“ALL THROUGH THE CITY THE ROLY-ROGUES LAY ASLEEP.”
When the big kettle was finally empty and the lord high general paused to wipe the perspiration from his brow, the last of the Roly-Rogues were rolling over on their backs from the effects of the potion which the witch-queen brewed and placed in the Silver Vial.
Aunt Rivette had been flying over the city since early morning; and although the Roly-Rogues had been too intent upon their breakfast to notice her, the old woman’s sharp eyes had watched everything that took place below.
Now, when all the monsters had succumbed to the witch-potion, Aunt Rivette flew back to the mountain where the army of Ix was hidden, and carried the news to the witch-queen.
Zixi at once ordered her generals to advance, and the entire army quickly mounted the summit of the ridge and ran down the side of the mountain to the gates of the city.
The people, who saw that something unusual was taking place, greeted Bud and Fluff and the witch-queen with shouts of gladness; and even Aunt Rivette, when she flew down among them, was given three hearty cheers.
But there was no time for joyous demonstrations while the streets and public squares were cluttered with the sleeping bodies of the terrible Roly-Rogues. The army of Ix lost no time in carrying out their queen’s instructions; and as soon as they entered the city they took the long ropes they carried and wound them fast about the round bodies of the monsters, securely fastening their heads and limbs into their forms so that they could not stick them out again.
Their enemies being thus rendered helpless, the people renewed their shouts of joy and gratitude, and eagerly assisted the soldiers of Ix in rolling all the Roly-Rogues outside the gates and to a wide ledge of the mountain.
The lord high general and all the other counselors threw away their aprons and tools of servitude and dressed themselves in their official robes. The soldiers of Tollydob’s army ran for their swords and pikes, and the women unlocked their doors and trooped into the streets of Nole for the first time since the descent of the monsters.
