass of water Meander had brought
with the cough drop. "Whatever-and-ever's the mat-
ter with you?"
	"Well, if your Majesty has no confidence in ME,
if you intend to call in strange wizards to settle our
affairs, I cannot see that I am needed any longer-
er-professionally." Gathering his voluminous robe
together and sweeping up his book of magic, Waddy
strode heavily toward the door.
	"He's jealous," purred Pansy, waving her tail
backward and forward. "These wizards are worse
than the women."
	"Waddy!" wailed Sizzeroo, putting out a pleading
hand. "Don't leave me this way. You know I would
not even have my hair cut without your advice and
approval. After all, Kachewka's plan was merely a
suggestion!"
	"And a thumping good one," persisted Kachewka,
jerking his braided beard impatiently.
	"I do not say it has not its points," conceded
Waddy, stopping pompously in his doorward march,
"but have you considered the matter from Ozma's
Point of view? After all, we know very little of this
Young and powerful girl ruler. She may be as kind
as you say, on the other hand, the stories of her
kindness may be greatly exaggerated. We did knock
the giant on the face. Will she overlook that en-
tirely? She will certainly exact some satisfaction for
his injury. Why, she might even hold us for invasion
and trespassing."
	"But-but isn't the air free?" quavered Sizzeroo,
clasping and unclasping his hands unhappily.
	"Free to birds, but not to islands. Suppose," Wad-
dy went on gravely, "suppose we anchored over the
Emerald City without warning to the inhabitants.
Before we could send down a messenger, might not
Ozma and this wonderful wizard take us for en-
emies, direct a destructive ray upon us or even trans-
port our island to some distant and desolate ocean?"
	"Oh! Oh! You terrify me." The King downed at
one gulp the rest of the water in his glass.
	"Such is not my intention," continued the Wizard
calmly. "I merely wish to impress upon you the ne-
cessity for caution in dealing with strange sovereigns
and wizards. Let us proceed slowly and not stick our
necks in a noose."
	"It might be well to consider this question fur-
ther," agreed Kachewka. Waddy's dismal picture of
their reception in Oz had somewhat dashed the old
sage's confidence.
	"I knew you would feel as I do about it," sighed
Waddy, clapping Kachewka heavily on the back.
	"We still have two months, thirty days, twelve hours
and seven minutes. Let us sleep upon this problem,
your Majesty. Let us sleep!"
	"Sleep!" groaned poor Sizzeroo. "I shall not close
an eye."
	"Well," yawned Pansy, with a malicious wink at
the Wizard, "we can at least shut our mouths." Miss-
ing very cleverly the ink well Kachewka flung after
her, the Watch Cat stalked sedately from the throne
room.

CHAPTER 5

Speedy and the Dinosaur

DON'T see any  camp Uncle Billy.
Are you sure we took the right turn after we
left the springs?"
	"According to this map we did." Easing
himself forward in the saddle, the boy's tall
and bronzed companion squinted anxiously
down the rocky trail. "It should be some-
where in this valley, Speedy."
	"Well, Unc, I hope you're right." Shoving
back his broad brimmed felt, Speedy peered rather
dubiously into the bare and stony ravine below.
	"Say, do you think this archaeology stuff is going
to be as keen as our trip through the Yellowstone?"
Without answering, his uncle nodded emphatically,
his eyes still fixed on the map he held in one hand
while he competently but carelessly managed his
horse With the other. The two travellers had been
vacationing for a month in the great National Park
-mountain climbing, riding, driving and fishing.
The immense geysers in the upper and lower basins,
the giant paint pots spurting up grotesque figures of
pink and yellow mud, the glass cliffs, the thundering
water falls and last of all, the flaming gorge of the
Yellowstone River had filled them with astonishment
and delight. As they stood on Point Lookout, gazing
down into the Grand Canyon, Nature's great silent
city of rainbow-hued rock, ranging in color from
palest yellow to clearest scarlet, Speedy had sharply
drawn in his breath.
	"This-this reminds me of Oz," he exclaimed so~
ly. "Why, it's the nearest thing to Oz I've seen in
America."
	"Oh, you and your Oz." Uncle Billy sniffed good
naturedly. "You never will get over it, will you?"
	"I should hope not." Speedy lowered his field glass-
es, with a broad grin. "And when you finish your
second rocket plane, we'll both go there." In his
huge work shop on Long Island, Speedy's uncle was
assembling his second skyrocket. The first had gone
off too quickly, leaving the scientist behind, but car-
rying his young nephew to that faraway and famous
Fairyland of Oz. After most amazing adventures in
Oz, Speedy had been sent home by Ozma's magic
belt. Home, to Speedy, meant the large rambling
house near Garden City, Long Island, where he had
lived with his uncle ever since he was a small boy
of two. Both of Speedy's parents had been lost on a
South Sea exploring expedition, when their ship had
been wrecked in a hurricane. Speedy himself, for-
tunately left in New York with his nurse, had been
promptly adopted by the famous uncle, for whom he
was named. But no one ever called him William or
Bill. His lightning speed on the track and baseball
field had brought him the nickname of Speedy and
even Uncle Billy had almost forgotten that the boy
was named for him.
	Uncle Billy's full name, and you may have heard
it yourself in scientific circles, was William I. Harm-
stead and although he was an inventor of immense
skill and international reputation, he was as fond of
base-ball and other outdoor sports as Speedy himself,
so no wonder the two got on well together and never
seemed to miss the usual family life enjoyed by other
people.
	For two years now, Uncle Billy had been working
busily on his Skyrocket Number 2. But perfecting
the intricate mechanics of the rocket plane was a
long and tedfous task and when he was ordered to
take an immediate rest by his doctors, the inventor
had reluctantly dropped everything and brought
Speedy to Yellowstone Park. Here, they had done
everything but rest and, having covered the park
pretty thoroughly, were on their way to join the
archaeological expedition of Professor Sanderson.
	The Professor, an English friend of Speedy's
uncle, had reported the exciting discovery of some
prehistoric remains in Wyoming, just beyond the
park limits. Prehistoric remains had sounded rather
awful to Speedy, but his uncle was so set on a visit
to the Professor's camp that he had pretended an
interest he was far from feeling. He meant to spend
his time hunting, fishing and exploring the caves and
caverns of the district, while the two scientists talked
learnedly of jurassic, triassic and other unspellable
eras. Digging for the bones of prehistoric monsters
seemed a dull and monotonous occupation to the ac-
tive young American.
	"Now if it were buried treasure," mused the boy
dreamily to himself, as his pony picked its way
warily down the treacherous slope, "buried treasure,
or long forgotten pirate chests, that - well that,
would be different. But bones!" Speedy wrinkled
his nose with distaste, and then at a sudden exclama-
tion from Uncle Billy, urged his horse forward.
	"There! See that rough cabin below and the
tents? There's the camp, there!" Uncle Billy's voice
trembled with excitement and anticipation and
Speedy felt a stir of curiosity and interest. Although
the Sanderson camp was now plainly in view, it took
an hour's cautious riding to bring them down to
edge of the stream that ran behind the Professor's
cabin. The stony little valley was marked by the
same brilliantly colored rock and mineral formation
that marked the Yellowstone. There were few trees,
scarcely any vegetation and a strong smell of sul-
phur hung in the air. In addition to the main cabin
there were seven tents and a rough shelter built over
a huge tarpaulin-covered mound in the center of the
encampment. Various tools and excavating instru-
ments lay scattered about, but there was no sign
anywhere of the Professor or his associates.
	Dismounting stiffly, Speedy and his uncle hurried
from tent to tent, in hopes of finding someone. It
was long past noon and they were both looking for-
ward to a hearty welcome and an appetizing lunch.
	"Do you suppose they've gone for good?" asked
Speedy, as they pushed open the door of the cabin.
"Aha! A note!" Conspicuously displayed on the
rough table in the center of the one-roomed shack
was a large sheet of white paper. Snatching it up
hastily, Speedy handed it over to his uncle.
	"Dear Will: Have gone back into the hills to verify
some important data. Make yourselves comfortable.
You'll find plenty to eat on the shelves and just use
this place as your own. Back to-morrow. Faithfully,
Paul."
	"I hope he left us something better than data,"
grumbled Speedy, as his uncle finished reading the
note. He had had some rather disappointing dinners
with Uncle Billy's scientific friends. "I'm starved!"
	"Oh, we'll soon cure that." Uncle Billy eyed the
shelves critically. "Let's see, here's coffee, canned
beans, canned tomatoes, crackers, cheese, jam and
sugar. You just unsaddle the horses, my boy, and
bring in some wood and I'll have dinner ready in a
jiffy."
	Beyond the last tent there was a rough shed for
the horses, and after unsaddling the weary beasts,
giving them a drink and a good measure of oats and
bran, Speedy gathered up some firewood and hur-
ried back to the Professor's shack. True to his word,
Uncle Billy had set the table with the crude but use-
ful camp ware and was now busily opening cans,
Slicing bread and measuring out coffee.
	Lighting a fire in the small stove was the work
but a moment and in spite of their disappointment
in finding no one at home, the travellers were soon
enjoying a merry and satisfying meal.  After
clearing away the dishes and putting everything
apple-pie order, Uncle Billy settled himself calmly
on the steps of the cabin. Lighting his pipe, he gazed
dreamily off into the distance, seeing not the curious
and lovely colors of the rock strata before him, but
the intricate and to him still lovelier conglomeration
of metal tubes, wheels, rods and pistons that made
up his beloved rocket plane. Speedy, after casting
a speculative look at the stream and wondering just
what it offered in the way of fish, clattered noisily
down the four plank steps.
	"Gee whiskers, Unc! Are you going to sit here all
afternoon like a one-legged sailor? Come on, let's
look around and see if we can stir up some fun."
	"Fun?" Uncle Billy looked vaguely disturbed. "I'm
sure there is nothing of that sort around here, and
besides don't you think it would be more polite for
us to wait for the Professor?"
	"Huh! Polite people usually get left," observed
Speedy, who had learned this disconcerting fact the
previous summer at camp. "Your Professor was not
very polite to us, so far as I can see, and what's
the harm in looking at things?"
	With a sigh Uncle Billy rose, tapped the ashes
from his pipe and started resignedly after his tire-
less young nephew. Without bothering with the tents
or work sheds, Speedy was heading straight for the
canvas~covered mound under the wooden shelter in
the center of the camp. The canvas was pegged
down securely and a roughly printed tag was tied
to the largest peg.
	"Complete skeleton and bones of a mezozoic dino-
saur. Unearthed and assembled by Paul Sanderson,
F.R.G.S.	F.Z.S."
	"Why all the initials?" inquired Speedy, raising
one eyebrow. "I'll bet it means he was Frighted by a
Green Snake Friday, Zeptember Seventeenth."
	"Those initials show he is a Fellow of the Royal
Geographic and Zoological Societies of England," re-
plied Uncle Billy calmly. "And so these are the pre-
historic remains. Wonder what they'll look like?"
	"That remains to be seen," chuckled Speedy, wig-
gling one of the pegs experimentally.
	"Not till the Professor returns," said his uncle,
shaking his head firmly.
	"What?  Not even one little peek?  Aw, Unc!
What harm would it do to lift a couple of pegs and
find out what sort of a dino this might be?"
	"Well-" Uncle Billy sniffed guardedly, but his
curiosity was fast getting the best of his caution.
"I don't suppose it would do any real harm. I under-
stand the bones have been air conditioned and treat-
ed to resist moisture. In fact, Paul wrote me that
they were all ready for shipment."
	"Here's a pulley," volunteered Speedy, recognizing
the unmistakable signs of weakening in his only
relation, family and guardian. "All we have to do
is loosen the pegs, roll up the canvas and there he'll
be!" Speedy might have saved his breath, for Uncle
Billy was already removing the pegs with swiftness
and precision. So the boy bent his efforts to winding
uP the canvas covering and in less than twenty
minutes they were gazing breathlessly at an orderly
array of immense yellowed bones. Each bone was
nubered and tagged and the curious collection rest-
ed on a soft bed of cedar shavings.
	"Just like a jig saw puzzle," mused Speedy, wist-
fully touching one of the tremendous curving ribs.
"Wouldn't it be keen fun to put it together? What
did these old wanguses look like, anyway?"
	Drawing a small note book from his pocket, Uncle
Billy sketched the crude model of a dinosaur-that
strange, flat-headed monster with a long snake-like
neck, short front legs, long back legs and an im-
mense and powerful tail.
	"A bit kangarooish," decided Speedy, squinting
knowingly at the sketch. "Look, Uncle Billy, those
tail bones are just like a ladder with the edges in
the center. I'll bet we could fit this big Bonaparte
together in an hour. What do you say?"
	"Humph," grunted his uncle thoughtfully, "it
wouldn't be much use placing the bones on the
ground in order-the two sides would all pile up
together."
	"Oh, that wouldn't matter," answered Speedy reck-
lessly. "It would be grand fun and would give us a
fine notion of the creature's size. Look! You start
at the head, I'll start at the tail and we'll meet in
the rib section."
	"But-er-er." Uncle Billy eyed the great mass
of bones nervously. "We really should do nothing
of the sort. Exhibits of this kind are extremely val-
uable and should not be touched without permission
of the discoverer."
	"Well, even if the Professor did come back and he
said he would not be back till to-morrow, he'd only
think we were taking a big interest in his work,"
argued Speedy coaxingly. "We'll have time to put
him together and take him apart. Come on, Unc,
be a sport!" Picking up the smallest of the immense
vertebrae that made up the tail and spinal column,
he set it carefully at the extreme end of the pro-
tected enclosure. After a few more weak arguments,
for he was almost as eager to put the monster to-
gether as his nephew, Uncle Billy located the elon-
gated flat skull of the dinosaur. Without speaking,
they worked industriously and with surprising skill
and accuracy began placing the monster's bones in
their approximate place and position.
	"Of course, it isn't as interesting as if we could
wire them together," sighed Speedy, proudly regard-
ing the completed tail bones. "Why, if these ribs
were fastened to the back bone they'd make a giant
bird cage."
	"And just about right for a bird like you," smiled
Uncle Billy, half closing his eyes as he set a huge
shin bone in its exact and correct position. In silence
they wielded and arranged the tremendous ribs, and
the legs and claws having already been set in place,
drew back to admire their handiwork.
	"Just an hour," announced Uncle Billy, snapping
open his watch, "and there's another hour before
sun-down, so we had better mix up this old Jig Saw
Bones and put him back to bed."
	"I only wish I could have seen a live one," mused
Speedy, stepping in closer, "you know, I wish-"
	What Speedy wished, Uncle Billy never knew, for
first there was a deafening explosion, then the
ground on all sides began to crack and tremble and,
with the rush of an erupting volcano, a long dormant
but tremendously powerful geyser burst through the
earth's surface, catapulting the boy and the dino-
saur aloft in a smoking, roaring phosphorescent tor-
rent.
	Speedy, almost knocked senseless by the force of
the explosion, half drowned and choked by the scald-
ing spray, found himself shooting skyward at a
terrific pace and in all the rush and confusion was
scarcely conscious of holding fast to a mighty rib
of the dinosaur. But to that rib he was clinging as
desperately as a sailor clings to a spar of wood in a
ship-wreck, both eyes shut and his teeth clamped
tightly together.
	After what seemed to be hours and hours of sky-
rocketing, Speedy cautiously opened one eye, and
you can imagine his astonishment to find himself
occupying the giant bird cage made by the dinosaur's
chest cavity, while, rattling along like castanets,
came the rest of the monster skeleton, for the bones
had been miraculously and correctly welded together
by the hot molten minerals of the geyser. A large
wedge of the transparent mineral formation had
closed the opening where the ribs ended and through
the bony bars of this dismaying prison Speedy looked
wildly at the rapidly changing sky line.
	The geyser had finally spent itself, but the impetus
given its two victims still kept them hurling upward.
Realizing only vaguely what had happened, Speedy
peered out through the monster's ribs, groaning as
he reflected that all the distance they were travelling
upward they would plunge back when the force of
the geyser was finally exhausted.
	"And what a crash that will be," shuddered the
little boy, shivering with fright and discomfort. At
first, he had been nearly scalded in the steaming tor-
rent of the geyser and now he felt keenly the cold
blasts of the upper air. He was so taken up with his
own woes and bewilderments that he was scarcely
aware of a high complaining voice, whistling past
his ears with the wind.
	"Oh, what am I doing up here so light and so dizzy-
like?" wailed the voice plaintively. "What is this
lump in my chest that keeps knocking against the
ribs? Did I swallow a rock or a turtle? Am I catch-
ing oldmonia or what ever? Where am I? Where
was I? Let me go back! Oh, my dear self, let me
think! Now then, the last thing I remember was
nibbling the delicious top of a frugamunt tree. Then
-then-!"
	The fossil's voice rose in triumphant little
screeches. "I remember now! I remember, a mo-
gerith rushed upon me, just as my dear mama told
me it would some day. It fastened its long teeth in
my neck. All became dark. I knew nothing and yet,
if that was the end of me, what am I doing up here?
At least, my bones are here. I can think, I can speak,
I can fly, but what was my name? Who was I? Who
am I? Wh~ooooo!"
	As the monster cried "who" in its fearful hollow
voice it turned its bony skull around, and looked pite-
ously down into the face of poor Speedy. In the huge
eye sockets of the head rolled two bright and intelli-
gent balls of phosphorus and these flashing eyes,
coupled with the rest of the shocking experience,
were too much for any boy to endure in silence.
	"Oh!" screamed Speedy, pressing back as far as
he could. "This, this is terrybubble!" Of course, he
had meant to say "terrible," but his teeth were chat-
tering so madly it sounded exactly as I have spelled
it.
	"Terrybubble," repeated the dinosaur shrilly.
"Are you sure that's my name? Dear, dear, and can
it be so? I'm talking to myself now and have a voice
in my chest as well as in my throat."
	"I'm not a voice, I'm a boy," shouted Speedy, re-
gaining a little of his composure and wondering how
in creation this prehistoric bony wreck had ever
come to life. "You're a dinosaur and I'm a boy-a
BOY, understand?"
	"A boy, what is a boy?" whistled the monster, wag-
ging his head sadly from left to right. "There were
no animals like boys in the Valley of Virtula. How
small and soft you seem and what are you doing in
my chest?"
	"Oh!" groaned Speedy, after another long shud-
dering look into the eyes of his companion, "Does it
matter? We'll probably crash to earth in a minute
or two and be nothing but a heap of wreckage. So
let's not argue. I'll be smashed flat and, centuries
later, some scientist or other will find my bones all
mixed up with yours, proving that man did exist in
the mezozoic era, which we both know to be im-
possible."
	"Do we?" The monster sighed mildly. "I do not
understand at all what you are talking about, but it
does sound comforting-so very comforting."
	"Comforting!" Speedy sniffed furiously to show
his scorn and contempt for a creature who thought
a smash-up or rather a smash-down would be com-
forting. Then, taking another look into the bony
and puzzled face of Terrybubble, he relented a little.
"You're not such a bad old fossil at that," he admit-
ted guardedly. "Not a bad old fossil at all!"
	"Young fossil," corrected the dinosaur, looking
back reproachfully. "I was slain by a mogerith in
the four hundredth year of my youth."
	"Yes, but your bones are thousands of years old
now, and your bones make you an old fossil, but even
so I'm sorry I got you into this."
	"Did you get me into this?" The monster rolled
his eyes in surprise. "Oh, I don't mind," he added 
generously. 	"It is rather pleasant going, if you
ask me."
	"Yes, but we'll soon be going the other way,"
moaned Speedy. Already he felt their velocity begin
to slacken. "Then we'll fall and crash to pieces."
	"Why?" demanded Terrybubble, argumentatively.
"Because everything that goes up must come
down," explained the little boy, after a thoughtful
pause.
	"How about hanging on to some of these moun-
tains?" asked the dinosaur, with surprising intelli-
gence for a creature with a hollow head.
	"They are nothing but clouds, and we'd just fall
through them," said Speedy.
	"Nevertheless, I shall try it," declared Terrybub-
ble, clicking his jaws determinedly. "Ah a! Here's
one now." And the next moment he actually had
tried it and to Speedy's amazement, instead of plung-
ing through the great purple cloud that hung like
a feathery island in their path, the dinosaur was
climbing stolidly and unconcernedly aboard.

