“Wh—wh—who is this?” he faltered.
“I am that helpless prisoner whom your cruel magic transformed from a handsome man into an ugly one!” answered Shaggy’s brother, in a voice of stern reproach.
“Really, Ruggedo,” said Betsy, “you ought to be ashamed of that mean trick.”
“I am, my dear,” admitted Ruggedo, who was now as meek and humble as formerly he had been cruel and vindictive.
“Then,” returned the girl, “you’d better do some more magic and give the poor man his own face again.”
“I wish I could,” answered the old King; “but you must remember that Tititi-Hoochoo has deprived me of all my magic powers. However, I never took the trouble to learn just how to break the charm I cast over Shaggy’s brother, for I intended he should always remain ugly.”
“Every charm,” remarked pretty Polychrome, “has its antidote; and, if you knew this charm of ugliness, Ruggedo, you must have known how to dispel it.”
He shook his head.
