“Ugh!” the boy gagged. “Pills!”

“They’re not pills,” rasped the goblin; “they’re food tablets and drink pellets.”

“They’re pills to me, all the same.”

“They’re not pills, I tell you,” Fitz Mee reiterated sharply, snapping his jaws shut and angrily grating his teeth. “Now I’ll select what you’re to eat; and you’ll eat it. The storm’s approaching rapidly; I hear the thunder muttering and see the black clouds rolling. So you’ll need something to make you strong and courageous. Here’s a tiger-muscle tablet and a lion-heart tablet. Down ’em.”

Bob shut his mouth and shook his head.

“Down ’em!” the goblin repeated.

“Uk-uh!” the lad grunted.

“You must!”

“I won’t!”