CHAPTER 6

Terrybubble's Island

"Oh now, this can't last," muttered Speedy, wildly, 
as Terrybubble drew his long black legs over the
edge of the cloud. "This can't be true. I must
have hit my head on a bone. I'm delirious or dreaming!"
	But in spite of these misgivings, his enor-
mous and enterprising steed stepped solidly
and quite safely along the surface of the cloud.
The fossil walked like a man, erect on his hind legs, 
his front legs, or rather his front bones, jiggling 
noisily in the wind.
	"Why, it's an island!" gasped Speedy, glancing
down at the sand and pebbles crunching beneath the
monster's claws. "An island, but what is an island
doing in the sky?" Terrybubble had no ideas to offer
on this subject, but he stopped solemnly in his tracks
and looked back at Speedy. It had been late after-
noon when the geyser flung them into the air. Now,
it was night, and by the light of the moon and stars,
which seemed dazzlingly bright and near, the little
boy nervously examined the tropical scenery of this
island, which had so miraculously saved them from
destruction. The portion he could see was entirely
deserted and, somewhat reassured, he begged Terry-
bubble to stay where he was, while he tried to find
some way out of his bony prison. The hardened
formation of mineral left by the geyser bath had nar-
rowed the wide spaces between the dinosaur's ribs,
but after examining them all, Speedy found one
Space larger than the others. Here, Terrybubble
showed his presence of mind, proving that air does
as well as any other stuff for brains, by handing the
little boy a long, tough vine. Knotting this around
one of the ribs, Speedy squeezed through the narrow
aperture and slid thankfully to the ground, where
he stood for some moments, regarding his gigantic
companion. He could not help feeling a certain pride
in Terrybubble, for had he not, after all, been re-
sponsible for putting the prehistoric monster to-
gether? The dinosaur on his part considered the
little boy with frank affection and approval.
	"What now?" he chattered, settling back comfort-
ably on his powerful tail bones. "It's been so long
since I was alive, I rather forget about life. Just
what do I do and how do I do it? Let me see, now,
there was, of course, eating, drinking, hunting, fight-
ing and dythrambics. Shall we do a little dythramb-
mg, boy?"
	"Not now, not now!" exclaimed Speedy, to whom
the word sounded dreadfully alarming. "And say,
call me Speedy, old fellow. The first thing to do is
to keep very quiet till we see whether we're among
friends or enemies, though even if we are among
enemies," Speedy grinned suddenly, "with you along
I'd have nothing to fear. They'd probably take to
their heels at first sight of you. You know, really
Terrybubble, you are positively gruesome."
	"I thought I grew some myself, during that ex-
plosion," admitted Terrybubble, waggling his head
in immense satisfaction. "And I like these eyes so
much better than the old ones," he confided candidly.
"They light up better and we can see each other no
matter how dark it grows."
	"But won't you miss your body?" asked Speedy
after a little silence, during which he settled himself
with his back cozily against a sand dune.
	"Not at all," the dinosaur assured him promptly.
"Without a stomach, I'll be spared all the bother of
eating, and I feel lighter, somehow, without all those
other organs and all that weight aboard-more free
and dythrambic, if you know what I mean, though
I cannot understand how I am alive without a heart
to beat. Dear Mama always told me if a mogerith
got the best of me, my heart would stop beating, my
breath would stop and that would be the end. Well,
a mogerith did get me, my breath did stop, but it
certainly was not the end, for here I am soaring
around in my bones with a talking animal called
Speedy. I simply cannot understand it at all."
	"I can't understand it myself," mused Speedy,
thoughtfully. "Especially the talking part. I didn't
know you dinosaurs spoke our language."
	"It was probably our language before it was
yours," stated Terrybubble rather stiffly, "with of
course the addition of the snorts and rumbles. Oh,
my dear self! I wonder if I can snort and rumble
as I used to do." Opening his jaws, Terrybubble was
about to experiment, when Speedy bounced to his
feet.
	"Oh, hush!" he begged desperately. "We don't
want to be found just yet. If you snort and rumble
you'll have the whole island down upon us. They
might even push you over the edge and then where'd
you be? Do have a little sense," he urged, mopping
his forehead anxiously. "Gee whiz, I wish Uncle
Billy were here and could see you now."
	"What's an Uncle Billy?" inquired Terrybubble,
reluctantly giving up the idea of snorts and rumbles.
"Is it a little tiny animal like you?"
	"Like me, but bigger," sighed Speedy, sinking
Wearily back against the dune. The last hour had
been an exhausting one and he felt an overpowering
desire to fall asleep. "Uncle Billy helped me put
Your bones together. You really did perish when
that mogerith bit you, Terrybubble, and were out
of things for thousands of years," he told the dino-
saur solemnly. "Then a Professor chap dug up and
collected all of your bones to send to a museum.
Uncle Billy and I happened to visit the place where
he had them and while he was away we put you
together to see how you'd look. Then that geyser
came exploding along, glued you together and blew
us both sky high."
	"But what is a geyser?" whistled Terrybubble,
pulling without effort the top leaf from a nearby
palm and drawing it reflectively through his teeth.
	"Well, it's a sort of warm, bubbling mineral
spring," said Speedy slowly, "but this geyser was
more like a volcano, and it must have been different
from every other geyser, for it brought you to life
after you'd been dead for centuries and centuries."
	"In other words, my bones sprang to life in a,
warm exploding mineral spring. Nothing so strange
about that," decided the dinosaur comfortably.
"Life is full of spring and springs are full of life, but
isn't it fortunate I have such beautiful bones?"
	"Well," chuckled Speedy, wishing someone were
around to hear this comical conversation, "so long
as you're satisfied! And to think"-the little boy
could not control a sudden burst of laughter-"to
think I wanted a wire-haired fox terrier for a pet!"
Rolling over, Speedy thumped both hands in the
sand. "Oh, my goodness, gracious grandfathers!"
	"Why cannot I be a pet?" demanded Terrybubble,
rearing up his head challengingly. "What does a
wire-haired terrier do that I cannot also accom-
plish?" The thought of Terrybubble as a pet sent
Speedy into another muffled gale of laughter. Then
looking up and seeing the poor fossil looking very
sorrowful, he felt rather ashamed of himself.
	"A wire-haired terrier is only a little dog, but he
can chase cats, fetch sticks and balls, bark at bur-
glars, sleep on the foot of the bed, sort of follow a
fellow around and be a chum," Speedy explained
hurriedly.
	"I can be a chum," asserted the dinosaur stiffly.
He had not the faintest idea what the word meant,
but was determined to be one anyway. "Show me
a cat, I'll chase it, and as for following you around,
I can carry you any place you want to go in my
chest."
	"That's so," agreed the little boy, thoughtfully. "I
believe you're going to be a great big help to me,
Terrybubble."
	"And will you like me as much as a wire-haired
terrier?" inquired the monster, jealously.
	"Better!" declared Speedy promptly. "And now if
you'll just keep an eye open for enemies while I
catch up on some sleep, I'll be your friend, chum and
champion for life."
	Scarcely realizing he had pledged himself for a
matter of a hundred centuries, Speedy curled up at
the foot of the dune and soon fell into a deep and
untroubled slumber. Terrifying as the past few
hours had been, he was confident that morning
would bring some way out of their difficulties. He
had moments before he actually dozed off when he
decided that the whole adventure was a dream, that
he would wake up to find Uncle Billy bending over
the Professor's stove and that with their morning
coffee they'd both have a good laugh over his ridicu-
lous flight with the fossil.
	But when Speedy awakened there was no sign of
Uncle Billy or the Professor's cabin. Waving palm
trees were overhead, silvery sand underfoot and sit-
ting exactly where he had sat the evening before
was Terrybubble. Speedy rubbed his eyes again to
make sure he was awake, then rolling over called a
cheery good morning to the faithful fossil.
	Terrybubble acknowledged the greeting with a
grave nod and seemed waiting for him to notice
something. And this he soon did, for beside the dune
rose a pile of sticks as high as a house and enough
cocoanuts, bananas and oranges to feed an army
of monkeys. Terrybubble clicked his teeth self-con-
sciously and tried to look unconcerned.
	"You said a fox terrier could fetch sticks and balls,
so I thought I'd bring some, too," he explained in an
off-hand manner. "I did not know exactly what balls
were, but these" he indicated the cocoanuts and
oranges with his left claw-"these looked like the
word sounded, so I took a chance."
	"Why Terrybubble, how kind you are." In spite
of himself, Speedy was touched. "These are better
than balls," he declared, picking up two of the
oranges. "I can eat these for breakfast, make a fire
from the wood and if you'll crack open a cocoanut
I'll have something to drink besides." At this praise,
Terrybubble was so pleased he gave his tail a tre-
mendous wag so that the vertebrae rattled like gun
fire. Speedy cast alarmed glances around to see
whether anyone heard, but evidently no one did,
for there seemed nothing to mar the peace of the
cool May morning. A rocking sensation underfoot
convinced the boy that the island was still moving,
but resolving to leave all explorations till after
breakfast, he built himself a small fire with some
of the wood, ate two oranges, two bananas and after
Terrybubble had cracked open two of the cocoanuts
on a rock, took a long draught of the sweet satisfy-
ing juice.
	"It's a mean shame you can't eat," murmured
Speedy regretfully, as Terrybubble sat quietly watch-
ing him, "but draw up to the fire, old fellow and
warm your bones and I ask you, is this cozy or is it
not?"
	Terrybubble, drawing cautiously nearer, nodded
his great skull. "That red crackling plant you have
started with the sticks makes me feel very much like
snorting," he announced dreamily. "Would it be all
right to snort a bit and rumble? Then I'll leap lightly
over your head and spin seventy times round on the
tip of my tail, roll over on my back and-"
	"Not now - not now!" Speedy's voice was still
cheerful but slightly strained. "We'd better not have
any of that sort of thing till we see where we are,
old fellow. And the sooner we look around, the bet-
ter."
	"Well, just as you say." Terrybubble looked long-
ingly at the fire and then rose up jerkily on his hind
claws. "I have put some ferns and leaves in my chest
to make it more comfortable. I'd rather like to have
you where I used to carry my heart," explained the
monster in a slightly embarrassed voice, "and I
think you'll be safer inside. I don't know much about
islands and these times but in my time and valley
there was always danger and fighting."
	"Was there?" Half closing his eyes, Speedy tried
to picture the prehistoric valley of Terrybubble's
youth and the dreadful devouring monsters roaming
about those dreary waste lands. But a sudden dip
of the island brought him sharply back to the pres-
ent. Scurrying up the vine he settled comfortably on
the cushion of leaves in Terrybubble's chest, think-
ing as he did so that surely no other boy had ever
had such a strange travelling compartment.
	"Shall I go east or west?" inquired Terrybubble,
blinking calmly over the waving fronds of palms.
	"Let's keep close to the edge and go completely
around," decided Speedy, feeling in his pocket to see
whether he had brought along his knife. "Hey-not
too close!" he yelled shrilly, as Terrybubble took a
tremendous leap sideways. "And not too fast, either!
No use running into that danger you were talking
about. We'll just walk into it if you don't mind."
	"Like this?" asked the dinosaur, stepping sedately
along the sandy shore. "But, oh my dear self! I see
large lumps of shining rock and crystal ahead."
	"Maybe it's a city," answered Speedy sticking his
head out between Terrybubble's ribs. So far, he him-	
self could see nothing, but the dinosaur's head was
nearly twenty feet above his own and he gave Speedy
glowing descriptions of the masses of brilliant rock
and crystal shimmering over the tree tops.
	"It must be a city," concluded Speedy, and as Ter-
rybubble begged him to explain, he tried his best to
describe the dwellings that beings like himself erect.
	"Are there then no caves?" demanded the monster.
	"Not many," admitted the little boy, at the same
time reflecting how impossible it was to explain a
hundred centuries in a few hours. "Just wait till you
see a city, Terrybubble, then you'll understand, but
you'll have to be real careful not to tread on anyone
or switch your tail, for that would knock down the
houses. I'm afraid you're too big to go in any of the
houses, but if there's a palace, we might have a look
at that."
	"A palace!" panted Terrybubble, popping out his
phosphorescent eyes. "Why the very sound of a pal-
ace makes me feel positively dythrambic. A palace!
A palace! Wheee!" and forgetting all about the lit-
tle boy's warning, the dinosaur set off at such a ter-
rific pace that Speedy rattled around in his chest like
one grain of corn in a giant corn popper.


CHAPTER 7

Kachewka's Good Idea

	IN spite of the cheerful assurances of his wizard, 
Sizzeroo had not slept a wink and now, though it was 
barely seven o'clock, the King was fully dressed and 
pacing in great agitation up and down the royal terrace.
Dragging themselves reluctantly from their beds, the 
Umbrella guards, courtiers and counselors had also 
been forced to rise and stood yawning about.
	"Well! Well! Have you any new plan for saving
the Princess?" inquired Sizzeroo, as Waddy bade
him a sleepy good morning.
	"The beginning of a gigantic plan is even now
simmering within," confided the Wizard, touching
his forehead mysteriously.
	"Don't say gigantic," shuddered Sizzeroo fretfully.
"I cannot even stand the sound of the word."

"This giant drives us to distraction,
We don't want words, what we want's action!"

announced Pansy, who was in her usual place on the
King's shoulder.
	"Well, the best way to act at a time like this," put
in Bamboula, executing a double rap-tap on his drum,
"is to proceed as if nothing at all had happened. Let
us be happy and cheerful and, to restore our own
confidence and the confidence of our subjects, allow
me to suggest a grand procession around the island,
a procession with flags, flowers, bands, balloons and
bon-bons. Your Majesty and the Princess will, of
course, lead off in the silver sedan, carried by sixteen
bearers, your guards, counselors and courtiers will
be followed by the boy and girl brigades, the para-
shooters and the mounted guards and-"
	"But processions make me so tired," complained
the King; drawing his hand wearily across his fore-
head.
	"Then you can sleep," proposed Bamboula brightly.
"While you're asleep you'll not be worrying and
while you're not worrying the plan of our Wizard
will be simmering, and simmering."
	"We'll all be simmering," sniffed Kachewka sour-
ly. "The sun's hot now, and what good a procession
will do~Chew, Chew Kachew!" The very thought of
marching so early in the morning made the old coun-
selor sneeze with vexation. But Sizzeroo was already
favorably considering the idea, so Meander was dis-
patched to waken the Princess, and Bamboula, full
of importance and jollity, began assembling the
marchers. So skilled and clever was the King's Su-
jester at this sort of celebration that by nine o'clock
a glittering and impressive array of Umbrellians
stood impatiently awaiting the signal to start. And
that signal, four loud taps on Bamboula's drum, was
given just as Sizzeroo's silver sedan was borne rap-
idly down the terrace by the King's sixteen stalwart
bearers.
	His Highness and Gureeda, dressed in silver em-
broidered robes, rode calmly in the royal palanquin,
waving graciously to the populace drawn up on each
side of the King's Highway-Gureeda a little absent-
ly, for she was still deeply engrossed in her Unfairy
Tales. At her feet lay a great heap of red roses and
each time she came to the end of a page, the charm-
ing but dreamy little Princess would throw a rose
to one of Sizzeroo's wildly applauding subjects.
	The combined bands of the island filled the air
with lively marching tunes, and Sizzeroo, tossing
bon-bons to the children in the crowd, was soon so
interested that he forgot for a moment the dreadful
worry about the giant. Before the imperial palanquin
stepped Meander, solemnly carrying Pansy on a
blue brocaded cushion, the Watch Cat nodding her
head condescendingly to the left and right as the
procession wound its way grandly along the palm-
lined highway. After Sizzeroo trudged his three
counselors, importantly conscious of the great um-
brella of state held over their heads by a grinning
black boy. Then came the courtiers, each in his best
boots and jacket and carrying magnificent silver
cloth umbrellas.  Back of them the Boy Brigade
marched smartly, twirling big blue umbrellas and
the Girl Brigade skipped gayly along under yellow
parasols.
	Then came the King's parashooters in their bright
blue uniforms, rimmed with silver braid and their
gleaming parashoot weapons, and lastly, the mount-
ed guards, their horses stepping in time to the music
with arching necks and tossing manes and little
neighs of excitement and pleasure. The guardsmen
carried their umbrellas on long poles like lances and
the effect of the whole procession was so exhilarating
and so entrancing the Islanders broke light-heartedly
into the singing of the National Anthem.
	Between each section Bamboula had placed a com-
pany of bandsmen. Balloons, released by the re-
sourceful Su-jester from time to time, soared dizzily
up among the palms and Umbrella Island, moving
steadily and buoyantly through the clear spring sky,
seemed almost too small to hold so much gaiety and
happiness. Sizzeroo was so content he closed his eyes
for a moment, thinking dreamily of the glamorous
old days and forgetting all about the anxious new.
To be perfectly truthful, his Majesty fell fast asleep.
The marchers had gone perhaps halfway around the
island when the King woke up with a sudden start,
conscious that the music of the bands had ceased.
The crowds along the highway had unaccountably
disappeared, too.
	"Meander! Meander!" puffed Sizzeroo, leaning out
of the window of the silver sedan. "What has become
of the music?"
	Meander, dutifully running around back of the
palanquin, stared in utter astonishment down the
highway.
	"King! King!" shouted the messenger in a shrill
voice. "There's nobody behind us. We're marching
all by ourselves in a parade of one."
	"What?" exclaimed Sizzeroo, thrusting his head
still farther out of the window. "Why a moment ago
we were at the head of the line."
	"Well, now we're at the tail," announced Meander
mournfully, shading his eyes with one hand and look-
mg down the deserted highway. "I see a cloud of
dust. Yes, it must be the procession, but they're go-
ing the other way, your Majesty. There's someone
on the other end of the line more interesting than
we are."
	"Impossible," hissed Pansy, arching her back an-
grily, while Gureeda, at last aroused from her book,
looked up to see what was the matter. "Are you
tamely going to let yourself be imposed upon like
this, Sizzer? I, for one, refuse to be the tail of a
procession."
	"The cat tail, you mean," mumbled Meander, "and
that's what you are, my lady, and you'll just have to
make the best of it."
	"Turn around," commanded Sizzeroo, tapping the
bearer nearest him on the shoulder. "Can't you see
We're going the wrong way? Quick now, step along.
There's something mighty queer about all this!"
	And there certainly was. For when the sedan of
Sizzeroo, with Meander panting along behind, caught
Up with the crowd, no one even gave them a glance.
In a stupefied, frozen disbelief, the Islanders were
gazing up at the enormous figure of Terrybubble.
He stood in the exact center of the King's highway,
regarding them with a calm aloofness, for you see
it was Umbrella Island Terrybubble had boarded the
night before.
	We left him as you doubtless recall, heading reck-
lessly for the palace. Speedy, by frantic pounding
and thumping on Terrybubble's ribs, had finally
halted his exuberant steed. Threatening to leave him
entirely unless he slackened his mad pace and lis-
tened to his directions, the little boy by this means
had managed to bring the dinosaur to a surprising
state of docility.
	"No matter what we see or run into, do nothing
till I tell you," warned the shaken and somewhat bat-
tered little traveller. "And above all, if you come to
a crowd of people-that is, small beings like myself
-STOP!"
	So when Terrybubble on his way around the edge
of the island sighted the tail of the royal procession,
he obediently stopped. At the same moment one of
the guardsmen, chancing to glance over his shoul-
der, caught a glimpse of Terrybubble. The sight of
the animated fossil was so unnerving that the
guardsman had pulled up his horse with a gasp and
touched his comrade on the shoulder and in less than
a twinkling the whole procession had swung about
to face the ghastly apparition. All, that is, but the
bearers of the King's palanquin. Trained to look
straight ahead, they had tramped solemnly forward.
but now, instead of being stricken dumb like the
rest of the Islanders, the bearers gave sixteen blood-
curdling screeches, dropped the sedan with a thump
and took to their thirty-two heels. The King and
Gureeda, almost jolted out of their seats, gave two
separate exclamations of distress and well they
might!
	"Meander! Meander!" quavered Sizzeroo, point-
ing a trembling finger at Terrybubble, "What is
that?"
	"Dunno~dunno, sir," gulped the poor messenger,
hugging Pansy to his palpitating bosom.
	"Right the first time," chuckled Speedy, who could
not have helped laughing even to save his life. For
almost ten minutes he had been silently waiting for
the Islanders to take some action, feeling that ex-
treme caution was his safest course.
	"Why, it is a dinosaur," marvelled the little Prin-
cess, leaning forward with more curiosity than fear.
"There is a big book about them in the palace. It-
it's a prehistoric monster. But, Father, it's only the
bones!"
	"A-a-skeleton ?" hissed Kachewka convulsively.
"Now then, I've seen live bodies without bones, but
never live bones without bodies!"
	"But this-this is monstrous!" sputtered Sizzeroo,
pushing back his crown. "I start out at the head of
the procession and find myself at the tail. I reach
the head and find this-this monster in my place.
Why this is worse than the giant. Why are you
standing here like images?" The King waved his
arms furiously at his parashooters, his guardsmen
and his courtiers. "Look-it has already swallowed
this unhappy boy and in a moment will spring upon
us. I, why I am simply petrified!"
	"And that makes two of us," drawled Terrybubble,
lowering his great skull toward the King. "I am
petrified too, and liable, so this boy tells me, to dis-
integrate any minute."
	"Great lakes, cakes and waffles!" screamed Siz-
zeroo, ducking down in horror. "Waddy! Waddy!
Are you going to stand there and let this dinosaur
devour me. Look-look at his teeth!"
	With quivering chins and popping eyes the Island-
ers looked, and Terrybubble's teeth, in splendid con-
dition and a foot long, were far from reassuring.
	"It's a dragon's ghost!" "It's a prehistoric mon-
ster !" "It's bewitched!" "Shoot it, ram it, push it
off the island!" they shouted hysterically.
	"Stop! Stop! Stop it!" Speedy thumped so loud-
ly on Terrybubble's ribs and spoke in such a deter-
mined and compelling voice that the Umbrellians
actually obeyed him. "Terrybubble is a monster, a
prehistoric monster, but even monsters have feel-
ings. Can't you see you're hurting his feelings?" he
asked angrily.
	"Feelings?" Waddy leaned weakly against the
black umbrella bearer. "You mean to tell me that
hulking wreck has feelings? And how about your
own feelings? How does it feel to be on the inside
of a monster like that? How do I know we all won't
be inside of him in another minute?"
	"Because he is perfectly harmless," stated Speedy
earnestly. "Harmless as a little dog."
	"Mmm-mmmm, so he's a petrified dog, is he?"
Pansy reared her head up inquisitively. "What do
you call him, Petrifido?

	"He's petrified, no hair or hide!
	An awfier sight I never spied.
	Now woe then betide us,
	A magic cloak hide us,
	He's here and we're here
	with no mother to guide us!"

Pansy's poem sent the populace into a second uproar
and as the King's parashooters rather unsteadily un-
buckled their weapons, Gureeda began tugging at
her father's sleeve.
	"Stop them! Stop them at once!" commanded the
little Princess, stamping her foot in a royal temper.
"Do you want them to injure that boy? Go away,
you monster, you!"
	Seizing a handful of chocolates, Gureeda flung
them at Terrybubble as hard as she could. But in-
instead of going away, Terrybubble grinned enor-
mously, caught the chocolates in his left claw and
handed them gravely down to Speedy.
	"There, there, did you see that? I don't believe
he's dangerous at all! Why, he's a regular dear."
Gureeda clapped her hands with pleasure. "Why
don't you ask this boy to explain him, Father?"
	"Explain him!" shuddered the King, running his
finger around his stiff embroidered collar. "I wish
he'd explain him away from here."
	"We'll go away, if you tell us how it can be done
safely," offered Speedy, in the little silence following
the King's speech. "If we jump off the island we'll
be dashed to pieces and surely you do not wish that?"
	"Why did you come here in the first place?" de-
manded Kachewka suspiciously. "Who are you and
just what are you doing here?"
	"Yes," repeated Bamboula, sitting down carefully
on his great drum, "who are you and why are you
here?"
	"It's a long story," answered Speedy, looking
thoughtfully out between Terrybubble's ribs, "but if
you'll call off your soldiers, I'll try to explain every-
thing as that sensible girl over there suggested."
Speedy smiled approvingly at Gureeda and delight-
ed by his compliment, Gureeda smiled back.
	"Princess to you!" snapped Kachewka stiffly.
	"Oh, he doesn't have to call me one," said the
King's daughter, leaning forward eagerly.
	"Proceed, boy. On with your monster tale," or-
dered Waddy, as Sizzeroo waved off the parashooters
and settled more calmly among his cushions.
	So while the Umbrellians in awe-stricken silence
stared up at Terrybubble, Speedy gave them the
story of the previous day's experiences. In as few
words as possible, he told of his and Uncle Billy's
visit to Professor Sanderson's camp, how, in the pro-
fessor's absence, they had put the dinosaur bones to-
gether, how the geyser had unexpectedly erupted
and brought Terrybubble to life and flung them miles
up into the air, and how Umbrella Island had saved
them from a ruinous drop back to earth.
	"I thought a prehistoric monster was terrible, at
first," admitted Speedy, as he hastily wound up his
recital, "and that's how he got his new name. I
called him terrible, but we were shaking about so.
and I was so rattled, it sounded like Terrybubble
He likes Terrybubble for a name and I like Terry-
bubble for a friend and I hope you'll like him, too."
	"Well," murmured Waddy, blinking rapidly, "he
certainly has his points. What size! What eyes!
What symmetry!"
	"What a sight," sniffed Kachewka, who still re-
garded the dinosaur with disfavor, "He'd make a fine
mess of buttons and be safer as buttons, too."
	"Well, I'm glad I'm good for something," said
Terrybubble, calmly. "What does one do with but-
tons?"
	"One pushes them," answered Kachewka shortly.
But Speedy, paying no attention to the old counse-
lor's unkind remarks, went on to explain a little
about the United States, his life in Garden City and
a little about Uncle Billy and his many useful in-
ventions.
	"So," wheezed Waddy, as Speedy paused for
breath, "you are one of those enterprising Ameri-
cans? I was flying over your country last evening,
luckily for you! There are several Americans, as
your Majesty remembers, in the Emerald City of Oz,
so undoubtedly this boy speaks the truth."
	"Oz!" exclaimed Speedy, pricking up his ears in
Pleasant surprise. Why, are we anywhere near Oz?"
	"At this moment we are flying over the Eastern
Empire of that very Kingdom," Waddy assured him
Portentously.
	"And are you going to stop?" asked Speedy, stick-
ing his head out eagerly.
	"Not necessarily, not necessarily." The Wizard
clasped his hands on his buge stomach and thought-
fully regarded the little boy. "Why?"
	"Oh, because if we were in Oz, I'm sure Ozma
would send us back to the United States. I've been
to Oz before, you see!"
	"Have you?" Gureeda looked enviously up at him.
"Oh, I wish I had, I've read books and books about
Oz, but I've never been there."
"Why should you wish to go to Oz when your fa-
ther has this perfectly good flying country of his
own?" inquired Kachewka sharply. "They have noth-
ing in Oz that we have not here."
	"Especially now," murmured the Wizard, with an
eloquent glance at Terrybubble.
	"But could your Majesty-would your Majesty let
us off at Oz?" Speedy turned eagerly to Sizzeroo,
whom he had at once recognized as the Ruler of the
Flying Island. "Do you ever stop, and could we get
off without falling?"
	"This island can do anything," boasted Waddy,
thrusting out his three chins. "Look at that umbrella
over your head. Well, my boy, that umbrella can
take us up or down, sideways or crossways. We can
sail, fly, drift or anchor, just as we choose."
	"I don't see any umbrella." Speedy stared up so
intently he got three wrinkles between his eyes.
	"Ha, that is because I, Waddy the Wizard, chief
magician to his Majesty King Sizzeroo, have willed
it so. Our umbrella is constructed of material strong
as steel, but gossamer as cobweb. It allows the sun,
moon and starlight through, but not even the heav-
iest hail stones can penetrate its magic tissue."
	"Ahem-er-I see no reason why we could not set
these travellers down in Oz," put in the King, head-
ing off a long and detailed description of Umbrella
Island by his chief wizard. "He has told an honest
and straightforward story and should have our help."
	"Hear! Hear!" The Umbrellians, who had been
containing themselves in quietness as long as they
could, now burst into loud shouts and cheering.
	"But not right away," objected Gureeda, as Speedy
guided Terrybubble nearer in order that he might
thank the King. "I have hundreds of books to show
you back in the palace."
	"Books?" Speedy looked curiously at the little
Princess. "Why books, when we have all of this to
see?" He waved his arm in a circle to include the
whole lovely island.
	"Yes, why not stay here and visit us awhile before
you go back to Oz and America," proposed Sizzeroo,
staring up at Speedy with deep interest. "And can't
you come out of that shell and ride here with us?"
	"He's far safer with me," chattered Terrybubble
jealously. "But I'll carry the girl if she wants to
come." Without waiting for Gureeda to make up
her mind, Terrybubble seized the Princess in his
bony claw and thrust her unceremoniously in beside
Speedy. A gasp of horror went up from the Island-
ers, but as Gureeda settled calmly down beside the
newcomer it gave place to an amazed silence, and
when the procession hastily reorganized by Bam-
boula got under way again, Terrybubble and the
King's palanquin moved along side by side, Terry-
bubble of course, towering above everything in sight.
	"The sooner we set them down in Oz, the better,"
whispered the King uneasily to Kachewka, whom he
had motioned to Gureeda's place beside him. "That
monster may be harmless, but how he looks and ugh
-how his bones rattle!"
	"Not too soon, not too soon," answered Kachewka,
drawing a pair of field glasses from his sleeve and
fixing them on the children riding so unconcernedly
in the bony chest of the dinosaur. "Has your Maj-
esty studied this boy at all?"
	"No, not especially," confessed Sizzeroo. "Why?"
Kachewka paused impressively and then sneezed
twice. "Because he is the same size, weight, coloring
and build as our Princess. He resembles her to a
startling degree."
	"You mean?" Sizzeroo snatched the glasses and
earnestly studied the boy and girl conversing so coz-
ily together. Then he gave a slight shiver of distaste.
"But that is cruel and impossible."
	"Why?" Kachewka raised his shoulders expres-
sively. "Is it not better to turn this strange boy over
to a giant than your daughter? Fate has played di-
rectly into our hands. But hush! Not a word of this
to anyone. Not a word!"
	"Not a word," echoed the King wretchedly. "I
couldn't say enough words against it if I tried. Oh
dear, dear and dear, what ever and ever shall I do?"
Pushing back his crown, Sizzeroo began to rock back-
ward and forward, groaning with every rock.
	"As always, your Majesty will do the correct and
proper thing," murmured Kachewka, and taking the
glasses firmly from the King, he took another long
and satisfying squint at the young American.

CHAPTER 8

Tetrybubble Meets a Princess

ALL unconscious of the dark schemes of Kachewka, 
Speedy and the Princess were fast becoming friends, 
Gureeda explaining the points of interest as they 
moved along and Speedy telling the little girl a bit 
more about his hair-raising flight with Terrybubble.  
By the time the procession reached the palace, 
Speedy had quite made up his mind to spend a week or 
two  on Urnbrella Island. For surely, thought the 
little boy, from a Wizard who had invented an umbrella 
powerful enough to lift an island, he could gain many 
helpful ideas for himself and Uncle Billy.
	The braided beards of the men, the pagoda-like
dwellings of the Islanders, the shade and umbrella
trees, just visible on the hillsides, he found tre-
mendously exciting and not even in Oz had he seen
cows and sheep wearing umbrella belts.
Terrybubble was excited too, but comported him-
self in such a quiet and dignified manner that Speedy
felt an increasing pride in and affection for the enor-
mous partner of his adventures. From time to time
the fossil looked fondly down at his small benefactor,
but for the most part he was busy studying the im-
posing silver towers of the imperial palace, that occu-
pied not only the loveliest, but the highest spot on
Umbrella Island.
	The dinosaur had to duck his head going under
the arch into the courtyard, and again when he
Passed through the immense double doors of the
castle itself, but he fitted quite comfortably into the
crystal and silver throne room of Sizzeroo. This im-
pressive apartment, in the center of the royal edifice,
Was at least sixty feet high, the upper stories open-
ing on galleries that ran completely around and
looked down upon this stately presence chamber.
Only the counselors and courtiers had followed the
King's palanquin into the castle, and as the chief
bearer helped His Majesty to alight, Terrybubble
eased himself to a sitting position against a silver
pillar and looked around him with complete and
cavernous curiosity. Never in his whole prehistoric
existence had Terrybubble seen anything like this.
	Then Gureeda, following Speedy's directions,
slipped between the dinosaur's ribs and slid down
the vine to the floor, and Speedy himself, in the same
manner descended. Scarcely had he done so, than a
gong from the room beyond announced luncheon,
and Sizzeroo and his courtiers and counselors, wear-
ied from the long march, moved hurriedly into the
royal dining hall. The door of this great banquet
room was not large enough to accommodate Terry-
bubble, so Speedy exacted a promise from the dino-
Saur to stay exactly where he was before joining the
others, then, with the most carefree feeling he had
enjoyed since leaving the earth, he sank down be-
tween Waddy and Bamboula in a chair an umbrella
footman ceremoniously drew out for him.
	Kachewka, who sat opposite, was fizzing all over
with anxiety lest someone should speak of Loxo and
his dreadful determination to carry off the King's
child, but Sizzeroo and his courtiers were so curious
about Speedy and his dinosaur, and the strange tales
he told them of life in America that they never men-
tioned the giant episode at all. And after the main
courses, when Speedy ran out to see that Terry-
bubble was all right, the chief counselor lost no time
in forbidding all talk of the giant in the presence of
their American visitor. He especially impressed on
the little Princess herself the necessity for silence
in this grave matter.
	"What would this boy think if he knew we had
stupidly run into a giant?" he whispered earnestly.
"And if he tells the story when he reaches Oz, it will
cause us all manner of trouble and embarrassment!"
	Waddy backed up the old counselor in his argu-
ments and by the time Speedy returned to finish his
dessert each member of the King's household was
sworn to secrecy about Loxo. Moreover, Meander
had been sent down into the village to warn and in-
struct the rest of the Umbrellians. Only Sizzeroo
knew the real reason for Kachewka's orders and the
kindly King felt so distressed and unhappy he could
not touch his frosted cakes and coffee and kept look-
ing so solemnly and so sadly at his youthful visitor
that Speedy himself grew uneasy and was glad when
the Princess begged him to come along with her to
the castle library.
	"Library?" scoffed Waddy, clapping the little boy
good-naturedly on the back. "He does not want to
read books, my girl, he wants to live them. Take him
into the valley and let him choose his umbrella and
be sure you pick a ripe one, Princess. It is against
the law to be without an umbrella on this island,"
finished the Wizard, with a broad wink, "and we
can't have you breaking the law, you know."
"How about Terrybubble, does he have to have an
umbrella, too?" Speedy looked rather anxious. "I
don't see how we'll ever find one big enough for
him!"
"Oh, he'll do well enough without one," sniffed
Pansy, who was delicately lapping up a saucer of
cream on the arm of the King's chair,

	"Your dinosaur did soar and soar
	Until he reached our island shore,
	What needs he an umbrella for?"

"To keep him afloat if he should tumble off the
island, little dunce," reproved Waddy, shaking a fat
forefinger at the Watch Cat. "Besides, he did not
fly here, he exploded."
"What he did once he can do again," insisted Pan-
sy, switching her braided tail provokingly.
"Ah, don't mind her," chuckled the Wizard, resting
his arm affectionately on Speedy's shoulder.  "I'll
make that old Whiffenpoof an umbrella in no time."
	"Better keep your mind, or the remnants of your
mind, on that problem beginning with a G," advised
the Watch Cat meaningly.
	"PANSY!" roared Kachewka in such a terrible
voice that Sizzeroo seized his pet and made a digni-
fied but hasty departure from the royal dining hall.
	"Can you really make Terrybubble an umbrella
that will hold him up in the air?" marvelled Speedy,
looking thoughtfully after the retreating back of the
King.
	"Why not?" Throwing out his chest and it must
be confessed, also his stomach, the jolly Wizard wad-
dled importantly toward the winding stair that leads
to his private tower.
	"Say, let's watch him," proposed Speedy eagerly.
	"I've never seen a real wizard at work."
	"We'd better pick your umbrella first," suggested
Gureeda practically. "Then I'll show you my books.
Wait! There's one I want to bring with me."
	"You're not going to read are you?" Speedy could
hardly conceal his disappointment. "I thought you
were going to show me the island."
	"Well, can't I read while you look?" demanded the
Princess rather anxiously, for she really wanted to
please this odd visitor from America.
	"Oh, I suppose so, but" Before Speedy could
explain his objections Gureeda had whisked out of
sight. When she joined him and Terrybubble a mo-
ment later in the throne room, she had a huge vol-
ume under one arm and a bright parasol swinging
from the other. The King and his Court had dis-
persed for their afternoon naps, and only a few
guards stood gaping up at the dinosaur.
Terrybubble would have liked nothing better than
to stay where he was, admiring the jewelled ceiling
above his head and the splendid glittering furnish-
ings of the castle. But when Speedy, taking Gu-
reeda's book, started with the little Princess for the
door, the prehistoric skeleton pulled himself reluc-
tantly to his claws and rattled resignedly after them.
	"Does this monster go everywhere you go?" asked
Gureeda, glancing nervously up over her shoulder.
	"Certainly," answered Terrybubble. "I am his pet
and chum and just now taking the place of a wire-
haired terrier."
	"What?" giggled the Princess, wrinkling up her
nose. Speedy felt inclined to laugh himself, but Ter-
rybubble looked so serious and happy about every-
thing that he merely nodded instead.
	"If he likes to follow me about, why shouldn't he?"
asked the little boy carelessly. "Which way do we
go to pick this umbrella your wizard says I must
carry?"
	"That way." Poised like a brilliant butterfly on
the top step of the royal terrace, the Princess waved
her parasol to the right. In the valley below, Speedy
could just make out a cluster of Waddy's famous
umbrella trees. After a long curious gaze, he feasted
his eyes on the huge shaft that supported the um-
brella spreading over the whole island, wishing he
could first stop and investigate its strange steering
apparatus. But Gureeda had already started, so
Speedy followed the Princess down the many marble
steps to the village and through the village to the
umbrella groves beyond.
	And after Speedy came Terrybubble, treading with
great care through the narrow streets, peering down
chimneys and in the top story windows of houses
that were tall enough. When they reached the um-
brella grove, Terrybubble established himself com-
fortably in the only open space and blinked thought-
fully up at the blue and white blossoms and long tu-
bular fruit of these singular trees.
"What color do you think you would like?" inquired
Gureeda, who was in a hurry to have the matter over
so she could return to her book.
"Er-well-blue I guess," decided Speedy, glanc-
ing down at his dark Norfolk suit. "How do you
know when they're ripe?"
"The ripe ones open and the green ones don't,"
stated the Princess and climbing briskly up a white
ladder set against the largest tree, she snapped off
a serviceable blue umbrella. Stripping off the shiny
leaf-like case, she opened it up, surveyed it critically,
and apparently quite satisfied, handed it down to her
companion. Then with her parasol swinging lightly
from one wrist, Gureeda skipped down the ladder
and dropped on the ground beside Terrybubble. That
is as much beside so high and mighty a monster as a
small girl could possibly be, and opened her book and
began to read.
	Speedy was too busy examining his new possession
to mind. He could not help thinking how interesting
this magic umbrella would be to Uncle Billy, for the
tip was a short gleaming sword and the umbrella
itself, although of the thinnest and finest texture,
seemed positively indestructible, protecting one not
only from sun and rain but from bullets, arrows or
missiles of any description. Each section had a roomy
pocket that buttoned and the edges were fitted with
curved silver hooks for carrying baskets, packages
or even clothing. The handle opened out into a tidy
seat, and Speedy, sticking the sharp point into the
ground, sat down with great interest and satisfac-
fion. Besides all of these uses, it had, according to a
neatly printed tag, guaranteed parashoot qualities,
dependable enough to keep the holder in the air in-
definitely or until rescued.
	"Gee whiskers, this certainly will come in handy,"
exclaimed the little boy with enthusiasm. "Why it's
a shield, a weapon, a carryall, a seat and a flying
machine. Look, Terrybubble, did you ever see any-
thing like this before?"
	"Never!" answered the dinosaur, darting his long
bony neck down toward Speedy. "Is it to chew, throw
or jump on?"
	"To carry," Speedy told him, swinging it jauntily
over one shouder. "See, it keeps off the sun and rain
and if I fall off the island it would carry me safely
down to the ground."
	"Without me?" whistled Terrybubble, rolling his
luminous eyes reproachfully.
	"Waddy's making you an umbrella," smiled Gu-
reeda, looking up from her book, "and then you'll be
a real Umbrellian!"
	"Oh no. Thank you, no!" The dinosaur shook his
head ponderously. "I'm this boy's pet and chum and
that is about all I can manage for the present."
	"If you're a pet you ought to have a collar." Gu-
reeda twinkled her blue eyes mischievously at Terry-
bubble. "Let's make him a collar of daisies," pro-
posed the little Princess, tossing aside her book and
jumping up gaily. So, with many giggles and much
merriment, Speedy and Gureeda picked an armful
of daisies and wove an enormous chain for the dino-
saur. Terrybubble was greatly flattered by this at-
tention and lifted Gureeda up in his claw, so she
could slip the huge wreath around his neck.
"There, now you look as if you really belonged to
somebody," sighed the Princess, as the gaunt mon-
ster set her gently on the ground, "but oh, Terry-
bubble, you're so dreadfully unfurnished! Don't you
feel hollow?"
	"Not a bit." Terrybubble grinned and clicked his
teeth cheerfully. "You see, I'm just full of bright,
fresh air and you have no idea how invigorating I
find it. Not nearly so troublesome as the old tubes,
valves, wind bags and piping I carried around for
four hundred years."
	"I was just reading all about you in this book,"
confided the Princess, picking up the volume she had
flung aside when she was working on the daisy chain.
	"Now, that's where you are foolish." Opening the
handle of his umbrella again, Speedy seated himself
argumentatively. "Why should you read about dino-
saurs out of a book when you can learn all about
them from the one beside you?"
	"Not quite all," murmured Gureeda, looking spec-
ulatively up at Terrybubble and at the same time
fingering the pages of her book lovingly. "The bones
of the ones in here are all covered, and it says--"
	"What difference does that make!" Speedy waved
his arms impatiently. "They're only pictures, but
Terrybubble's real and he can tell you real things
that happened to him hundreds and thousands of
years ago. Tell her about that mogerith," he urged,
anxious to prove his point.
	"Well, that would be the last day of my former
life," sighed Terrybubble, flashing his bright eyes
down at the Princess. "All morning I had been roll-
ing in the fern beds in the Valley of Virtula, where
I lived with my mogodosanthic and elegopanthic ma-
ma."
"Whatever that means," murmured Gureeda, tak-
ing a quick peek into her book.
138
	"It means she was modest and elegant," explained
Speedy learnedly. To his surprise, Terrybubble nod-
ded, for his translation had been a mere guess.
	"And, oh my dear self!" mused the monster, rat-
tling his claws reminiscently. "How sweet were the
frugament trees, how the sun shone through the
palms and golyosnorkus vines! How dythrambic I
felt after my roll in the ferns! In fact, I was dy-
thrambing all over the rocks when it happened."
	"Dythrambing?" Gureeda wrinkled up her brows
and took another furtive peep into her natural his-
tory book.
	"Yes, this way!" Impetuously, and before Speedy
could stop him, the prehistoric monster had sprung
thirty feet into the air, come down with astonish-
ing buoyancy, bounded to the left, vaulted wildly to
the right and spun around on the tip of his tail like
an enormous mechanical top. His bones during this
procedure rattled like a dozen machine guns and
the umbrella blossoms loosened by his gigantic whirls
and gestures fell in perfect showers on his two
listeners. Speedy had tumbled off his umbrella seat
at the first leap, and Gureeda, almost buried under
a heap of blossoms, peered fearfully up at the gyrat-
ing monster.
	"There, what did I tell you!" exulted Speedy, push-
ing aside a mass of petals and feeling around for
his umbrella. "Isn't this better than reading about
dinosaurs?"
	Gureeda, swimming out from a perfect sea of flow-
ers, looked doubtful, but before she could express
herself, Terrybubble stopped dythrambing as sud-
denly as he had begun.
	"Yes, it was like that," he told them hoarsely.
"One moment I was alive, happy and free, next mo-
ment I was in the paralyzing grip of an old Mogger,
his teeth pressed deeper and deeper into my throat.
Everything grew dark. I felt myself falling, falling.
There came a tremendous thud and that was all."
	"He probably did for you all right," sympathized
Speedy, 'but why didn't you fight back?"
	"It is plain you never have seen a mogerith,"
sighed Terrybubble, waving his claws in sorrowful
circles.
	"What did it look like?" asked Gureeda, shaking
the umbrella blossoms from her lap and gazing up
at the dinosaur with wide-eyed interest.
	"Like this." With a sudden pounce Terrybubble
picked up a lizard that had been sunning itself on a
flat rock and held it out in his bony claw.
	"Like this, but a thousand times larger, with teeth
as sharp and long as the swords hanging on the walls
of your father's castle."
	"There's a picture of one here and it's called a
dreadful carnivorous monster or terrible lizard. It
was a Megolosauros. Why, that must have been a
Inegolosaurus," squealed Gureeda, flapping open her
book in great excitement. "See if it isn't."
Curling his long neck down till he was looking over
the little girl's shoulder, the dinosaur squinted ear-
nestly down at the terrifying picture on the page.
	"That's it! That's it!" he assured her in a hollow
voice. "Only we called them moggers and mogeriths
in my time and you can have no notion of their size
and ferocity from a tiny picture like that."
	"Still, it gives us an idea," muttered Speedy, taking
the book from the Princess and hurriedly reading
the description on the opposite page. "Gee whiskers,
this is tremendous! Say, I'd like to have been alive
in those days, wouldn't you, Gureeda? Mind if I call
you Reedy? It's shorter and well-jollier!"
	"And goes better with Speedy," smiled the King's
daughter, leaning cozily back against the umbrella
tree. "But look, here comes Pansy. Wonder what she
wants so far from the palace?"
	"Pansy?" mumbled Terrybubble, lifting his eyes
mournfully from the picture of his old enemy in the
open book on the little girl's lap. "Who's Pansy?"
	"Oh, didn't you meet Pansy in the parade this
morning?" asked Gureeda softly. "Why Pansy is my
father's Watch Cat."
	"Cat! Cat!" Terrybubble dropped the lizard with
a little thump and snapped up his head in a series
of agitated jerks. "That little black creature with
the tied up tail and ears?"
"They are kind of tidy, now that you mention it,"
agreed the Princess brightly. "Yes, that's our Watch
Cat. Why?"
	"Why?" whistled Terrybubble, flashing his great
eyes on and off like traffic lights. "Because I chase
cats!" And with a bound twice as high as his first
dythrambic leap, the dinosaur dashed out of the um-
brella grove in hot pursuit of the astounded, out-
raged and already fleeing pet of His Majesty, King
Sizzeroo.

CHAPTER 9

Terrybubble chases a Cat

	OH--HH !"shrilled the little Prin-
cess, snatching up her parasol and dashing
wildly after Terrybubble.  "My father will
never forgive us if anything happens to Pan-
sy. Come back here you great big, bad, bony
good-for-nothing." At this  point Gureeda's
foot slipped into a gopher hole and threw
her flat upon her stomach. Too stunned to
continue, she lay where she was, fairly 
panting with indignation and rage.
	"Nothing will happen to her," promised Speedy,
jerking the little Princess quickly to her feet. "But
why are you stopping? Come on, come on!" Paying
no attention to the little girl's breathless remon-
strances, he tore madly after the charging dinosaur,
trying to convince himself that everything really
would be all right. "It's that confounded wire-haired
terrier talk," he thought gloomily. "Why ever did I
mention the little pest! If he smashes this Watch Cat,
we'll both be flung off the island."
	Reminded by this dire possibility of his magic um-
brella, Speedy took a firmer grip on its ivory-hooked
handle with one hand and dragged Gureeda frantical-
ly along with the other. As both of them were ready
to sink down with exhaustion, an agonized shriek came
from the small wood into which the dinosaur had just
disappeared. Speedy's heart almost stopped and
Gureeda began to sob hysterically.
	But their anxiety for Pansy's safety was quite need-
less. All Terrybubble wished to do was to catch the
elusive black creature, and Pansy's scream, as his
claw closed firmly about her middle, was from pure
fright and nothing else.  Holding the King's pet
proudly aloft and giving no heed to her squalls and
scratches, Terrybubble ambled leisurely back toward
his companions.
	"Well, here's your cat, and a fine chase she gave
me." Calmly and without haste, Terrybubble lowered
Pansy to Speedy's shoulder. "And now," the dinosaur
raised his voice triumphantly, "now I've done almost
everything a wire-haired terrier can do and I hope
you're satisfied."
	Speedy was too relieved to say a word, but Pansy,
dusty and footsore from her fearful fligh - Pansy
was fairly crackling with rage and displeasure.
	"How dare you chase me on my own island?" hissed
the Watch Cat, arching her back wrathfully. "I've a
notion to scratch out your eyes, you great clumsy,
unmannerly piece of wreckage. The King will hear
of this. He'll have you pulled apart and thrown into
the soup. He'll have you boiled in oil."
	"Now that might be very good for me," observed
Terrybubble gravely. "Oil is so lubricating and good
for the joints. What do you think, Princess?"
	"Think! I think you're terrible," choked Gureeda,
lifting the quivering Watch Cat from Speedy's shoul-
der and beginning to smooth down her fur. "Don't
you ever dare touch Pansy again!"
	"Oh, once will be quite enough." Waving his claws
wearily, Terrybubble looked questioningly at Speedy,
and Speedy, thankful that the affair had not proved
more serious, nodded, resolving to have a long talk
with Terrybubble at the first opportunity. Now
Gureeda for a girl had a surprisingly active funny
bone, and Pansy with her fur straight on end and her
eyes snapping like live coals looked so comical, and
Terrybubble in his huge daisy wreath so queer and
unnatural, and Speedy so annoyed and worried, the
Whole affair began to strike her as highly ridiculous.
	"Terrybubble didn't mean to hurt you," sputtered
the Princess as well as she could between her little
bursts of laughter. "He was just seeing if you could
run as fast as he runs."
	"I don't care what he was seeing," screamed Pansy
vindictively. "I'd like to hurt him terribly-terribly."
	"Well, I am sorry you cannot do that," answered
Terrybubble regretfully. "I wouldn't mind your hurt-
ing me a little, but you see, the way things are, I
could not even feel your claws or scratches. But if
it's any satisfaction to you, I don't mind saying that
you are hurting my feelings terribly-the way you
are acting and talking. I-why, I feel it in all of my
bones," murmured the monster, resting his jaw un-
happily on the branch of a magnolia tree and looking
off sadly into the distance. "And such a clever little
racer as you are, too. Imagine a tiny fur ball your
size almost out-distancing a monster of mine!"
	"I do run pretty fast," acknowledged Pansy, letting
down her back a trifle. "But why didn't you tell me
it was a race?"
	"How could I when you wouldn't stop?" argued
Terrybubble reasonably, and the two children, seeing
peace was about to be declared, exchanged a smile.
	"Let's go back to the castle," proposed Speedy,
picking up his umbrella and handing Gureeda her
parasol which had slipped to the ground when she
picked up the Watch Cat. He was anxious to see
how Waddy was progressing with Terrybubble's para-
shoot and there were many things about Umbrella
Island he wanted the wizard to explain. The dinosaur
politely offered to carry them and as they all were
weary from the tiring chase, they thankfully accept-
ed his offer and climbed nimbly up into his high and
bony chest.
	Even Pansy seemed to enjoy her ride in this curi-
ous conveyance and kept up a spirited and friendly
conversation with Terrybubble all the way back to
the palace. But as they came to the royal terrace
the Watch Cat scurried hastily down the vine. Pansy
had a private and personal attendant to brush her
coat and braid her tail and ears and the King's pam-
pered pet had no intention of letting anyone see her
in her present ruffled and dirty condition.
	Terrybubble himself, when they reached the castle,
expressed an earnest desire to remain quietly in the
throne room and the kindly little Princess, after
showing Speedy the way to Waddy's tower, retired
to her own apartment to finish her natural history
book. The castle seemed deserted and still as Speedy,
with mingled feelings of interest and trepidation, be-
gan to mount the curving stair to the Wizard's tower.

CHAPTER 10

In the Wizard's Tower

	WHILE the Princess, Speedy and Ter-
rybubble were off in the Umbrella Grove, Ka-
chewka lost no time in following up his daring
suggestion.  Following the King into his dress-
ing room, where the distracted monarch was
about to seek a little rest, the wily counselor,
after dismissing Pansy and the attendants, be-
gan all over again his arguments for substi-
tuting Speedy for the King's daughter.
	"The first thing to do is to make this boy's stay
so pleasant that he'll willingly remain with us until
it is time for Loxo to come for the Princess," said
Kachewka, seating himself firmly on the foot of the
King's couch.
	"But that is perfectly horrible," exclaimed Sizzeroo,
jerking open his collar and sinking fretfully back
among his pillows. "Not only horrible but downright
deceitful as well."
	"Deceitful or not, it must be done," insisted Ka-
chewka, "and moreover, no one must have a suspi-
cion of the plan but you and me. Your Majesty is
too soft-hearted and must look at things more sensi-
bly. A mortal lives but a brief space-seventy years
or so-but we Umbrellians go on for centuries. Is it
not better, then, to let a mortal suffer a little dis-
comfort for seventy years than to subject your daugh-
ter to slavery for a thousand?"
	"Don't, don't! I can't bear it," groaned the King,
burying his head in the pillows. "There must be some
other way. Why, only this morning Waddy said he
had a plan."
	"Waddy! Humph! Waddy!" Kachewka snapped
his fingers scornfully. "All he can do is pick flaws
in the ideas of other people. He'll never think of
anything in time. Now all I ask is that your Majesty
keep absolutely quiet about this matter. If anything
better turns up, well and good. If not-" Kachewka
arose and began pacing briskly up and down. "For-
tunately Loxo is expecting a boy. Well, then, I'll
just outfit this Speedy in the exact style of trousers
and blouse worn by the Princess. I might even per-
suade him to wear a false braid. I'll give him the
blue room, a personal guard and a good horse."
	"You expect him to look at a horse after riding a
dinosaur?" inquired the King, leaning on his elbow
and regarding his adviser with gloomy disfavor.
	"That's the only draw-back," sighed Kachewka,
jerking his beard irritably. "To think we must en-
dure that great jittery ruin-have him sitting in our
throne room for three months like a death head at a
feast-a skeleton in the closet, only there's no closet
big enough to hide him. He's positively outlandish
and preposterous."
	"Maybe he feels the same way about us," suggested
Sizzeroo slyly. "I thought him a quite mannerly mon-
ster, myself."
	"Well, we'll have to stand him as long as the boy
stops here, but when the time comes-" Kachewka
sneezed and gave a quick forward shove with both
hands-"We'll just have the parashooters shove him
off the island."
	"You have such nice ideas," coughed the King,
thumping his pillows vigorously. "And now, per-
haps, as you have settled everything so happily, you
will go away and let me have a little peace." Sizzeroo
closed his eyes and pursed up his lips determinedly
and after several unsuccessful attempts to draw him
into a conversation, Kachewka sneezed himself out
of the royal presence. Quite convinced the King
would be forced to accept his plan for saving the
Princess, the scheming old statesman spent the rest
of the afternoon making elaborate arrangements for
his unsuspecting victim's comfort and entertainment.
Speedy, however, was already enjoying himself to
the fullest extent. After climbing four hundred sil-
ver steps, he had come at last to the Wizard's work-
shop at the top of the castle tower. In answer to his
timid knock, Waddy himself had opened the door.
	"Come in! Come in!" he beamed hospitably. "I'm
just putting the finishing touches to our dino-shoot."
Stepping carefully around a mass of wires, rods and
a big bolt of transparent silver fabric, Speedy hur-
ried over to the center of the great circular room. It
Was more like an observatory than a work shop, for
its walls were entirely of glass, and every other win-
dow was fitted with an enormous rotating telescope.
The windows on one side of this singularly pleasant
laboratory were carefully curtained and here in or-
derly rows upon the shelves stood all the books, bot-
tles, tubes, lamps, jars and other curious vessels a
wizard needs to carry out his magic experiments.
	Waddy was bending over a long table in the
screened portion of his shop - the longest table
Speedy ever had seen in his whole life. On this table
lay the framework of a simply enormous umbrella,
but as you can easily imagine, it would take a tre-
mendous table to hold an umbrella large enough to
cover a prehistoric monster like Terrybubble. With-
out speaking, for Speedy had had experience with
scientists and knew they did not like to be disturbed,
the little boy climbed on the bench beside the table
and looked on with deep interest as the Wizard fitted
a huge handle on the almost completed frame.
	"Had to have a bone handle for Terrybubble,"
puffed Waddy with a large wink. "What's a fossil
umbrella without a bone handle? And this one will
do very well-v-e-r-y well." Speedy thought it would
too, although where Waddy had ever found a bone
large enough, he could not figure out at all. But here
it was, smooth and shiny as ivory, with a splendid
hooked end trimmed with silver. As Speedy con-
tinued to sit quietly on the bench, Waddy left the
table, cut a length of silver fabric, expertly tore it
into sections and began fitting them on the massive
frame. For this he used neither a needle, pinchers
or glue, but a fiat metal instrument that spread the
material smoothly, finished off the rough edges and
fastened it to the ribs all in one operation.
	"Hop on that tall stool and have a look at the
scenery," suggested Waddy cleverly, for he did not
like anyone to watch too closely when he was using
his magic tools. "We're circling over Oz now, and
you may see some of its famous lakes or castles."
	Now Speedy had been longing to do this very
thing, so placing his own umbrella on the wizard's
bench, he mounted the high stool set before the near-
est telescope and took a long rapturous look down-
ward. Like a gay and brightly colored map, the great
oblong Kingdom of Oz spread out far below him.
Even the colors of the four celebrated countries were
easily distinguishable and to Speedy's delight, they
were passing over the Yellow Land of the Winkies,
where he had had so many thrilling adventures with
Marygolden and the Yellow Knight. South of the
Winkie Empire he could see the red triangle that
made up the Quadling Country, with its sandy red
mountains and castles and its forests of beech and
red wood.
	An oval of sparkling green in the center marked
the capital and, flashing in the afternoon sunlight,
high as they were and slanted to the east, Speedy
could still make out the twinkling spires and turrets
of the Emerald City of Oz. Above the green oval
Shimmered the purple Land of the Gillikens and west
of the Emerald City the bright blue triangle of the
Munchkin realm contrasted sharply with the gay
colors of its neighbors. Surrounding Oz like a broad
yellow ribbon was the Deadly Desert of shifting
sands and beyond the desert, Ev, and the unexplored
territories of the East.
	As Speedy, in his anxiety to see more and more,
pressed his eye closer and closer to the Wizard's tele-
scope, Umbrella Island swung out over the desert,
across the Gnome King's dominions and headed for
the Nonestic Ocean.
	"A little sea air will be good for us," murmured
Waddy, who had left his work long enough to touch
a button in the electric steering board on a mounted
stand near his book shelves.
	"Can you steer the island with that?" puffed
Speedy, leaving the telescope for a moment to have
a look at this even more fascinating device.
	"By that, by a wheel on the King's terrace and by
a gold button in the umbrella shaft itself," explained
the Wizard, again taking up his metal zipper. "I had
set the mechanical steering wheel to circle over Oz,
but decided to change the course a little, so we could
have a sea breeze with our dinner. Nothing like a
sea breeze with your dinner, eh, my lad?"
	"But suppose some one downstairs has hold of the
wheel?" asked Speedy speculatively. "What then?"
	"Well then," Waddy told him, running the zipper
skillfully up and down the umbrella seams, "if the
King is running the island, which he sometimes does,
the direction he takes is recorded up here and I er
----I can sort of check up on the navigation-er that
is if I happen to be here at the time."
	"Ever have any wrecks?" The unexpected ques-
tion made Waddy blink.
	"Oh no-no-that is, not exactly," he mumbled un-
comfortably, for he felt the conversation was taking
a dangerous turn. "As a matter of fact," he finished
with what he considered a real inspiration, "Flying
Umbrella Island is so safe and easy, I might even
let you have a turn at it?"
	"Oh, would you?" Speedy fairly skated across the
floor and clutched the Wizard by the sleeve. "When?"
	"Soon as I finish this piece of work." Waddy
grinned expansively, and taking an atomizer from
the shelf began spraying the silver umbrella fabric
with a solution that smelled like peppermint.
	"There are some unusual and interesting facts
about island flying that I will explain to you later,"
he continued, returning the atomizer to the shelf.
"For instance, there is the protective metal curtain
that drops from the umbrella edge, at touch of this
blue button in the shaft, enclosing the whole island
in a transparent but impenetrable wall of armor.
Then there are the six mechanical anchors, holding
us firmly on the surface of the ocean. These anchors,
released by touching the red button in the shaft,
plunge downward, embed themselves deeply in the
sea bottom and hold us steady in the heaviest gale 
or storm. But it is much easier to show you all these
things than to explain them, so come along my boy.
Let us descend and in our descent we may as well
try out Terrybubble's umbrella."
	"You mean we'll drop down to the ground with
that?" Speedy managed to keep his voice calm, but
his heart gave a sickening thump and his stomach
seemed to turn a complete somersault.
	"Of course! Of course! How else shall I know it
is safe for Terrybubble?"
	In a business-like manner Waddy opened two im-
mense double doors in the glass wall and began tug-
ging and hauling the umbrella toward the opening.
"It's too big to try out up here and the ride down
will be a fine experience for you," he panted enthusi-
astically.
	Speedy took a desperate look down. The court-
yard and royal terrace seemed miles below, but rea-
lizing that his reputation as the nephew of a famous
scientist was more or less at stake, he picked up his
own small umbrella and waited in a kind of numb
dismay for the signal to start. By this time Waddy
had the big umbrella well out over the edge of the
tower, then cautioning Speedy to fasten the strap on
his own umbrella so there would not be too much
buoyancy, the jolly old necromancer stepped confi-
dently out on the narrow ledge.
	"When I count three, just make a dive for the han-
dle," he directed, cramming a bunch of pamphlets
into his south pocket. "Now then, all ready? One--
two - three!" At "three" the two experimenters
leaped quickly through the open door, fortunately
catching the umbrella handle on their way down.
The force of their jump launched the great para-
shoot, which, as it had been constructed to bear
much heavier weight, first soared sixty feet above
the castle and the same distance to the right, then
quite levelly and calmly began its descent. Speedy
had been too thankful to know that he had managed
to grab the umbrella handle in his dangerous leap to
think of anything else. Now, holding on with both
hands, he looked curiously down to see where they
were heading. To his horror and dismay he saw
neath him nothing but the hungry, heaving, green
expanse of the Nonestic Ocean.

CHAPTER 11

Message from Radj the Red

	"We blew a little of course,"Murmured the
Wizard, noting the Speedy's alarmed expression.
"The island is overr your head there, to the right."
	"But, but how are we going to get back?" 
panted Speedy, with a shuddering look at the waters
below. "Why, why we're falling straight into the sea."
	"Not into it," corrected the Wizard Placidly,
"But we'll probably hang over it for a while
until we are picked up I must say this umbrella
works splendidly~splendidly."
	Speedy could not share the Wizard's enthusiasm,
so he did not trust himself to answer. He could just
make out two craggy islands far below, with a high
sea snarling and foaming against their rocky shores.
These islands were possibly three miles apart and
sometimes the wind swept them toward one and
sometimes toward the other.
	"We'll probably come down between them and be
dashed to pieces on the rocks," concluded poor
Speedy, marvelling at the vast calm and unconcern
of the Wizard as they swung to and fro and side by
side over the lashing sea.
	"Don't worry, we'll be picked up any moment
now.  Waddy gave him an encouraging wink.
	"But who would pick us up?" shouted Speedy, rais-
ing his voice above the roaring water pounding on
the rocks, now not too far below. Instead of answer-
ing, Waddy jerked his head back and to the left.
A dark cloud was curving swiftly down upon them-
no, not a cloud, but Umbrella Island, itself.
	"Do you think they'll reach us in time?" called
Speedy, with a desperate swallow.
	"That depends on who is at the wheel," called
Waddy, without any change of expression.  If it's
the King-" Waddy shrugged his shoulders and
rolled up his eyes. "But if it is Kachewka or Ram-
boula or the Captain of the Guard we have a real
chance. I told you somebody would cruise along soon
and if we don't go any lower, everything will be
simply sinoobrious."
	"Well, I hope to huckleberries they see us," blurted
out Speedy, rather provoked at Waddy's indifference
to their danger. "They might come down right on
top of us and push us into the sea."
	"Quite possibly," agreed the Wizard, easing his
great weight from one hand to the other. At the
moment it seemed not only possible but highly prob-
able. The island had descended so rapidly it was
now scarcely twenty feet above their heads, cutting
off the sun and threatening to drop down and oblit-
erate them. But as Speedy prepared himself to be
blotted out, it swooped sharply to the right and they
could distinguish not only the figures, but also the
faces of their friends.
	With a grunt of relief, Waddy noted that Barn-
boula was at the steering wheel. Pansy sat on his
shoulder, a small telescope in one claw, while with
the other she directed him capably in the proper di-
rection. Crowds of Umbrellians hung over the railing
that ran round the island and, at the foot of the
King's garden, Gureeda, mounted on the top of the
golden fence, waved both hands frantically. Beside
her, Terrybubble loomed up like a lighthouse, his
eyes rolling with distress and astonishment.
	"Will they scoop us up, or what?" Speedy cast a
nervous glance at the churning waters below. Their
giant parashoot had stopped and hung poised be-
tween the two islands about fifty feet above the sea.
	"That's the usual procedure," said Waddy, watch-
ing critically as Bamboula slanted the island care-
fully toward them. "But I think your friend has
other ideas. Hey there--look out--look out, you'll
fall off, you big dunce, you!"
	But Terrybubble, deaf to the Wizard's warnings,
had already opened a gate in the golden fence and
let his long bony tail over the edge.
	Quickly catching the idea, Bamboula manoeuvered
the island closer, till the dinosaur's tail hung directly
in front of the castaways. Thankfully letting go the
umbrella handle, Speedy swung forward and seizing
hold of Terrybubble's tail nimbly climbed its long
ladderlike bones till he reached the island itself and
amid cheers and yells of approval, jumped ashore.
Waddy, still clinging stubbornly to his newest inven-
tion, mounted more slowly and no sooner had the two
set foot on the land before Terrybubble threw up his
head and began screaming like a hundred fire sirens.
	"Whee-eee !-Wah-hhhhh !-Who-ooooooo !" snort-
ed the prehistoric monster. "Glugargle~glugurgle!
Glugorgle!" At his first frightful screech, Bamboula
dropped the steering wheel and clapped both hands
to his ears, and while most of the islanders flung
themselves face down on the grass, Umbrella Island,
with no one at the controls, dropped like a plummet
into the Nonestic Ocean, where it rocked and bounced
violently to and fro from its heavy impact with the
waves.
	The shock of this drop silenced the dinosaur, who
quickly pulled his tail up out of the chilly sea waters.
Waddy, with a disgusted yell at Bamboula, threw
down Terrybubble's umbrella and dashed for the
royal terrace, which he reached in a surprisingly
short time for an old fellow of his size and tonnage.
Speedy would have followed, but Terrybubble had
snatched him up in one huge claw and was patting
him fast and furiously with the other. Though the
pats were gentle enough in themselves they were so
numerous they knocked all the rest of the breath
from the exhausted boy. But even so, he heard with
immense relief the rasp and rattle of the anchors,
shooting down into the sea as Waddy touched the
red button in the silver umbrella shaft. Almost in-
stantly the rocking of the island ceased and Siz-
zeroo's sorely tried subjects, with many doubtful
glances at the dinosaur, began tiptoeing out of
range.
	"Why, Terrybubble, you've nearly frightened the
wits out of everybody. What made you scream like
that?" Gureeda, hopping down from the fence, shook
her parasol reprovingly at the dinosaur.
	"Can't I snort a little when I'm happy?" muttered
Terrybubble in a sulky voice. "And look here, why
did you jump off the island and leave me? You know
I cannot get along without somebody to tell me
about life."
	"I wasn't leaving you," explained Speedy, wiggling
crossly around in the monster's claw. "I was just
trying out your new umbrella. There, pick it up
before it blows away and next time you're happy,
for Pete's sake keep quiet. You nearly wrecked us
with your snorting. It's a lucky thing we came down
where we did and not on top of those other islands.
Look, Gureeda, we're right between the two."
	At Speedy's words, Terrybubble set the little boy
down beside the Princess and picking up the huge
umbrella that had so nearly been the end of his small
friend and discoverer, began to put it up and down
and hold it coquettishly over his head as he had seen
the Umbrellians do. While he was amusing himself
in this manner, Speedy and Gureeda looked curiously
across the narrow span of water that separated
them from the island on the right. This island was
completely surrounded by a rock wall, with towers,
turrets and battlements, so that it was more like a
fortress than anything else. The rocks were gray, the
helmets and uniforms of the grim looking warriors
peering over the wall were gray and Speedy could
not help thinking that they would consider as an
enemy a country dropping so suddenly from the sky.
	"Let's have a look at the other one," he proposed,
as one of the soldiers raised his sword and shook it
menacingly at the two children. So they hurried
along, with Terrybubble clattering contentedly be-
hind them, Gureeda explaining how she had gone to
the Wizard's Tower to show Speedy another picture
in the natural history book and found the doors in
the tower wall open and no one in sight. Quickly
looking through one of the telescopes, she had seen
Waddy and Speedy drifting helplessly over the No-
nestic Ocean and rushing back to the throne room
had sent guards scurrying in every direction for
Bamboula and Kachewka.
	Bamboula, first to answer the summons, had
dashed to the royal terrace, seized the silver wheel
and headed the island downward. As the children
reached the central umbrella shaft, Waddy and Barn-
boula were arguing earnestly and, just stopping long
enough to give them a wave, the two ran down the
slope on the other side of the castle to have a look
at the island on the left. This small sea kingdom had
an even higher wall than the gray island. The wall
Was of red and rusty rock and the castle built on
the top of this broad rampart ran entirely round
the island. Gulls and ravens circled screeching over
its towers and the crash of the waves on the rocky
sea wall was so thunderous and dismaying that
Speedy and the Princess unconsciously drew back.
	"Seems to me we have a couple of good reasons for
flying away from here," whispered Speedy. "Ouch-
duck, look out!"
	He jerked Gureeda violently aside just as an arrow
from a narrow aperture in the red castle sped across
the water and embedded itself in the sand at their
feet. A note was impaled on the point. Pulling up
the long shaft, Speedy removed the small square
parchment and read with mingled interest and mis-
giving the following message:
	"Go away at once. You are interfering with our
War.
"Radj, the Red, of Roaraway Island."
	Gureeda's eyes, as she read this note, grew round
and dreamy.
	"There's a book about Roaraway Island in the
castle. Come on, let's get it."
	"This is no time for books," muttered Speedy,
thrusting the parchment into his pocket~
Radj th~e Red all ready to fight. what we need is
guns. Come on. Come Qn, Terrybubble, and keep
away from the edge there. Though arrows would
go right through Terrybubble without hurting," he
remarked rather breathlessly as they scrambled up
the terraced incline.
	When they reached the top, Waddy, Kachewka and
Bamboula were all bending over the steering wheel
in the silver umbrella shaft.
	"Look," panted Speedy, holding out the pierced
parchment. "We've fallen between two warring
islands. We'd better light out of here quick."
	In a tense little silence the King's three coun-
selors read Radj's threatening message.
	"A war!" sputtered Bamboula, with what seemed
to Speedy more joy than sorrow. "I'll call out the
guards and the parashooters." With three tremen-
dous thumps on his drum, he bounded to the edge
of the terrace and began bawling at the top of his
lungs:
	"To ums! To ums! Umbrellians to ums!"
	"There he goes starting another parade," wailed
Rachewka, while Waddy continued to jiggle the
steering wheel. "Chew, chew, kachew! What are we
to do! I ask you what are we to do?"
	"Why not take off and fly away?" asked Speedy,
impatiently hopping from one foot to the other.
	"Because our steering gear was broken by that
bump," explained the Wizard glumly. "That bounce
on the water did us no good. Why, it may take me
days to repair this umbrella."
	"I thought magic instruments never got out of
order," fumed Speedy, kneeling down beside the
Wizard and squinting anxiously at the silver shaft
	"Magic instruments are more delicate and per-
ishable than any other kind." Waddy straightening
up with a sigh. "Water must have got into the
works. Now you keep order here, Chewk, while I
go aloft and see what can be done."
	"Hi, yi yi! The walls of both islands are swarming
with soldiers," squealed Pansy, sliding down the sil-
ver shaft of the umbrella. She had climbed to the top
to get a better view of the enemy.
	"To ums! To urns!" shrilled Bamboula, raising his
voice and frantically beating on his drum.
	"What does he mean, 'To ums'?" Speedy whis-
pered to the Princess in a puzzled aside.
	"To umbrellas," explained Gureeda shortly. "You'd
better have yours ready, too. Look!" Following the
direction of the Princess' forefinger, he saw the Urn-
brellians dashing from their homes, each carrying
his umbrella like a shield, with the sharp, dagger-
like points outward. In less than ten minutes they
had formed a circle of shields round the island, with
the sword-like ends bristling from the centers.
	"How about me taking a claw?" suggested Terry-
bubble, twirling his new umbrella experimentally.
"I used to be a splendid fighter."
	"Might be a good idea. What do you think?"
Speedy looked questioningly at Gureeda and as
Gureeda nodded her approval, the whistle and boom
of cannon fire rent the air. Instead of shells the
cannon catapulted a hundred arrows over the heads
of the Umbrellians and, with a frightened squeak,
Kachewka darted for the shelter of the castle, leav-
ing the children and his countrymen to shift for
themselves.
	"Another message from Radj," gasped Speedy
flopping down on his stomach and pulling the
Princess down beside him. Fortunately the arrows
fell just short of the center of the island and So
injured no one, and Bamboula, bouncing down the
terrace like a great rubber ball, yelled wildly for
the parashooters to fire.
	"What good will that do?" groaned Speedy, meas-
uring the distance between Umbrella Island and
the other two islands with a practiced eye. "We
ought to have bombs or cannons or air ships. Oh,
why doesn't Waddy come back? Where's the King
and who's in charge around here?"
	As all of these questions flashed through his mind,
Speedy suddenly recalled his conversation with the
Wizard in the tower. Leaping to his feet, he sprinted
at the fastest pace he had yet achieved for the silver
umbrella shaft. Running his fingers wildly up and
down its silver length, he pounced on a bright blue
button and pushed it with all his strength. Above
the roar of the cannon fire from both enemy islands,
came a clash, clatter and slam, as the metal pro-
tective curtain dropped instantly from the edges of
the great umbrella and the arrows and rocks of the
Sea Kings rattled harmlessly against this impene-
trable wall of mail. Through its transparent folds
the Umbrellians could see the puzzled and disgusted
faces of the islands' rulers and warriors as their
weapons fell back uselessly into the sea.
"You've saved the day-the night-the realm!
Give a cheer for the hero at the helm!"
screamed Pansy, leaping on Speedy's shoulder and
rubbing her soft head against his cheek.
	"You certainly did save us," cried the little Prin-
cess, hastening over to Speedy's side. Her further
remarks were drowned out by the yells and cheers
of the generous-hearted Islanders, quick to approve
of and appreciate the clever action of their young
visitor. In the midst of the uproar, Sizzeroo, who
had at last been wakened by the cannon fire, came
plunging anxiously out of his castle.
	"What now?" puffed the agitated monarch.
"What's going on around here?"
	"A war, Father, a war!" called the little Princess
gleefully. "A war and we've won!"


CHAPTER 12

A Visit to Roaraway Island

WHILE Bamboula, who felt he should have thought of
the blue button himself, tramped rather sheep-
ishly back to the royal terrace, Pansy in agi-
tated little squeals explained the whole series
of events following the rescue of the Wizard
and Speedy.
"You mean we are down between two warring islands 
and cannot fly away till Waddy mends the umbrella?"
asked Sizzeroo, sitting heavily down on a marble
bench.
	"Yes, and if this wide-awake young visitor had
not dropped the mail curtain when he did, we would
all have been neatly impaled on the enemy's lances,"
declared Pansy, transferring herself to the King's
shoulder and curling her braided tail affectionately
around his neck. "He should have a medal, Sizzer,
two medals, three medals and a saucer of cream."
	Speedy could not help smiling at thought of the
saucer of cream. "It really was the Wizard who
saved you," he told the King in embarrassment.
	"Yes, but" Sizzeroo rubbed his head, for arrows
and stones were still rattling against the protective
mail, and made it buzz unpleasantly. "You thought
of the curtain and let it down in time and are en-
titled to our undying gratitude and affection. I've a
mind to give you half the island," he declared im
Pulsively.
	"I'm going to give him my favorite Book of Trav-
els, cried Gureeda, darting quickly into the palace.
	"Now please don't bother about a reward," begged
Speedy. "I'll be leaving soon and it would be a shame
to give half the island to a person who could not
live here."
	"What's all this about giving away the island?"
demanded Kachewka, who, unnoticed, had joined the
small group around the King. "Your Majesty cannot
do that without calling a conference of your coun-
selors."
	"And a sweet time he would have had finding you,
sneered Pansy. "When danger threatens you are
never here. If it had not been for this speedy boy-
this boy Speedy-we'd all be perfectly punctured by
now. He is a hero, I tell you."
	"Anyone could push a button," retorted Kachewka
with a contemptuous wave of his long, skinny hands.
	"Then why didn't you?" inquired the Watch Cat,
licking her paws and giving her face a luxurious
little scrub. "Because you were not here, my bold
counselor. Because you were hiding under the King's
throne and still have some gold dust sticking to your
nose. Don't deny it, you were there and the boy was
here, which makes him a hero and you a there-o. And
what have you to say to that old Blue Braids?"
	"I think I'd better go see how Waddy is getting
along," murmured Speedy, who was growing more
uncomfortable and embarrassed every moment.
"Wait for me here, Terrybubble." Without stopping
to see how the argument ended, he hastened into the
palace and mounted the silver steps to Waddy's
tower, three at a time. When he reached the Wizard's
workshop, he had no breath left to speak and, puf-
fing and panting, sat down on a low bench to recover
himself. Waddy was busily hammering and tinker-
ing away at his electric steering board.
	"You did us a good turn letting down that curtain.
I see you never forget what you remember," he ob-
served, looking up with a smile. "I've a notion to
make you my assistant. And as a first step, would
you mind looking out the window and telling me
what's going on now?"
	Speedy needed no second invitation to look through
the revolving telescopes and dragged a tall stool
hurriedly over to the nearest one. The telescope
was pointed toward the gray island and, after not-
ing that the walls were still swarming with soldiers,
he deciphered the pennant flying from the castle.
	"Nadj of Norroway," announced the fluttering ban-
ner. Quickly reporting these facts to the Wizard,
Speedy moved over to a telescope on the opposite
side of the tower. Taking a long interested squint,
he was astonished to see a small boat bearing twelve
soldiers and a tall, red bearded King shoving off
from Roaraway.
	"Say, it looks as if Radj were coming over," he
puffed, hopping down from the stool. "The boat's
flying a white flag."
	"Well, just go down and see what he wants," di-
rected Waddy in an abstracted voice. "If you have
to go through the curtain there's a zipper opening by
the golden gate at the foot of the King's garden."
	"Shall I tell Sizzeroo or Kachewka?" asked Speedy,
rather overcome at so much responsibility.
	"Oh, no. I think you can handle these Radjets and
Nadjets while I fix this gadjet." Waddy spoke with
such calm confidence and at the same time smiled
so encouragingly, Speedy's chest expanded about
three inches and, resolved to keep all of his wits
about him, he gave the Wizard a cheerful wave and
again clattered down the silver stair.
	The bombardment had ceased for the time being,
the Umbrellians more or less accustomed to strange
adventures had returned to their tasks and pleasures
and no one noticed the small boy hurrying so rapidly
to the edge of the island. There was nobody at the
foot of the King's garden and, first locating the zip-
per by the golden gate, Speedy next dashed over to
the spot where the boat of Radj was already resting
on the oars of the seamen. Waving his arms to at-
tract the King's attention, Speedy scribbled a small
note on a piece of paper he found in his pocket and
held it up against the transparent curtain.
	"What can we do for your Majesty?" Speedy had
printed as he thought very diplomatically.
	"You can go away," came the answering message,
scribbled by Radj with chalk on the cloak of one of
his soldiers. "Go away and leave us in peace to con-
tinue our war."
	"Suppose we talk this over," printed Speedy, after
reading the Sea King's message several times. "May
I depend on your Majesty's honor for a safe return
after the conference?" He felt exceedingly proud
of the word "conference" and waited impatiently for
the King's reply. Instead of printing his answer,
Radj beckoned imperiously and then, removing his
tall red helmet, solemnly nodded his head.
	Taking this for a promise, Speedy hurried over to
the zipper, snapped it open, stepped through and
snapped it shut before the Red King and his war-
riors realized what had happened. Motioning for the
boat to approach, Speedy stood with folded arms in
what he considered a very proper ambassadorial at-
titude.
	"Are you the ruler of this interloping island?"
boomed Radj, as his seamen with long strokes
brought the boat close enough for Speedy to step
aboar&
	"Sizzeroo is King of Umbrella Island, but just now
I am acting for the King," answered Speedy in a
dignified voice.
	"Sizzer-WHO?" Radj spoke so lustily his red
whiskers blew straight out. "Well, your Sizzer who-
ever he is had better move out of my way or it will
be the worse for him."
	"Couldn't you stop the war for a little while?"
ventured Speedy, taking the place two of the war-
riors made between them, and thinking how splen-
did this Sea King looked in his high helmet and red
armor.
	"Stop the war and throw two thousand men out
of work?" blustered Radj indignantly. "I should say
not. Why, this war has been going on for centuries."
	"But who started it?" inquired Speedy, to gain a
little time.
	"The great, great, great, great, great, great
Grandfather of Nadj, of Norroway, called my great,
great, great, great, great, great Grandfather a cab-
bage!" stated Radj, his voice trembling a little at
the mere memory of this outrageous insult.
	"Well, I don't see what that has to do with you or
now," argued Speedy. "What's the use of fighting
about an old cabbage?"
	"Are you referring to my great, great, great,
great, great, great Grandfather?" inquired Radi,
clapping his hand to his sword and snapping
blue eyes sulphurously.
	"No! No! No, indeed!" Speedy spoke with a
gulp. "But it does seem sort of useless to spend your
whole life fighting."
	"What else is there?" inquired the Red King im-
patiently. "Our island provides without labor for all
of our needs, and we cannot hunt and fish eternally."
	"You could build ships, couldn't you, and go ex-
ploring?" suggested Speedy, "or you and the men
of Norroway could have athletic contests and
like that."
	"And what are athletic contests?" asked  Radj
leaning thoughtfully on his lance.
	"Oh, tests to prove who can shoot their arrows
farthest or jump the highest or run the fastest, or
wrestle the most cleverly," explained Speedy.
	"Well, wouldn't that just be another sort of war?"
Radj wrinkled his brows in evident puzzlement.
"Suppose the Nadjians won these contests you speak
of, shot their arrows farthest, proved that their men
could outdistance mine, why that would make me so
red hot, roaring mad, I'd declare war on them at
once, and if my men won, Nadj would want to fight
me."
	"I guess you do not care much about good sports-
manship," sighed the Wizard's ambassador, feeling
he was getting nowhere by appealing to the King's
better nature. "But couldn't you call off the war
until our visit is ended?"
	"And how long will that be?" Radj drew his sword
from the sheath and regarded it lovingly.
	"Well that depends." Speedy had no intention of
telling the Red King about the island's broken steer-
ing gear.
	"It depends, does it!" Radj thrust back his sword
with a flashing smile. "Well you go back and tell
King Sizzeroo that he and his annoying little island
had better not Sizzeroost around here too long, or
I'll shoot you all to the bottom of the Nonestic Ocean
with my famous water gun. That snuffer he's let
down may keep out our arrows and rocks, but noth-
ing can save him from my water gun. Come along
and I'll show you how it works."
	Speedy gulped and grasped both sides of the boat
as the King's men dipped their oars in the choppy
sea and headed for Roaraway Island. He wondered
whether, after all, Waddy had not been mistaken in
his ability to deal with this big blustering Sea King.
But frightened and uneasy as he was, he assumed
an air of careful indifference, asking quiet and casual
questions about the tides, the wind and the weather,
and all of these questions Radj readily and politely
answered. The oarsmen, instead of landing when
they reached the rocky shores of Roaraway, rowed
on and around to a point about half a mile from the
opposite side.
	"The water depth here is not more than twenty
feet and as we need a much greater depth for our
gun, we keep it around on this side," explained Radj
obligingly. "It is constructed to shoot entirely over
our own island and in any direction whatsoever!"
	"I see," answered Speedy in a rather faint voice
and then added shrewdly, "It does not seem to have
done much damage to Norroway."
	"Aha, men, listen to the little Solomon. I admire
your perspicacity, small sliver of a wise oak. But
naturally, I have not used my gun on Norroway. It
would sink the island like a stone and leave me no
one to make war on. Now attend closely, my valiant
bantling. You are about to see the most marvelous
invention since gunpowder."
	Speedy needed no urging to attend closely, for he
wanted to remember every detail of this unheard of
Weapon to report to the Wizard and to Uncle Billy,
if ever he got back to Long Island. Squeezed be-
tween the hairy warriors in the small rocking boat,
his chances for even reaching Umbrella Island in
safety seemed dreadfully slim. Nevertheless, he bent
far out over the side. as Radj waved his men in under
a huge projecting cliff.
	The tremendous gun, fastened by many chains to
an immense rock, rested half in and half out of the
water, and looked somewhat like a cannon and some-
what like a mighty rubber hose. An automatic pump
was attached to the water end of the gun and as the
boat drew in nearer, Radj leaned down, pulled a
lever in the pump, swung the gun about till it was
pointing toward a small deserted island possibly a
mile distant, and then pulled the metal cord that set
it off. Hardly knowing what to expect, Speedy
jumped to his feet. As he did, with the rush, roar
and power of Niagara, a green torrent of water
arched in a hissing curve through the air and fell
like a tidal wave upon its mark. The ocean for miles
around heaved, bubbled and broke into tumultuous
waves from the furious impact, and the small boat
containing Speedy and the Radjians bounced about
like a cockle shell. Stunned by the frightful uproar
and almost blinded by the spray, Speedy clutched the
nearest object, which happened to be the leg of the
tall Sea King.
	"Well, are you satisfied?" Swinging Speedy to his
broad red shouder he pointed off toward the west.
Where the island had been, not one bit of land or
even wreckage was visible.
	"Tell old Sizzer he has till ten o'clock to-morrow,"
Puffed Radj, dropping Speedy down between the sea-
men. "If his island is not gone then, we'll sink it,
beach, castle, woods, houses and everything! But
don't say I didn't warn you. And if, my wise little
monkey, instead of going off with the others, you 
prefer to stay here with me, I'll make you fifth in 
command of my Roaraway warriors. I like your
spirit, bantling."
	To this munificent offer Speedy shook his head, and
then as he could think of nothing to say, preserved
as impressive a silence as his wildly beating heart
would permit of, but not till the Sea King's boat 
reached Umbrella Island did he fully recover from
the shock of the water gun.
	"Goodbye, then!" rumbled Radj, swinging him
good naturedly ashore. "Sorry to seem unsociable,
but I never allow anything to interfere with my
wars!"
	Indignant as he was, Speedy could not help feeling
a certain admiration for the big, bluff ruler of Roar-
away and as his boat pulled away he gave the Red
Sea King a wide, friendly, vigorous wave.
	"It was pretty sporting of him to tell us about his
gun before using it," decided the assistant wizard of
Umbrella Island, and then zipping through Waddy's
curtain, he carefully closed the opening behind him.

CHAPTER 13

A Troublesome Problem

	SPEEDY was in a great hurry to report to
Waddy, but he stopped first to have a few
words with Terrybubble. The dinosaur had
his huge skull resting on the limb of a China-
berry tree, and curled up quite cozily on the
same branch was the King's Watch Cat. The
two had the royal terrace to themselves and
Pansy was telling Terrybubble all about life
on  Umbrella  Island.
Seeing that his faithful fossil was for the time being
not only safe, but interested and happy, Speedy went
directly to the Wizard's tower.
	"Whew, you ought to have an elevator," he puffed,
dropping wearily on a gold bench.
	"You don't mean to say you've been walking up
those steps all this time?" Waddy peered over his
specs with an amused twinkle. "I thought better of
a scientist's nephew than that! All you have to do
is to turn the knob on the balustrade at the bottom
and you'll whiz up. Did you expect a fat old fellow
like me to arrange such a climb for himself? What's
the use of being a wizard without a little wizzing?
So the next time you come, make me whizit!" di-
rected Waddy, tapping a golden nail sharply with
his silver hammer.
	"Does the knob take one down, too?" Speedy felt
rather mortified to think he had not discovered this
trick before.
	"Up and down," answered the Wizard briskly. "But
tell me what happened-anything new and interest-
ing? How did you get on with His Radjesty?"
	"What happened here?" countered Speedy, who
was anxious to know how far the Wizard had pro-
gressed with his repairs.
	"Nothing," confessed Waddy, with an exasperated
shrug of his immense shoulders. "I've tried oil, air,
pressure and poetry-lubrication, incantation and
even-er-even a few coniferous curses, but still this
pestiferous umbrella won't budge."
	"But how much longer will it take?" asked Speedy,
viewing with deep concern the completely disman-
tled steering board.
	"No telling," Waddy sighed, and picking up a red
blower inserted it in a small tube in the board.
"To-morrow-next day-maybe-Christmas !"
	"Christmas !" echoed Speedy, clutching the bench
with both hands. "Oh, Waddy, you must fix it right
away. Listen-did you ever hear of a water gun?"
	"A water gun?" The Wizard dropped the blower
with a crash. "Why that's been a pet idea of mine
for centuries, but I've never been able to get enough
suction into the thing."
	"Well, someone else has." Speedy dragged out his
handkerchief and ran it hurriedly over his perspiring
face.
	"Radj?" questioned the Wizard, lunging anxiously
toward the little boy.
	"Yes!" said Speedy, stuffing the handkerchief back
into his pocket.
	"Oh, he just told you he had one," frowned Waddy,
resting his elbows heavily on the table.
	"No." Speedy shook his head sorrowfully.  "He
showed it to me and I saw it sink an island as big as
this one. Just like that!" Snapping his fingers, the
little boy stared solemnly up at the King's kindly
counselor.
	"Merciful Monkeys! You mean you went off to
Roaraway with that Red Headed Rascal? How long
have we got? How long did he give us? Quick, fetch
me my book of Sea Witchery and water magic, close
the door as you go out, tell them not to wait dinner
for me and not a breath of this to anyone-not a
breath! This is between you and me and the gate
post. No, not even the gate post! Remember, you
are my first assistant and I expect you to go below
and act as if nothing more had happened since you
dropped the metal curtain. Now then!" Sweeping
everything off the table, Waddy jumped up, spun
about like a top and then darted toward a low cabi-
net where he kept the most powerful of his magic 
appliances. Almost as swiftly, Speedy dashed over
to the shelves and fairly pounced upon the large vol-
ume of Sea Witchery.
	"We have till ten o'clock to-morrow morning," he
called, placing the book carefully on the end of the
table, and then, as Waddy, still on his knees before
the cabinet, nodded to show he understood, the little
boy picked up his magic umbrella which he had for-
gotten on his trip to Roaraway, and tiptoeing
through the door closed it softly behind him. Only
too well he realized the Wizard would have to work
fast and without interruption if he was to raise Um-
brella Island before the Red King set off his destroy-
ing gun.
	Even the exciting swoop down the circular stair-
case, when he turned the knob at the top of the
balustrade, did not completely comfort him or take
his mind off the dreadful danger threatening him and
his new found friends. He would have liked to tell
Gureeda about the water gun and his unexpected
visit to Roaraway, but remembering the Wizard's
warning, he decided to get himself a book from the
castle library and try to keep his mind off the whole
unhappy business till dinner time. He was on his
way to this enormous and interesting room when
Kachewka darted out between a heavy pair of blue
curtains.
	"Come!" urged the King's Chief Counselor, taking
him firmly by the arm. "Come, and I will conduct
you to your room, for you will naturally wish to dress
for dinner.  It is-er-er-customary," finished
Kachewka with a dignified cough. The critical gaze
of the old statesman swept Speedy scornfully from
head to foot, and conscious for the first time of his
dusty, torn and now completely water soaked suit,
Speedy grew very red and uncomfortable.
	"I have had our Royal Costumer fashion you a few
-er-more suitable garments," continued Kachewka,
drawing him rapidly along the splendid corridor,
and before Speedy had time to object or offer one
remark, he had opened the door of a richly appointed
apartment, switched on the lights and with a brief
nod taken himself off.
	Sticking his tongue out at the old counselor's back,
Speedy closed the door, turned the silver key in the
lock and turned to examine his new quarters. Every-
thing in the room was blue or silver and the furnish-
ings were in excellent taste. There were many com-
fortable arm chairs, a very grand desk and table, a
roomy couch, a case full of new books, countless
lamps on tall, silver stands and a remarkable four-
post bed with a gay and dashing tapestry.
	On the couch twelve complete costumes were
spread for his approval. Picking up the first, an
elaborate affair with blue satin trousers, a white
satin blouse and shiny red boots, Speedy gave an
amused sniff, then glimpsing a blue bath beyond the
bed room, he stepped out of his dusty travelling
clothes, took a hot and cold shower and, greatly re-
freshed, began to draw on one of the ceremonial
costumes Kachewka had provided.
	"The whole works," he chuckled surveying himself
gayly in the long mirror. "Even a queue! Whew!
Wouldn't the fellows rag me if they could see this?"
	Setting the tightly fitting silk cap with the long
shining braid attached, on the exact center of his
head he made himself a neat and nonchalant bow.
"I look just like a Chinaman, but still-" he stepped
back a pace to get a better view. "It's not such a
bad looking outfit at that - kinda goes with the rest
of the scenery. Wonder if Terrybubble'll know me?"
	Finding that Gureeda had placed the book of trav-
els she had promised him on the table beside the
bed, he tucked it under one arm and with his magic
umbrella swinging from the other, he unlocked his
door, and in a haughty and exceedingly dignified
manner proceeded along the corridor, down the sil-
ver steps and into the throne room. No one but
Terrybubble was there to witness his triumphal en-
try.
	"I thought you were the other one," muttered the
dinosaur, as Speedy to attract his attention trod
playfully on his hind claw. "She was here a moment
ago. Oh my dear self! You look exactly like that
Princess girl."
	"You mean she looks like me," corrected Speedy
loftily, for he could not bear even the thought of
looking like a girl. "Well, I can't help that, old fellow.
Girls dress the same as boys on this island and while
I'm here I might as well look like the rest of the
Umbrella birds."
	"When are we going to use our umbrellas?" asked
Terrybubble, gazing fondly down at his own which
he had hooked through one of his ribs.
	"Never, I hope," breathed Speedy fervently, re-
calling with a shiver his leap from the Wizard's
tower. "But it's safer to keep them with us, for in
countries like this, Terrybubble, one never knows
what will happen."
	"No, I suppose not," agreed the monster, shaking
his head reflectively. "But when are we going to
Oz? I like the sound of that country."
	"Not for a long time, I hope," answered Gureeda,
stepping quickly in from the terrace. Four footmen
walked solemnly behind her, bearing an enormous
wreath of roses, which she thoughtfully had woven
into a fresh collar for Terrybubble. Gureeda, herself,
was dressed in a blue trousered suit like Speedy's
and paused in surprise when she saw the American
boy in a costume exactly matching her own. "Why
now, you're a real Umbrella Islander!" exclaimed
Gureeda, viewing him delightedly from all angles.
	"Yes, and you both are as like as two Umbrella
birds," grumbled the dinosaur. "Both with braids,
boots, blouses and trousers. I'll be mixing you up
first thing you know and carrying the wrong one
back to America."
	"Oh no you won't, for I'll always have a parasol
and Speedy will have an umbrella," the Princess re-
minded him calmly. "Besides, our voices are differ-
ent and I'm not half so brave. Did you like the
book?" she asked shyly and in the next breath.
	"Have it with me," smiled Speedy, deciding that
when he grew up and was old enough to marry, he'd
choose a girl exactly like the little Princess of Um-
brella Island. Even her persistent reading habit did
not greatly annoy him, and almost forgetting about
Radj and his water gun, he helped Gureeda remove
Terrybubble's faded daisy wreath and adjust the
fragrant collar of roses.
	 "I'll bet you're the first prehistoric monster who
ever wore a decoration like this," chuckled Speedy,
as Terrybubble set them both carefully down on the
polished floor. "And how you are going to stand life
in a musty old museum, I don't know!"
	 "Oh, must he go back to a museum?" sighed Gu-
reeda. "Why cannot you both stay here and fly all
over the world with us?"
"But Terrybubble really belongs to that profes-
sor," explained Speedy regretfully, "and I'll wager
he's having a fit over his disappearance right now.
As for Uncle Billy, I don't know what he must be
thinking."
	 "Oh well, we don't have to bother about that now,"
said Gureeda sensibly, "for until Waddy mends our
umbrella we cannot go anywhere."
	"Except to the bottom of the Nonestic Ocean,"
thought Speedy with a little shudder. Then, as Siz-
zeroo and his courtiers came trailing grandly into
the throne room and everything got exceedingly dull
and stuffy, the two children ran out into the garden
to have a game of tag before dinner.
	At dinner the King was abstracted and sad, es-
pecially when his gaze rested on his young visitor
and the Princess who were sitting side by side, whis-
pering and giggling together. The similarity in their
size and appearance was positively startling, now
that Speedy wore the loose silk costume of the Island-
ers, and Kachewka, each time he caught the direc-
tion of the King's gaze, would nod away to himself
like a little China Mandarin. The talk was mostly
of the warring Sea Kings and conjectures as to how
long Umbrella Island would be forced to rest between
Roaraway and Norroway.
	Bamboula sought to enliven the party with a song,
but in spite of its sonorous rendering and catchy
tune, it brought only a languid applause from the
preoccupied diners. The first verse ran like this:

	"Goodhearted and good fellowing
	we gaily go umbrellowing
	And find it all so mellowing
	we're never sad at all!"

	There was more of the same sort of thing and to
make up for the company's lack of enthusiasm
Speedy clapped long and vigorously and was re-
warded by a deep and special bow from the King's
Su-jester. After dinner, Gureeda showed unmistak-
able signs of losing herself in a book, and as Speedy
was anxious to see how Waddy was getting on, he
bade the King and Pansy a polite good night and
after a little whispered advice to Terrybubble quietly
withdrew. A few minutes later he slipped noiselessly
into the Wizard's workshop.
	"Nothing yet," reported Waddy glumly. He was
sitting on the floor surrounded by zippers, clippers,
low burning oil jugs, bowls of spiraling incense, per-
fect heaps of open books, pamphlets and rolls of
parchment, and was so distracted and engrossed he
never even noticed his first assistant's new clothes.
	Seeing that his presence only disturbed the old
sage, Speedy quietly left, picking up on his way out
what he supposed was a flash light. There was no
lamp on the spiral stair and he thought thus to cheer
his trip down. But he slid to the bottom so quickly
he did not even have a chance to switch it on, and
resolving to return it to Waddy in the morning, he
thoughtfully made his way to his own apartment.
The bed was turned down and a pair of gaudy yel-
low silk pajamas had been placed across the foot
So Speedy undressed, and slipping luxuriously under
the silk sheet and satin quilt turned on the lamp
beside his bed and tried to concentrate on his book
of travels.
	But try as he would, he could not keep his mind
on the gaudy pictures and text. The great, green
torrent of Radj's water gun kept coming between
him and the printed page. So he finally gave up all
idea of reading, and drawing on his slippers, picked
up the Wizard's flash and stepped softly out on the
balcony. Across the water, and twinkling through
the transparent curtain of mail, he could see the
lights of the Red King's Castle, and leaning heavily
on the balcony railing he tried to think of some
way to help Waddy struggling all alone with the ter-
rible problem of the water gun. The Wizard's flash
made a small bright circle of light on the rail, and
all at once, to Speedy's surprise and consternation,
the rail began to crumble and melt, giving way so
suddenly he had barely time to recover his balance.
	"Merciful Monkeys!" sputtered the little boy, bor-
rowing Waddy's phrase, "this isn't a flash light; it's
some sort of magic ray. Why it cuts right through
iron-through iron!" As soon as he had uttered the
word iron, Speedy knew the thing that must be done
-the dangerous and desperate thing he himself must
do. Switching off the sputtering current, he climbed
noiselessly over the balcony, dropped to the ground
and ran swiftly down the terrace toward the King's
private garden.


CHAPTE 14

In the Cave at Roaraway

THE full moon, like a beneficent Chi-
nese lantern, hung low over the murmuring
sea, making a silvery lane of light from Um-
brella Island to Roaraway. For a moment,
Speedy, who had just stepped through  the
zipper in the metal curtain, stood thoughtfully
on the sandy shore. Then, kicking Qff his
slippers,  h e  dove straight into the dark-
ling waters, and coming up with scarcely a ripple, 
swam rapidly toward the Red King's Castle.
The ocean felt warm and mysterious, and fearful
of tropical fish and strange unknown currents,
Speedy cut swiftly through the phosphorescent waves
and in less than ten minutes was clambering up over
the slippery rocks of Roaraway itself. Regretting
bitterly his bare feet, he picked his way along the
stony shore, stepping close to the castle wall and
keeping a sharp lookout for sentries.
Time and again he heard them calling out their
watches from the broad rampart over his head, but
none were posted on the beach and he proceeded
unchallenged to the shallow sea cave that housed the
Red King's water gun. It seemed to take longer than
when the seamen. had rowed him there, and Speedy,
suffering from more than one bruise and scratch on
his unshod feet, sat down on a great boulder at the
cave's mouth to recover himself. The sea, dashing
against the rocks inside, sounded like a cage full of
lions and as he crept beneath the huge cliff, and
began crawling toward the half submerged cannon,
he almost felt that real lions were awaiting him.
He had turned on the Wizard's flash and by its
sputtering ray he managed to reach in safety the
giant rock to which Radj had chained his sea weapon.
Here again Speedy was forced to rest. Then, taking
a long quivering breath, he turned the flash on the
first of the heavy chains. With a loud, clattering
noise, the magic ray cut through the iron and the
severed links fell clanging to the rocks below.
There were more than fifty of these massive chains,
holding the gun in a spidery web of iron. Gritting
his teeth and hoping that no one heard the awful
racket, Speedy grimly and methodically cut through
them all.  When only two held Radj's straining,
creaking instrument of destruction to the rock, he
stopped to look for something to hold to when these
last chains gave way and the gun plunged headlong
to the bottom of the sea. He did not intend, after
all his trouble, to be dashed off the cliff by the result-
ing splash and upheaval. A tall, conical rock seemed
to offer some security, so hooking his arm around
this and also lashing himself fast by the cord of his
yellow pajamas, the little boy doggedly completed his
task. As the last chain fell away, the water gun with
an almost human gurgle and sigh dropped like a
plummet to the bottom of the sea. Waves rose in
smashing succession to beat upon the small figure
clinging to the rock, but closing his eyes and shak-
ing his head like a spaniel after each dreadful dous-
ing, Speedy hung on, and at last when the tumult had
subsided issued thankfully from the cave. Retrac-
ing his steps till he was at the exact spot where he
had landed, with a triumphant and secret wave
toward the sleeping King, he again dove into the sea
and made his way slowly and painfully back to Um-
brella Island.
	Recovering his slippers, he let himself through the
zipper and tiptoed stiffly and wearily back to the blue
room. Here he stripped off his wet pajamas, dried
himself sleepily on a rough blue towel, and still
wrapped in its comforting folds, jumped quickly into
bed, falling asleep before the sea spray had dried
on his forehead.
	The conviction that someone was staring intently
down at him wakened Speedy next morning. Rolling
over he blinked drowsily into the face of the King's
Wizard, who was bending anxiously over his head.
	"Glad you can sleep so well," mumbled Waddy in
a slightly annoyed voice. "Know what time it is?"
	"No," yawned Speedy, burrowing down deeper into
the silken pillows. "What time is it, anyway?"
	"Half past nine," stated Waddy tensely, "and I've
come to tell you we must take to the boats. I'm on
my way to warn the King. We can just pull out of
harm's way before that gun is set off."
	"Then the umbrella's not mended?" Speedy sat
up clasping his knees with both hands.
	"No!" Sinking into a chair beside the bed, Waddy
covered his face, gray and drawn from his long
night's struggle to repair the steering gear. "To
think we must really leave this island, with all its
comforts and treasures and with all the improve-
ments and inventions of a thousand years," he
groaned bitterly. "I almost had us aloft, another
hour will fix it, I swear, but another hour will be too
late, but whatever am I doing wasting time here?
	Get up, my boy, collect that immense bony wreck and
come down to the beach."
	"Wait," called Speedy, as the Wizard plunged un-
steadily toward the door. "I don't believe Radj will
shoot off his gun, after all."
	"Why? A King never breaks his word. Now do
stop arguing and come along," directed Waddy ir-
ritably.
	"Just the same he won't use it," insisted Speedy,
and leaping out of bed with the blue silk coverlet
still clutched around him, he caught hold of the fly-
ing cords round the Wizard's waist.
	"Why?" panted Waddy, trying to jerk away.
	"Because that gun is at the bottom of the Nonestic
Ocean!" crowed Speedy, dancing around the Wizard
like a small Indian warrior around a totem pole. "I
swam to Roaraway last night and cut it adrift with
your magic flash and wouldn't you like to see the
Red King's face when the clock strikes ten?"
	"You what?" gasped Waddy, clutching his braided
beard with both fat hands. "You really mean that
gun is at the bottom of the sea? why this - this is
simply simpanoorious. No wonder you were sleepy
this morning! How can we ever repay you? Wait
here. I'll tell the King! I'll tell the Court! I'll tell
the whole sweet island!"
	"Stop! Stop! Please don't!" Letting go the cord
around the Wizard's waist, Speedy seized his coat
tails and hung there resolutely as Waddy tried to
rush through the door.
	"Listen. No one knew about that gun and now
We've fixed it so they never need to know. Let's keep
it a secret just between ourselves. It will only make
a lot of talk and excitement and I'd hate that."
	"Now whatever are you talking about?" grum-
bled the Wizard, dropping into an arm chair. "Here,
let me look at you. I don't believe you're true. A
nice sight you are, with all those bruises and
scratches and sea weed still stuck in your hair! But
I'll tell you this, you look more like a Wizard every
minute, the Assistant Wizard of Umbrella Island.
How about it? Will you take the job?"
	"As long as I'm here I will," grinned Speedy, know-
ing he had gained his point. "But, oh Waddy, it was
awful in that cave!"
	"Next time you decide to use magic, let me help!"
Sweeping his first assistant to his barrel-like chest,
Waddy gave him a tremendous hug. "But tell me,"
he continued seriously, "how did you get hold of my
metal melting flash and how did you think up such
a scheme in the first place?"
	Perched precariously on his vast knee, Speedy
soon told him, and after telling and retelling the im-
portant parts, till Waddy was perfectly satisfied,
Speedy hastily donned another of his gaudy suits
and accompanied the Wizard in Chief to his en-
chanted tower.
	"When that red-headed rascal misses his gun
there'll be all kinds of trouble," prophesied Waddy,
settling happily down before the electric steering
board, which was in a much more hopeful state than
on the evening before. "But it won't matter, now.
I ought to have this finished in forty minutes, so curl
up on that red couch and have yourself a nap. You've
done enough helping for today. There's your break-
fast on that tray, too. I ordered it, thinking you'd be
up to see me first thing this morning."
	Instead of taking the nap suggested by the Wiz-
ard, Speedy, after downing the appetizing breakfast,
hurried over to the revolving telescope on the Roar-
away side of the tower. Unfortunately he could not
see the side of the island where the water gun had
been, nor the excitement and rage of the Sea King
when he went to set off his terrible sea cannon. But
presently four boat loads of warriors swept round
the curve. In the first boat, Radj stood angrily erect,
shaking his great red shield and spear at Umbrella
Island.
	"They're coming over!  They're coming over!"
yelled Speedy, tumbling off the tall stool before the
telescope. "They have tips of fire on their spears.
Oh Waddy, are you sure that curtain will hold?"
	"It won't need to," answered the Wizard with a
satisfied little sniff. "We're leaving, my boy, sooner
than sooner, in other words at once!"
	As he finished speaking, Waddy touched a lever
on his board and Speedy felt an answering alive-
ness and vibration through the whole island, like
the throb of engines on an ocean liner. Just as
the Red King's boats scraped against the sandy
shore, Umbrella Island lifted, and lightly as a toy
balloon went soaring up toward the sky. Almost
overturned by this unexpected take-off, the four
boats bounced and rocked violently about, and the
last thing Speedy saw was the wrathful red face and
waving arms of the angry ruler of Roaraway.
	"It seems too bad that an invention like that had
to be destroyed," he sighed, turning rather thought-
fully away from the telescope.
	"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," puffed the Wiz-
ard easily. "A fellow smart enough to construct
one water gun is smart enough to duplicate it. In
three months that big sea lion will have a new gun
and be lording it over all the islands in the Nonestic
Ocean."
	"Say, do you have any paper and pencils?" asked
Speedy, seating himself hurriedly beside the Wizard.
Now that his steering board was mended, Waddy
was polishing its levers and buttons with a large
silver cloth.
	"I want to draw a diagram of that gun before I
forget how it looked. I believe Uncle Billy could
make one just as powerful for the United States
Navy and wouldn't that be a scoop? You know, I
believe I'll join the navy," he muttered a moment
later, as he settled down seriously with the materials
Waddy had obligingly supplied.
	In his mind's eye he could aleady see himself in
the smart uniform of a naval officer in command of
a fleet of battle ships equipped with these tremen-
dous and powerful new water guns. Indeed, he was
so busy with thoughts, and the Wizard was so occu-
pied with his polishing, that neither heard the creak
of the banister, bringing visitors up the spiral stair-
way, and both jumped with annoyance as a series of
thumps and bangs sounded on the door.
	"Aha, the hand shaking committee!"
Throwing down his silver cloth, Waddy made a little grimace,
then waddled resignedly across the room to admit
Sizzeroo, Bamboula, Kachewka and a dozen or more
courtiers, who had just discovered the Island was
moving again.
	"Oh bother," exclaimed Speedy, shoving his dia-
gram quickly into a drawer. "Don't they know we
wizards have important work to do?"
	"They think they have important work to do, also,"
sighed Waddy. "Thanking us is the work they have
set themselves to do just now, so we might as well
oil up our smiles and bear it. All ready now."
	There was simply no resisting this big jolly Wiz-
ard, and impatient as he was to finish his sketch,
Speedy was grinning broadly as the royal delegation
burst impetuously into the tower shop.

CHAPTER 15

Terrybubble Leaves for Oz

SEVERAL days had passed since
Speedy's exciting swim to Roaraway - days so
calm and dreamlike, so unreal and enchanting
that he hated to think of leaving this island.
He and Gureeda had jolly mornings, swing-
ing their heels from the island's edge and climb-
ing the trees in the umbrella groves. He and
Waddy had thrilling afternoons, flying the island, 
testing out magic devices in the Wizard's tower. 
He and Terrybubble had curious evenings when they 
slipped off together to explore the jungles that 
covered the western half of Sizzeroo's small domain.
	At Speedy's request, Waddy kept the island cir-
cling over Oz, and though he often squinted through
the Wizard's telescope at its many gay and familiar
castles, he was not quite ready to be rescued. Once
he set foot in Oz, it would be his plain duty to relieve
as soon as possible the anxiety of Uncle Billy by
asking Ozma to send him and Terrybubble back to
the United States. For a little longer Speedy wanted
to enjoy the life of a carefree visitor and assistant
wizard of Umbrella Island.
	It was pretty grand to waken in a castle-to find
a blue and silver footman standing at attention be-
side the bed to offer him a tall tumbler of fruit
juice, to eat like a king at every meal and to have
his slightest wish or desire immediately fulfilled or
anticipated.
	He never tired of the droll songs of Bamboula, the
King's Su-jester, and the sarcastic verses of Pansy,
the Watch Cat. Indeed, he grew fond of everyone in
the castle with the exception of Kachewka, and
though the sneezy old counselor showered him with
small favors and attentions, Speedy always felt cross
and uncomfortable in his presence.
	Of all that grand and gay company, only Sizzeroo
puzzled him. Though the round, double-chinned face
of the island's ruler seemed just formed for good-
natured jollity, it always wore an expression of ex-
treme sorrow and melancholy. Once, coming unex-
pectedly upon his Majesty in a secluded nook in the
garden, Speedy was shocked and embarrassed to find
him in tears.
	"Why, whatever's the matter?" blurted out the
little boy. "Shall I call the Wizard or Kachewka?"
	"No, no, it's nothing," choked Sizzeroo, dabbing at
his eyes with a tremendous silk handkerchief.  "I
just got to thinking of all the canary birds left with-
out water and bird seed, of all the old men without
pipes and of all the little children without grand-
mothers!"
	"But do you know of any special ones?" inquired
Speedy, very much bewildered by the King's answer.
"Perhaps there are not as many as your Majesty
supposes."
	"Oh! Oh, what difference does it make?" sobbed
Sizzeroo. "Oh me! Oh my! Oh me, my, you and us!"
	"But please, can't I bring you something?" begged
Speedy, jumping up in great distress.
	"Bring a bucket," gulped the King, and throwing
his handkerchief over his head he stumbled off down
the garden path, leaving Speedy more mystified than
ever. When he questioned Gureeda about her fa-
ther's strange actions, the Princess looked almost
ready to cry herself, and, convinced that there was
something both members of the royal family were
concealing from him, Speedy resolved to stay long
enough to solve the mystery.
	After all, summer was coming and he was entitled
to a vacation and poor old Terrybubble would never
have another chance to be alive again. Speedy felt
sure that once his fossil reached America, the curious
gift of life bestowed by the exploding geyser would
be lost.
	Terrybubble, himself, was happier than he had
been in the whole four hundred years of his prehis-
toric existence. Clattering clumsily after the Prin-
cess and Speedy, he did as far as possible everything
that they did, and almost everything a wire-haired
terrier could do, besides. But there was still one
trick he felt he must accomplish before he fully qual-
ified as the little boy's pet. That was to sleep on the
foot of his bed.
	The dinosaur spent most of his nights on the royal
terrace talking to Pansy, counting the stars over-
head or taking sly turns at the wheel that guided
Umbrella Island. But on the night Speedy had found
Sizzeroo sobbing in the garden, Terrybubble sud-
denly had a splendid idea. Why could he not put his
head in through the window and rest it cozily on the
foot of the little boy's bed, reasoned the fossil clev-
erly. How surprised and delighted Speedy would be
to waken and find him there!
	Now Terrybubble's head was as large as a good
sized room, but the blue room occupied by his little
chum was much larger than a good-sized room and,
provided Speedy's legs were not crushed in the pro-
cess, the idea was perfectly possible. Waiting till most
of the lights were out, Terrybubble, not quite sure
of the location, began sticking his head in first one
window and then another. Several startled screeches
rang through the castle as sleepers wakened to see
the gleaming skull of the dinosaur outlined in the
moonlight, but as he quickly withdrew and as the
courtiers were growing more or less accustomed to
the cadaverous monster, nothing much came of it.
	But Terrybubble, growing more cautious, merely
looked through the remaining windows, moving
methodically along the south wing and coming
finally to a great double French pair thrown wide to
admit the soft May breezes. The curtains had been
drawn and behind the billowing hangings a dim light
was burning and muffled voices droned together in
the half darkness.
	Recognizing the voice of the King and Kachewka,
Terrybubble rested his head on the top rail of the
balcony prepared to listen. No one had ever told
Terrybubble that listening at doors and windows was
bad form, and perhaps it was just as well, for what
he heard changed the whole course of Speedy's ad-
ventures and perhaps saved Terrybubble himself
from becoming a mere heap of bones on some desert-
ed Ozian hill.
	"Everything is going famously," whispered Ka-
chewka in his unctuous wheezy voice. 'This Amer-
ican boy likes our island so well we'll have no trouble
at all keeping him till the giant comes. As for that
colossal and exasperating skeleton, I've given or-
ders for him to be pushed overboard at the first
opportunity. Why should we clutter up our castle
with a prehistoric ruin-a live and dangerous one,
too?"
	"You'll do nothing of the kind," said Sizzeroo,
stamping his foot angrily. "If anything happens to
Terrybubble, you shall answer for it with your head."
	"Meaning that my head is bone?" inquired the old
counselor. "Well, accidents will happen!" Kachewka
spoke so callously that Terrybubble felt a chill run
down his back bone. Even if the King forbade the
parashooters to shove him off the island, he felt that
Kaehewka himself would somehow accomplish his
downfall. And a giant? What in Taradash was a
giant? And how dare they talk of turning Speedy
over to one? Quivering with fright and sorrow, Ter-
rybubble managed to hold himself rigid and not give
away his presence by the rattling of his bones.
	"It could not have happened better," continued
Kachewka, shuffling his feet backward and forward
on the polished floor. "You hit a giant in the head
with the island, the giant demands your only child
to repay him for the injury, and along, just in time
to take her place, comes this American boy. The
giant thinks the Princess is a boy, so everything is
splendid and Speedy can lace the fellow's boots for
the rest of his mortal life. Good enough for him, too,
the impertinent little commoner!"
	Terrybubble did not stop for the King's answer,
and even if he had heard Sizzeroo soundly scolding
the old counselor, he would still have been convinced
of his own and Speedy's peril. He was in such a great
hurry to find him he nearly swept Pansy off the bal-
cony rail, as he slid his head rapidly along to the
next window.
	"Here, here, what's this?" In her official position
as Watch Cat, Pansy was making her rounds and _
she felt that Terrybubble's actions were highly sus-
picious. "Are you castle breaking or what?"
	"What?" repeated Terrybubble stupidly, then
grasping Pansy in his claw he held her close to his
bony nose. "Tell me, what's a giant?" he whispered
fiercely. "Quick!"
	"A giant!  My gooseness! Who's been talking
about giants? And what are you doing poking your
head in windows and lurking around all by yourself
in the dark? Come away to the terrace, there's a
good fellow."
	Without a word Terrybubble moved quickly to the
royal terrace and there placing Pansy on the branch
of a tree level with his head, poured out the whole
conversation he had overheard just now on the King's
balcony.
	"Hm-mm!" murmured the Watch Cat regretfully,
when he had finished. "Well, you were not supposed
to know about this giant, but since you've found out,
I might as well tell you that it's true. Sizzer did hit
a giant in the head with the island-a giant named
Loxo, big as a mountain-big enough to make even
you look small, and this	giant was so mad he's com-
ing back to take the King's daughter to lace his
boots. Only he thinks the Princess is a boy so that's
what gave Kachewka his big idea and Speedy does
look like Gureeda, now that I come to think of it.
But I'm sure the King will never consent to such a
mean trick and no one else knows about it. Still,
when that old Sneezer makes up his mind he usually
has his way. If I were you, I'd take the boy and
leave."
	"Leave?" quavered Terrybubble tremulously.
	"Yes, leave," said Pansy solemnly. "You have the
Wizard's umbrella. It will carry you safely down to
Oz.	We are right over Oz now and once you reach
Oz, you and Speedy can apply to Princess Ozma for
help."
	"But what about the little girl?" Terrybubble's
eyes rolled round and round.
	"Oh Waddy will think up a way to save her, and
anyway that's not your affair," the Watch Cat told
him carelessly. "After all, her father injured the
giant and she must pay the penalty."
	"But that giant might hurt her," worried Terry-
bubble, waving his claws about anxiously. "Oh my
dear self. This is as bad as a Mogger and yesterday
we were all so dythrambic and gay."
	"Better leave," advised Pansy, backing away.

	"when things go thus, both thus and so,
	'Tis best to bow-meouw and GO!"

	"I couldn't meouw," sighed Terrybubble as the
Watch Cat disappeared in the shadowy leaves. "But
I could snort and rumble and jump off the island.
I'll do it," he muttered, gritting his teeth in a deter-
mined manner. "I'll take the boy and go to Oz now."
	Shuffling rapidly back to the south wing of the
castle, Terrybubble boldly thrust his head in the first
window he came to, and as so often happens when
we least expect it, found he was at last in the right
room. Fast asleep in the canopied bed lay Speedy,
dreaming happily of rocket planes, water guns and
a marvelous journey to Lost Forest.
	Squeezing his head, shoulder blades and claws
through the open window, the dinosaur cleverly
picked up all the clothing in sight and stowed it in
an orderly fashion in the left side of his hollow chest.
Then folding the little boy lightly in the blue quilt,
he picked him up and tenderly placed him on top of
the clothing. Speedy stirred, murmured and flung
out his arms, but did not waken, and Terrybubble
as quietly as possible started away from the castle.
	He had almost reached the royal terrace when
another splendid idea occurred to him, and hurrying
back to the south wing, he thrust his head inquir-
ingly in the window on the balcony next to the King's
apartment. Again he was right, and again he had
found the person for whom he was looking. Gureeda,
sleeping as soundly as Speedy, was curled up on her
canopied couch. Having had by this time some ex-
perience, it took Terrybubble scarcely any time to
transfer the little Princess in her satin coverlet, six-
teen books, six complete outfits and her parasol, to
the right side of his capacious chest. Resting com-
fortably on the heaps of soft garments, neither of
the children wakened, and with a long sigh of satis-
faction, Terrybubble set out for the island's edge.
	Pansy was sitting on the gold gate at the foot of
the King's garden to see him off, and if she noticed
two figures instead of one, she made no comment.
	"I've helped you," purred the Watch Cat proudly.
"I've turned the wheel so that the island is directly
over Oz. Don't puncture yourself on a castle spire."
	"No danger," whispered Terrybubble with a rather
grim smile. "I'm nothing but punctures already."
Fumbling with the enormous umbrella, he finally got
it up, and opening the gate walked rather uncer-
tainly to the edge of the island.
	"Wish I were going," sighed Pansy, stepping
daintily along beside him. "But you never can de-
pend on the cream in strange countries, and besides
some one must stay here and look after Sizzer. He's
an old fool, but I'm very fond of him. By the way,
any last messages to inquiring friends?"
	Pansy's melancholy question so upset poor Ter-
rybubble that he almost lost his balance, but shaking
his head in a dignified manner, he swung the um-
brella over his shoulder and with a reckless wave
of his left claw sprang bravely off into space!

CHAPTER 16

Terrybubble in Bad Company

Now you have all, doubtless, fallen
asleep, but tell me, have you ever fallen awake?
For that is precisely what happened to Speedy and
the Princess when Terrybubble took his bold leap
from Umbrella Island.
	Feeling exactly as if they had unexpectedly
pitched down the steep slide of a scenic railway,
both  sprang up and with two muffled screams
stared wildly at each other and then out at the
swirling black darkness into which they were so un-
accountably plunging.
	The eyes of Terrybubble cast two bright streaks
of phosphorescent radiance back upon them, and
Speedy, first to realize they were being carried off
by the dinosaur, pounded desperately on Terrybub-
ble's ribs.
	"Stop! Stop!" he panted. "Where are you going?
What have you done?"
	"I'm jumping to Oz. I'm saving you from a giant,"
whistled Terrybubble, turning his head around and
nodding it reassuringly at the small figures huddled
in their satin quilts.
	"But there are no giants on Umbrella Island,"
gasped Speedy, noting with relief that Terrybubble
had the enormous umbrella made by the Wizard
over his head.
	"Yes, but there are going to be," Terrybubble told
him darkly. "You don't know it, but this Princess
girl does. A giant is coming to take her because her
father hit him in the head with Umbrella Island and
you were to be turned over to him instead of Gureeda.
That's why they gave you all those fine clothes, my
boy. That's why everyone was so nice to us. We
were to be thrown like bones to a giant."
	Now all this conversation, more or less interrupted
and blown about by the wind, was so astonishing to
Speedy that he sank down on his pile of silk cos-
tumes. But Gureeda, even more astonished, sprang
indignantly to her feet.
	"Why, Terrybubble, who ever told you such a
story?" she called up angrily. "A giant is coming,
but Waddy was working on a plan to save me, and
my father and I wouldn't ever have let Speedy take
my place. Why, Terrybubble, I'm ashamed of you!"
	"It wasn't your father's idea," mumbled the dino-
saur, mournfully. "It was the idea of that old man
who wanted to break me up into buttons. I over-
heard him telling the King about it tonight. It's
all settled, I tell you, and the parashooters have or-
ders to shove me off the island!"
	Terrybubble's voice carried such conviction that
even Gureeda was silenced, and covering her face
with both hands she began to cry softly to herself.
	"Now, now, don't you care." Speedy leaned over
and patted her awkwardly on the shoulder. "The
giant won't get either of us and I don't believe you
knew anything about Kachewka's fine scheme. Ter-
rybubble doesn't either, or he wouldn't have brought
you along. Look! We're falling slower now and
when we land we'll be in Oz. Remember? You said
you wanted to go to Oz."
	"Yes," sniffed Gureeda, peering rather uncertainly
between her fingers, "but not this way. Oh, Speedy,
do you really think I'd have let them give you to a
giant?"
	"Of course not." The little boy spoke vehemently.
"Now look, Gureeda, we're not so badly off. I had
to go to Oz anyway and it will be lots more fun hav-
ing you along and Terrybubble brought our clothes
and even some books for you. He's not such a bad
old planner after all, and he can carry us anywhere
we want to go."
	"But where will we go?" sniffed Gureeda, wiping
her eyes on the corner of the silk quilt and trying to
glimpse through Terrybubble's ribs the shadowy
country beneath them.
	"We ought to come down near the Emerald City,
whatever that is," announced the dinosaur compla-
cently. "Pansy turned the island in that direction."
	"She did! Good old Pansy! I believe everything
is going to turn out just right," declared Speedy,
clasping his knees and adjusting himself calmly to
the surging motion of Terrybubble's parashoot.
	"The Watch Cat will tell your father where we
are, and once we reach the Emerald City, Ozma of Oz
will pretty soon fix that giant especially if he's an
Oz giant."
	"Oh, he is!" explained Gureeda eagerly, "and
Loxo's so enormous that even Terrybubble would
look like a tiny mouse beside him."
	"But I am not going to be beside him," said Ter-
rybubble placidly. "That's why I jumped off the
island."
	"Seems to me the ground's getting nearer," said
Speedy, rolling over on his stomach and squinting
curiously down through the spaces between Terry-
bubble's ribs. "We must have gone a bit off the
course, for I don't see the towers or lights of the
Emerald City anywhere."
	"What do you see?" questioned the Princess
eagerly.
	"Well, it looks like a mountain! There we've
missed it very nicely and are coming down at the
foot. Hold on to a rib, we're going to bump."
	There was indeed a severe bump, as Terrybubble
and his umbrella hit the soft earth and his bones
rattled like loose window shutters in a wind, for sev-
eral minutes afterwards. His passengers were badly
tossed about, too, but when the excitement subsided
and Speedy took stock of the situation, he found no
real damage had been done. Following his orders,
Terrybubble lowered his umbrella and hung it on a
nearby tree, and by the light of his phosphorus eyes
the two children saw that they had come down near
the mouth of an immense cave.
	Begging the Princess to stay where she was and
try to get a little more sleep, Speedy slipped on a
pair of the boots Terrybubble had brought along
and slid down the long vine to the ground. There
was no moon and even with the dinosaur's eyes shin-
ing like street lamps over his head, it was still too
dark to explore the cave, so Speedy, after a little
reconnoitering, sat down with his back to a soft rock
impatiently waiting for morning.
	He must have dozed off while he was waiting, for
when a sudden tickling behind his ear awakened him,
he saw Gureeda was dangling a long leafy branch
before his nose. The Princess had put on the gayest
costume Terrybubble had packed in his chest and
her usual good spirits and gaiety seemed fully re-
stored. She had also brought down a book for herself
and a suit for Speedy. So retiring to the cave, he
hastily dressed himself and prepared for the day's
adventures.
	Leaving the exploration of the cave until later,
they began to look around for something to eat. At
the foot of the mountain were great clusters of berry
bushes and to the right a small stream cut through
the meadows before them like a rippling silver ribbon.
	"Little Enough River," said the sign swinging
from a birch tree on the bank, and as it was indeed
little enough to hop across, they amused themselves
for several minutes in this sprightly fashion, espe-
cially Terrybubble, who felt very jolly and dythram-
bic since his escape from Kachewka.
	The mountain behind them and the countryside
before them were so fresh and green that Speedy
felt the Emerald City could not be far away, and
after he and Gureeda had quenched their thirst in
Little Enough River and satisfied their hunger with
the fragrant berries, he suggested that they walk
around to the other side of the mountain. They had
quite a time getting Terrybubble to come. He had
discovered some ferns on the river bank and was
trying his best to roll in them. But when you are
twenty times as large as, an elephant and have only
bones to roll, it is an extremely difficult matter, and
fearful lest he crack a rib, Speedy finally persuaded
him to give up the idea and come along.
	On a smooth slab of rock part way round they
found the mountain's name. "Big Enough Moun-
tain," read Speedy thoughtfully. "Well, it is pretty
big."
	"Yes, but big enough for what?" queried Terry-
bubble, waving; his claws argumentatively. "Big
enough for what?"
	Speedy did not have to answer, for coming just
then to the other side of the mountain, they saw two
great feet, as long as schooners, resting against the
rocks. Above the feet were two tremendous legs
above the legs a giant, sitting on the mountain top,
a telescope glued to his right eye. Now naturally,
they did not see all of these things at once, but one
look at those enormous boots had been sufficient to
send them springing away from the mountain side.
	Terrybubble, like a mother hen defending her
chicks, ran in frantic circles around Speedy and
Gureeda and then, pouncing on them with a little
moan, thrust them desperately into his chest and
started at a fast clip for other and far away places.
It was while he was running that Speedy noticed the
giant's telescope, and Gureeda the big black and
blue spot on the ogre's forehead.
	"Goodness, gracious Grandfathers!" gulped the
little boy, holding on to a rib as Terrybubble clat-
tered madly along. "No wonder they call it 'Big
Enough Mountain.' Wonder what he's looking for?"
	"M-m-me!" shivered Gureeda in a faint voice.
"Oh, Speedy, see that lump on his head! It's Loxo
and we've fallen right at his feet!"
	"But he doesn't see us yet," breathed the little boy,
the hair on his scalp prickling uncomfortably erect.
"Terrybubble can run pretty fast."
	Speedy was right about Terrybubble's running
ability, but he had not taken into account the loud
rattling of his bone~loud enough to reach even the
ears of the giant on the mountain top. Though it
sounded no louder to Loxo than the buzzing of some
huge insect, he nevertheless lowered his telescope,
and as luck would have it, turned it directly upon the
fleeing monster. Magnified a hundred times, Terry-
bubble was a gruesome sight,- even for a giant, and
the two figures in his chest made him still more as-
tonishing.
	"Soup bones!" roared Loxo, with a huge sniff, and
thrusting the telescope in his pocket, he took out a
rusty looking magnet, the same one Kachewka had
read about in the book of giants, and held it out to-
ward the runaways. It is useless for me to try to
describe the feelings of Terrybubble and his two
companions as the magnet drew them relentlessly
backward, dragged them up through the air and set
them down with a thump on the top of Big Enough
Mountain, beside the giant.
	Picking up the dinosaur between his thumb and
forefinger, Loxo peered at him with great curiosity
and interest. Then he began to shake him playfully
like a rattle. If this had continued for more than a
second, Speedy and the Princess would have been de-
molished, but soon tiring of this amusement, Loxo
lifted Terrybubble close to his crooked nose and for
the first time had a real good view of the two figures
his chest.
	"Why, whizzle my whiskers, if it isn't the child of
that old Umbrellephant who hit me with his island,"
he bellowed joyfully.
	"Two of them! Come out, you little pig-tailed ras-
cals, and get to work on my boots! I was looking for
yourr father's island this very minute. Why should I
wait three months for a boot lacer? Hah! Hah! This
is more than I bargained for! Two boot lacers, one
for each foot. Did the King send you ahead of time
in this animated bird cage? Come out, before I shake
you out or fling you into the soup kettle with this
heap of bones who brought you."
	Breathing heavily, Loxo set them down on a rocky
ledge level with his face. While Terrybubble snort-
ed and rumbled in a manner that would have petri-
fied anyone but a giant, Speedy and Gureeda un-
willingly slid down the vine and stood hand in hand
just beneath the giant's nose.
	"Say yes to everything," whispered Speedy, as
the Princess, rather pale but quite proudly, looked
up at the great ogre.
	"Well, are you ready to lace my boots, or shall it
be the soup kettle?" rumbled Loxo, peering at them
threateningly.
	"Boots!" shouted Speedy pleasantly, and rather
disappointed at the quick and agreeable answer the
giant, grumbling a little to himself, took two heavy
pieces of cord from his pocket. Knotting one around
the waist of each of his prisoners, he lifted them up
and in one dizzy swoop deposited them at his feet.
Then, bending laboriously, he tied the end of each
cord to his ankles, and thus tethered, one to each
foot, the unfortunate children faced the tedious task
of lacing his tremendous boots. Terrybubble, still
snorting and rumbling, was shoved into a shallow
cave at the foot of the mountain, and as Loxo rolled
a big rock before the opening Speedy and Gureeda
felt more frightened and forsaken than ever.
	"Mind you jump aboard when I start walking, or
you'll be crushed," roared the giant, squinting at
them evilly. Then, straightening up, he sat down on
Big Enough Mountain and taking out a monster
mouth organ began to play the most dismal, out-of-
tune, ear-splitting melodies Speedy ever had had the
ill luck to listen to. Trying to talk above the dreadful
din was impossible, so, nodding encouragingly to his
downcast companion, tied to the giant's left foot,
Speedy set himself to straighten out the tangle Loxo
had managed to get in his right boot laces. Pulling
the immense black cords through the proper holes
was difficult indeed, and after each tug Speedy was
forced to rest. But mounting up the giant's ankle
as one would climb the rigging of a ship, he finally
completed the arduous and tiresome job. Then, as
the cord tying him to the giant's right ankle was
long enough for him to cross over to the left, he
descended and went to help Gureeda with her boot.
	"If I only had my old suit on I could cut us loose
with my pen knife," he fumed, pushing and pulling
the giant's laces with vindictive jerks. "But don't
you worry, we'll get off somehow! A nice place for
a Princess this is, I must say!" Tying the laces at
the top with an angry violence, Speedy started down
the ladder-like laces, closely followed by Gureeda,
who had helped him as much as she could.
	"It's just as bad for you. Look at all the trouble
I've gotten you into," sighed Gureeda, seating her-
self disconsolately on the broad toe of Loxo's boot.
"Whatever'll we do if he starts walking?"
	"Hook your arms through the laces and I guess
we'd better stay aboard for the present. But cheer
up!" Speedy put an inquiring hand behind his ear
to listen. "At least he's stopped playing that mur-
derous mouth organ."
	"But what is that other awful noise?" asked
Gureeda. wincing at the roars and snufflings that
came rolling and rumbling like thunder down the
mountain side.
	"Snores!" explained Speedy, making a wry face.
"Now you stay right where you are, and I'll go back
to my boot and try to think of some way to get us
off. No use working on these knots round our waists.
They're pulled so tight only an iron-fingered monkey
could pull them loose."
	"And I don't see any iron-fingered monkeys around
here, do you?" Gureeda smiled as she asked the
question, and taking the book she had brought down
from Terrybubble's chest from the pocket of her
jacket, she settled herself composedly to read.
	Marveling at her calm courage and wishing the
rest of the books were not shut up with Terrybubble
in the cave, Speedy walked slowly back to Loxo's
right boot and swung himself savagely up on the
toe. Never in his wildest dreams or imaginings had
he expected to find himself tied to a giant, and the
more he considered their situation the more danger-
ous and terrible it became.
	"It'll be bad enough if he walks or runs, but what'll
we do if he starts wading?" groaned the little boy,
glancing fearfully at Loxo's leg, stretching like a
tree trunk up over his head.

CHAPTER 17

Waddy Has Another Idea
At night the lamps in the Wizard's
tower had burned steadily, as Waddy, his
beard ~irly bristling with excitement,
worked away on a new and secret invention,
beating, blowing and stirring strange liquid~
together in his golden mixing bowl.
	"Ho, this will fix him!" he wheezed, sat-
isfied at last, and shoving the bowl into an
electric oven he sat wearily down in his great 
arm chair to rest. The last star had twinkled out, 
and under the eaves the birds were beginning to
twitter about another day.
	Listening to their eager chattering, Waddy smiled.
He, too, in spite of his long night's labors, was look-
ing forward to a pleasant morning. He had impor-
tant news for the King, and glancing from the clock
to the oven, he waited impatiently for the mixture
in the golden bowl to come to the proper tempera-
ture. A short doze helped pass the time, but as the
bell attached to the oven rang sharply he fairly
sprang awake. Being careful not to burn his fingers,
he removed his precious mixture from the fire and
setting it on a small table, did the umbrella jig all
the way round the room.
	"Wait till Sizzer hears about this," he puffed joy-
fully. "This will lift his heart and chins for him
and keep me a couple of sneezes ahead of the Grand
Grumboleer." Covering the smoking bowl with a
silver cloth, the Wizard gaily kissed his fingers in
farewell, and without even stopping to replait his
beard or wash his face, skipped cumbersomely out
of his laboratory, whisked down the spiral stair and
five minutes later was tapping at the King's door.
In response to his sorrowful command to enter,
Waddy bounded joyously into the royal presence.
	"Cheer up, old Pumpkin, our troubles are over!"
Hurrying to the King's bedside, he gave him a hearty
thump between the shoulder blades. "At last I have
found a way to settle that giant and punish him well
for his disgusting impertinence!"
	"You have!" Sizzeroo's face brightened up like a
big red paper lantern when somebody suddenly lights
the candle inside. "What is it? How will you do it?
You mean the Princess and Speedy are really safe?"
	"Speedy?" exclaimed Waddy with a puzzled frown.
"What's he got to do with Loxo? He hasn't even
heard of him, bless his brave heart! You know,"-
the King's magician paused and looked earnestly at
Sizzero-"I couldn't love that boy any better if
he were your Majesty's own son. I wish we could per-
suade him to stay here and grow up with our
Princess. He might even marry her in a hundred
years or so and succeed your Highness as Ruler of
the Island! But what is this about saving him?"
Waddy interrupted himself irritably. "He's done
plenty towards saving this Island, but I've done
nothing toward saving him from a giant or anyone
else. Why should I? He is in no danger!"
	"Not now," sighed Sizzeroo, leaning back thank-
fully against his pillows. "And he was in no real
danger, anyway, for I never should have consented
to such a thing, but you know how Kachewka is when
he gets an idea into his head."
	"Kachewka-Speedy? What in mince meat are
you talking about?" Pushing his specs up on his
forehead, Waddy stared in exasperation at his Maj-
esty.
	"Oh, nothing, nothing," murmured the King.
Nevertheless, he hastened to explain. "You see,
Kachewka remarking how much Speedy resembled
my daughter in size and coloring, decided to keep
him here and turn him over to Loxo instead of the
Princess. Naturally, I refused to even consider such
a scheme."
	"Oh! Oh! I'll pull his long nose for this! Where
is the mizzling, meddling, skinny old scoundrel?
Just wait till I catch him, I'll turn him into a goose
egg and boil him for breakfast!" Flouncing out of
the arm chair, Waddy hurled himself through the
door, breathing heavily.
	"Wait! Wait!" Leaping out of bed, the plump
monarch rushed violently after his still plumper
Wizard and after great exertion and argument man-
aged to coax him back into the room. Still puffing
and muttering with displeasure, Waddy again low-
ered himself into the chair and as Sizzeroo continued
his efforts to calm him down, in burst Kachewka
himself.
	"He's gone!" croaked the King's chief counselor,
flapping his hands like fins. "Gone! Kachew! Gone!
And the giant will get the Princess!"
	"Who's gone?" demanded Waddy, grabbing Ka-
chewka by the shoulders and shaking him roughly
backward and forward.
	"The boy! The dinosaur!" coughed the old coun-
selor, too upset to notice Waddy's furious expression.
"Meander just brought the news."
	"I could have told you that last evening," purred
Pansy, who had followed sedately on the heels of
the agitated Minister. Springing up on the foot of
the King's bed, she surveyed them all with a bored
and thoroughly annoyed expression. "What did you
expect?" she inquired indignantly, as Waddy let go
Kachewka and lunged toward her. "When Terry-
bubble heard Kachewka's fine little scheme for
throwing Speedy to the giant, he quite naturally
decided to leave. In fact, I helped him," declared the
Watch Cat defiantly, and enjoying to the fullest ex-
tent the frightened expression of Kachewka. Pansy
disapproved completely of the King's wily adviser
and anything she could do to embarrass or annoy
him gave her the most exquisite satisfaction.
	"You helped him?" gasped Waddy, clutching the
golden post of the King's bed for support.
	"Yes," the Watch Cat informed him solemnly. "I
turned the Island toward the Emerald City of Oz and
advised the big buster to take the boy, put up his
parashoot and jump off. So he did!"
	"Oh! Oh! and Oh!" Each groan of Waddy's was
louder and more anguished than the last, as he saw
all of his carefully thought out plans for dealing with
the giant brought to naught. Not only was Speedy
running a great risk in the jump to Oz, but when
Ozma heard from him the whole story of Loxo and
his threat, it would be the famous Wizard of Oz who
would solve the difficulty and get all the credit for
saving the Princess. Not only that, Umbrella Island
would doubtless be severely punished for Kachewka's
base scheme against an innocent mortal visitor. As
the King and his Wizard tried to adjust themselves
to this new trouble and calamity, Metoo, Gureeda's
personal maid and attendant, clattered breathlessly
along the passageway on her high useless heels.
	"The Princess is not-is not-is not in her room!
The Princess is not here or there or anywhere!"
cried Metoo, waving her arms about in violent circles.
	"I could have told you that too," yawned Pansy
walking calmly up and down the foot of the King's
bed. "While he was about it, that monster decided
to save the Princess as well as the boy. And a good
idea I call it!"
	"But she may be dashed to pieces, or caught on
the spire of some ruined castle! Oh my, me, you,
her, them and us!" wailed Sizzeroo, beating his chest.
"Quick, Waddy, to the Emerald City of Oz! As for
you" The King jerked round toward Kachewka,
"you shall answer for this, my fine -  my fine - "
	Words failed him, but for once the round, jolly
face of Sizzeroo looked so grim and purposeful that
Kachewka rushed wildly from the apartment, squeak-
ing like a frightened rat as Waddy sent a gold to-
bacco box banging after him. Then, while the King
shouted loudly for his attendants and guards, the
Wizard ran out to the royal terrace and set the
course for the Capital of Oz. Umbrella Island was
curving slowly over the Munchkin country, when he
reached the great silver shaft and giving the wheel
a sharp turn, he set the dials for full speed ahead
and with a heavy heart waited for the glittering tow-
ers and spires of Ozma's splendid city to swing into
view.
	What would they find when they reached their
goal? Suppose the umbrella he had made for Terry-
bubble had blown inside out in its downward rush!
Suppose the Princess and Speedy had been crushed
by the fall and poor Terrybubble reduced to a heap
of wreckage! What could he ever do to Kachewka
to repay him for the miserable meddling scheme that
had so upset all his plans for subduing Loxo and sav-
ing Umbrella Island from the wrath of the powerful
little ruler of Oz?
	As the blue of the Munchkin country melted into
the bright green of the forests surrounding the Em-
erald City, Waddy with numb and trembling fingers
slanted Umbrella Island downward, almost afraid of
what he should discover.

CHAPTER 18

In the Emerald City

	THE morning was so clear and bright
that Ozma and Dorothy were having breakfast
in the Royal Gardens. Dorothy, a little girl
from Kansas, was one of the first mortals to
reach the wonderful Kingdom of Oz and
after several exciting visits had been invited
by Ozma to live in the capital. There were two
other little girls residing in the Royal Palace,
but Dorothy, having come first, was Ozma's closest 
friend and adviser, and next to the Scarcecrow the 
most popular person at court.
	The Scarecrow himself had been discovered by
Dorothy on her first trip and they had made the jour-
ney to the Emerald City together, meeting on the
way, the Cowardly Lion and the famous Tin Wood-
man, who is now ruler of the Winkies.
	As you many friends of the Scarecrow already
know, this live and lively straw-stuffed gentleman
who had once been Emperor of Oz is more interest-
ing and jolly than five or six ordinary people-so
obliging and clever that he is much in demand at the
capital. Though he has a golden, corn-ear castle of
his own in the Winkie Country, he spends most of
his time in the Emerald City and had come over the
evening before to invite Ozma and all the celebrities
to a pop corn party.
	As Dorothy and Ozma, attended by two dignified
footmen, ate their strawberries and cream, the
Scarecrow, who did not require nourishment of any
kind, told them all his plans for the celebration. The
Soldier with Green Whiskers, who constituted the
whole army of Oz, marched solemnly up and down
under the tullp trees to see that the royal break-
fasters were not disturbed, listening with all ears,
for though he was terribly opposed to gun fire he
had no objections to pop corn and was inordinately
fond of this delicacy.
	They were all so busy talking and laughing that
they did not at first notice the dark cloud settling
gradually over the garden and whole radiant city.
But soon, it grew so dark that even the Scarecrow
interrupted himself long enough to glance up at the
sky.
	"Thunder storm coming, girls! Better run for the
castle! Whew, what a cloud!"
	"Reminds me of a Kansas cyclone," murmured
Dorothy, pushing back her chair. But Ozma, though
only a little girl, was a real Queen and perhaps on
this account more used to examining everything with
extreme attention and care.
	"This is no cloud," she told them, quietly remain-
ing in her place. "It is too large and solid." At this
precise minute, Waddy, wishing to come somewhere
near the castle itself, swung Umbrella Island back-
ward, leaving the whole garden in bright sunlight,
and staring up with mingled feelings of interest and
alarm, Ozma and her advisers saw three figures
jump from the edge of the cloud and come billowing
grotesquely downward. Each grasped the handle of
an immense umbrella, and before Dorothy or the
Scarecrow had time to form any more theories or
opinions, the three, with three distinct thumps, land-
ed in a flower bed about thirty feet distant.
	"Skywaymen!" shrieked the Soldier with the Green
Whiskers, bumping into a tree in his hurry to get
away. "Look out! Look out! They're armed!"
	"But only with umbrellas," said Ozina, rising
quickly to her feet.
	"They are fat and therefore jolly. Let us be calm,"
stuttered the Scarecrow. Nevertheless he picked up
a large serving fork and placed himself resolutely
in front of the two girls. By this time, Waddy, Siz-
zeroo and Bamboula - for of course it was these
three-came running breathlessly toward the group
around the breakfast table.
	"Where are they?" puffed the Wizard, stumbling
over a gold flower urn in his haste. "Speedy, Gu-
reeda, Terrybubble?"
	"What language is this?" gasped the Scarecrow,
wrinkling up his cotton forehead. "Wait, I'll fetch
an interpreter. What country do you hie and fly
from, strangers? But wait, I'll fetch the interpreter."
	"No need, no need for that," panted Waddy, put-
ting down his umbrella. "We speak the same lan-
guage as your own." In spite of his agitation the
Wizard made three stiff and correct bows, one each,
for Ozma, Dorothy and the Scarecrow. The King
and Bamboula, close behind him, also bowed.
	"We are Umbrellians," announced Waddy, "and
yonder lies our island."
	"And you, I presume, are the Umbrella Spokesman
of this flying delegation," observed the Scarecrow,
as Dorothy and Ozma politely acknowledged the
bows of the visitors.
	"I am a Wizard," answered Waddy, fuming at all
this conversation and delay. "This is Sizzeroo, King
of Umbrella Island, and Bamboula, his Royal Su-
jester. But tell me, tell me quickly, have you seen
anything of a dinosaur, a little Princess and an
American boy named Speedy?"
	"Why, is Speedy in Oz?" cried Dorothy, pressing
forward eagerly. "And a dinosaur! I didn't think
there were any live dinosaurs anywhere."
	"He should be, he should be," quavered Sizzeroo.
"Only last evening he jumped off the Island with my
daughter and our visitor."
	"But how jocular," beamed the Scarecrow, twink-
ling his painted eyes. "How amusing and astonish-
ing and won't they all be pretty much smashed?"
	"Oh, oh! Don't joke about it!" Sizzeroo, dropping
on a golden bench, covered his face with his hands,
and Pansy who had concealed herself in his pocket
came out and rubbed softly against his ear.
	"Please do sit down, all of you," begged Ozma
kindly. She had at once noticed the distress and
anxiety of her callers or rather her fallers. "Could
you not tell us a little more about this whole matter?"
	"Yes, and about yourselves," proposed the Scare-
crow, fascinated by the Watch Cat, and the braided
beards of the Umhrellians. Are you quite sure that
island will not come down on us like the top crust
of a pie?"
	"Certainly not," declared the Wizard indignantly.
"It is held aloft by one of my most successful inven-
tions, and will not stir till I set the machinery in
motion. But this is no time for explanations. We
must have your help and assistance at once to find
Terrybubble, Gureeda and Speedy. You see-"
	Heartened by the dignified reception and manner
of the little ruler of all Oz, Waddy poured out his
whole strange story from the moment Umbrella
Island had hit Loxo in the forehead, omitting noth-
ing, not even the perfidious plan of Kachewka to
substitute Speedy for the Princess and hand him over
to the giant.
	By the time he had finished, the faces of his lis-
teners were grave and serious, for Speedy was well
liked in the capital. The Soldier with Green Whiskers
plucked nervously at his beard, terrified lest the
monster so graphically described by Waddy should
rush suddenly out at him.
"The thing to do is to look in the Magic Mirror,"
decided the Scarecrow, as Waddy finished his sor-
rowful recital of happenings on Umbrella Island.
"Then we'll know just where this dinosaur landed."
We can settle the giant later."
	Waddy said nothing to this, for he was fully re-
solved to handle Loxo himself, but he kept his own
counsel and lumbered after the Scarecrow, who was
awkwardly running toward the palace.
	Ozma, Dorothy and the two other Umbrellians fol-
lowed as quickly as they could, Ozma explaining the
Magic Mirror as they hurried along. This mirror
disclosed, at a given command, the exact location
of any missing person or persons.
	Hope lent speed to the sovereign of Umbrella
Island and you can imagine with what feelings he
faced the blank and gold framed square of glass in
Ozma's private sitting room. Pansy's eyes grew
round with fright and suspense as Ozma directed
the mirror to show them the dinosaur and the two
missing children, but when, instead of her old friend
Terrybubble, the much reduced but still formidable
form of Loxo, with Speedy and Gureeda tied to his
ankles, loomed up on the glass, she gave an an-
guished howl and dove under a sofa, too soon to see
Terrybubble, lashing up and down in his rocky cav-
ern, take the place of the giant. There were more
cries than just Pansy's, as Dorothy and her friends
and the King and his counselors realized the dread-
ful danger confronting Speedy and the little Prin-
cess of Umbrella Island.
	"Call the Wizard of Oz! Tell him to bring his
search light," commanded Ozma, in a stern but
slightly shaky voice. "This green mountain on which
Loxo sits cannot be near our city or we should have
seen Loxo long ago."
	"Pansy, you must have made a mistake," groaned
Waddy. "You turned the Island in the wrong direc-
tion, but I thought there were no green forests or
mountains except near the Emerald City of Oz."
	"There is one." The Wizard of Oz, hastily sum-
moned by Dorothy, solemnly made this disclosure.
	"It is in the exact center of the Quadling Country
and this mountain, settled by a band of Emerald City
dwellers and planted with seeds and shrubs brought
from the capital, retained all the verdure and charm
of our own countryside. Later, I understand the
giant Loxo drove off these peaceful settlers and took
the mountain for himself. Your Watch Cat doubtless
mistook the capital of the Quadling Country for the
Emerald Gity."
	Dorothy had explained the whole story of Loxo,
Speedy and the Princess, to the Wizard and now he
was quickly introduced to the Umbrellians.
	"Red or green, who cares, let us fly there at once,"
wheezed Bamboula earnestly. The King's Su-jester
had left his drum behind him and so far had not
spoken a word, for as he always preceded his re-
marks by a series of drum beats, he felt almost
tongue tied without his drum sticks.
	"Would the flying island of our visitors be better
than a wish?" pondered the Wizard of Oz, beginning
to unclasp his bag.
	"Much better," answered Waddy jealously. "If
Loxo grows troublesome we can fly out of his reach
and at any rate we can reason with him on his own
level and from a safe and convenient base."
	As these arguments appealed to Ozma, she quickly
decided the matter and in less than five minutes she
and her three advisers and Sizzeroo and his two
counselors were hurrying toward the suspended isle.
Meander, hanging over the gold fence at the foot
of the King's garden, proved his good sense and
usefulness by letting down a rope ladder kept for
such emergencies, and one after the other the little
party of rescuers mounted the ladder, climbed aboard
and hurried to the royal terrace. With the Wizard
of Oz and his magic searchlight to guide him, Wad-
dy manipulated the silver wheel and at a rate of
almost a hundred miles an hour, Umbrella Island
skimmed over field and forest towards its distant and
dangerous goal.


CHAPTER 19

The Last of Loxo

Loxo had just awakened from his long
morning nap and was lazily reaching for his
mouth organ, when Umbrella Island swung
suddenly into view. Having already looked
at his boots and found them neatly laced and
tied by his new slaves, the giant was in high
good humor and waved quite jovially as the Um-
brellians approached.
	"I see you kept your bargain ahead of time
and sent me two children instead of one," he called
cheerfully, as Waddy brought the Island to a halt
about six feet from his nose. "Thank you! Thank
you very kindly."
	Without replying to the giant's greeting, the group
on the royal terrace hurried down to the Island's
edge. That is, all but Waddy. Waddy's one thought
was to reach the tower and fetch down his precious
golden bowl before the Wizard of Oz opened his
black bag and began experimenting with his famous
green magic. Whisking up and down the spiral stair
took so little time that Sizzeroo's chief necromancer
reached the foot of the garden just as Ozma, in a
stern voice, commanded Loxo to return his two pris-
oners to Umbrella Island. At first the giant did not
understand. Then when it gradually dawned on him
that the diminutive brown-haired Princess was ac-
tually commanding him to give up his slaves, he
began to roar with delight and derision.
	"Save your breath, Lady," he bellowed uproarious-
ly. "And don't try ordering a fellow like me around
or I might steal you to sweep up my cave."
	"Do you realize to whom you are talking?" shout-
ed the Wizard, shaking his bag angrily. "This is
Ozma of Oz, Supreme Ruler of this whole magic
country. Unless you obey her at once, I, as her
Wizard, will be forced to resort to magic to subdue
you!"
	"Oh, take care! Take care," breathed Sizzeroo
nervously. "He's dreadfully dangerous, you know,
and liable to snatch a piece right out of this Island.
Are you sure you can manage him?"
	"Certainly," answered the Wizard of Oz, snapping
his fingers scornfully at the scowling ogre. "In this
bag I have magic enough for a dozen giants."
	"But-but-he may injure those poor children be
fore your magic works," fumed Sizzeroo, clasping
Pansy frantically to his plump middle. "Would not
-ah-would not a littl~ah----er persuasion be best,
your Highness?"
	"Yes, let us first try to reason with him," whis-
pered Waddy, pushing his way hurriedly between
the Wizard and Sizzeroo. "Then if we fail, your
Majesty and your Majesty's Wizard can take him in
hand."
	"Persuasion! Persuasion! Humph! I'll persuade
him with a pinch of the powder of petrifaction,"
sniffed the Wizard of Oz, briskly snapping open his
bag.
	"Now Wizard, now Wizard! You know I dislike
violence." Ozma raised her hand in gentle reproof.
"After all, Loxo has his rights too. Let this King
and his magician first try their persuasion, then if
that does not succeed we can try something more
serious."
"Wisely spoken, Your Highness! Most wisely
spoken!" Waddy made a jerky little bow to Ozma
and then, before she could change her mind, opened
the golden gate and stepped to the very edge of the
Island, waving both arms to. attract Loxo's atten-
tion. During this low spoken conversation, the
giant's expression had changed from amusement to
sullen anger.
	"What do you mean bothering around here again,"
he called in a surly voice. "Go away before I put my
feet through your island."
	"We are going away," shouted Waddy cheerfully.
"But tell me first, are you satisfied with your bar-
gain?"
	"Perfectly." The giant, blinking rapidly down at
his boots, spoke more pleasantly.
	"Fine!" smiled Waddy. "Then let us part good
friends and drink to the health of all concerned in
our famous umbrella-ade." Coaxingly Waddy held
out a large glass of sparkling amber liquid and a
round yellow sponge cake which he had just turned
out of the golden bowl.
	"Well, this is more like it. What was all that talk
of returning the King's children?" rumbled Loxo,
stretching out a huge hand for the Umbrellian's
offering. "This umbrella-ade will scarce wet my
tongue and that cake looks like a bird seed. Still,
since it's kindly meant-" Seizing the glass, the
giant emptied it down his vast throat, tossing the
yellow cake, bowl and all, down after it.
287
	Clasping and unclasping his pudgy hands, Waddy
watched him, breathless with suspense and anxiety.
Would his cake, a mere crumb in the great cavern
of the giant's mouth, really go down that tremendous
and terrible throat? The first proof that it had, came
from the Scarecrow, who dangled dangerously over
the edge of the golden fence.
	"Where is he?" shrilled the straw gentleman hys-
terically. And "Where is he?" echoed Sizzeroo, Dor-
othy, Ozma and all the others who had crowded into
the garden to get a glimpse of the terrifying giant.
"Oh, somewhere below," answered Waddy care-
lessly, and stepping back through the gate, he hur-
ried up to the royal terrace to bring the Island as
close to the foot of Big Enough Mountain as possible.
This was pretty close, and when Meander let down
his rope ladder, Waddy was the first to descend, fol-
lowed jealously by the Wizard of Oz, who felt he
should have been the one to deal with Loxo.
	Instead of two, three figures came hurrying to
meet them, the first two, Speedy and Gureeda, who
in great suspense and anxiety had been awaiting the
outcome of the parley, and the third Loxo himself,
now scarcely a head taller than his prisoners. Bound
to them by the ropes on his ankles and theirs, he
came most unwillingly, but no one could have with-
stood the rush of the relieved and delighted children.
	And while the Princess and Speedy were being
hugged, exclaimed over and carefully examined for
bruises or injury by Sizzeroo, both the Wizards
seized the shrunken giant and held him while Mean-
der hastily cut the cords binding him to his erstwhile
boot lacers.
	"Well, what did you think of my patent double-
acting, shrinking-magic, malted sponge cake?" in-
quired Waddy maliciously, as the Wizard of Oz
stared in amazement at the reduced but still ugly
ogre.
	"Didn't even taste it," confessed Loxo, in a fright-
ened voice. "First thing I know, I feel myself slip-
ping and shrinking inside, and second thing I know,
here I am no bigger than a peanut!"
	"And larger than you deserve to be, even at that,"
remarked Ozma, coming quietly over to the cower-
ing figure. "Good work, Waddy!"
	"I always try to reduce problems to their smallest
possible form," explained the Umbrellian, blushing
with pleasure. "In this size he'll not harm anyone."
	"I'd rather be small anyway," grumbled Loxo,
edging off defiantly. "No fun being a giant-too
lonely. Now I can lace my own boots and marry a
dairymaid."
	"Thank goodness for that," exclaimed Speedy,
finally escaping from the King, and warmly greet-
ing his old friends from the Emerald City. "I thought
we were done for this time."
	"You didn't suppose I'd let anything happen to
Gureeda and my assistant wizard, did you?" Waddy
smiled proudly down at the little boy.
	"Oh, are you a wizard now?" Dorothy, who was
herself a Princess of Oz, could not help feeling a
bit envious of Speedy's new position on this strange
island.
	"The best little wizard as ever wizzed," Waddy
assured her gravely. "Come along, my boy. Let's
show Dorothy and the famous Wizard of Oz some of
our latest tricks and contrivances, and perhaps he
will show us some of his own magic experiments."
Waddy, having gained his point, felt very generous
toward Ozma's chief magician.
	"But first we must find Terrybubble," cried Speedy,
striding toward the cave where Loxo had imprisoned
the dinosaur.
	"I'll help you," volunteered the Wizard of Oz, and
as Waddy made no objection, he took a magic rod
from his black bag and waved the rock away from
the opening in the cave, and out sprang Terrybubble,
looking like some strange nightmare to the visitors
from the Emerald City.
	"A hat rack," shuddered the Scarecrow. "A hat
rack and ruin. Does he bite and devour one?"
	"Certainly not," said Speedy, running up the long
ladder-like tail and back bone of the dinosaur and
patting him affectionately on the skull. "Terry-
bubble's as gentle and harmless as you are!" And
now, what a hub-bub of introductions and explana-
tions, as Gureeda and Terrybubble met the celebri-
ties from Oz. During the general excitement and
rejoicing Loxo took himself off and nobody even
noticed his departure.
	At Sizzeroo's earnest invitation, they all climbed
aboard Umbrella Island, Terrybubble scorning the
ladder and jumping aboard in a dythrambic leap that
caused the Scarecrow to regard him with profound
wonder and admiration.
	As the Island billowed smoothly and rhythmically
back toward the Emerald City, a great feast was
prepared in honor of the distinguished guests - a
feast that lasted five hours and eight hundred miles
and had more kinds of cake and ices than even a
royal wedding. Sizzeroo was so happy over the re-
turn of his daughter and Speedy, and the unexpected
graciousness of Ozma of Oz that all unpleasantness
was forgotten. Even Kachewka was dragged down
from his tower room and after being gently reprived
was completely forgiven and placed in his old seat at
the royal board.
	Speedy, looking down that long sparkling table at
his old friends from Oz and his new friends among
the Umbrellians, then toward the door where Terry-
bubble, wearing a fresh wreath of roses, stood ob-
serving them with insatiable interest and curiosity,
felt a twinge of sadness.
	Why must all his thrilling adventures and friend-
ships end? Might it not be better to spend the re-
mainder of his days on Umbrella Island than to re-
turn to his more or less humdrum existence in Amer-
ica? But even as the dazzling idea flitted through
his mind, the thought of Uncle Billy, anxious, alone
and grief stricken, quickly put such a plan out of his
head. Besides, there was the water gun! Should an
important invention like that be left to the foolish
uses of a Fairy Island Sea King? No, no, a thousand
times no! It was his duty to return and help Uncle
Billy perfect this powerful weapon for Uncle Sam.
	Terrybubble, he decided reluctantly, must stay
where he was to spend long lazy afternoons in the
jungle and long happy mornings with Pansy and
Gureeda. Professor Sanderson would have to look
elsewhere for a prehistoric monster, and some day-
Speedy looked again toward his gigantic but gentle
comrad~some day he would return and spend the
whole summer with these dear old friends.
	So, while Waddy explained all over again how he
had compounded the magic sponge cake that shrank
the giant, while Bamboula impatiently cleared his
throat for the next song, the little boy took a slip of
paper from his pocket and scribbled a hasty note.
"Dear Gureeda:
	Please keep Terrybubble and my magic umbrella for me and say
good-bye to Waddy, Pansy and all of the others. I hate to go away,
but I must. Some day I'm coming back to read all the books you were
telling me about. Good-bye! Don't forget me!
"SPEEDY."
	Feeling as if he had swallowed a baseball, Speedy
placed the note under his tall tumbler, gently touched
the arm of Ozma, who was sitting on his right, and
whispered an earnest sentence in her royal ear. Ozma
smiled, nodded understandingly and, touching the
jewelled Magic Belt she wore around her waist, spoke
a few words under her breath. As all heads turned
to the King's Su-jester, who had risen to render his
song, Speedy disappeared noiselessly from his place,
dropped lightly as a feather through the dream-like
mists and rainbows surrounding all fairy countries,
and came down with a soft thump in the middle of
the worn leather sofa in Uncle Billy's study.

CHAPTER 20
Home Again

	UNCLE BILLY was sitting in an arm
chair looking mournfully out of the window,
but he turned quickly at the little noise be-
hind him.
	"Hello! So it's you! I thought you'd come
back, even though the professor assured me
you'd been blown to bits!"
	The inventor jumped joyfully to his feet.
"Boy, let me look at you! Silks and satins,
boots and a queue! Where've you been? Looks as
if it might have been China!"
	"Farther than that," chuckled Speedy, clutching
him exuberantly round the waist. "I've been to Um-
brella Island, and oh, Uncle!"
		You, now knowing the whole strange story, will
realize Uncle Billy's astonishment and surprise at
the amazing experiences of Speedy and the dinosaur.
We'll all have to watch sharply for that water gun,
for as surely as fishes have fins and turkeys have
feathers, Speedy and his uncle will duplicate and
perfect the Sea King's curious invention.
	They decided, and quite wisely, too, to say nothing
to Professor Sanderson of what really happened to
Terrybubble, and unless he reads this story, he will
think his dinosaur was lost in the volcanic geyser.
	And Terrybubble, on many a moonlit night, sits
sorrowfully on the edge of Umbrella Island, vainly
looking for Speedy. Much as he loves Gureeda and
Umbrella Island, he still longs for the little boy who
made life so interesting and real.
	Waddy, too, flying the Island dangerously low
over the mortal world, pointing his telescopes here
and there, never gives up hope of finding again his
assistant wizard.
	And who knows? Perhaps some calm evening,
Umbrella Island will float over your very own house-
top. If it does, and the rope ladder is down, go
aboard by all means. For my part, I believe Speedy
will some day return, marry the Princess, and be-
come King of the Island!

THE END



ON March28, 1933, Ruth Plumly Thompson wrote
to a correspondent: "I hear exciting news
concerning a flying island over Oz and would not be
surprised if a whole book full of adventures were
happening there this very minute. I'll tell you about it
next year." Thus, a year before its appearance, the
author began giving tantalizing hints about the new
Oz book.
	The Oz book for 1934 was a milestone. It was the
fourteenth Oz novel by Ruth Plumly Thompson,
exactly the same number of Oz books that L. Frank
Baum wrote. The story's action was largely confined to
a single location, Umbrella Island, rather than
involving a great deal of travel as in most other Oz
books. The book re-introduced one of Miss
Thompson's most successful boy characters, Speedy,
and presented to her readers two of Thompson's best
and most imaginative creations, Umbrella Island itself,
and the marvelous Terrybubble.
	Whereas circumstances spaced out Baum's Oz titles
over a twenty-year span, Thompson's fourteen titles
appeared in just fourteen years. During his period of
writing Oz books, Baum wrote other books and pieces
for newspapers and magazines as well. So did Ruth
Plumly Thompson. She edited a weekly children's
page for The Philadelphia Public Ledger, produced
advertising pamphlets for Royal Baking Powder and
other products, and got out three of her five non oz
books. It was a busy fourteen years for Thompson, but
she would go on to write five more novels about Oz.