“Ho—hum,” said he. “I see 'em, Your Majesty.”
“What do they look like?” inquired the Monarch.
“That’s a hard question to answer, for a queerer assortment of creatures I never yet beheld,” replied the nome. “However, such a collection of curiosities may prove dangerous. There’s a copper man, worked by machinery—”
“Bah! that’s only Tik-Tok,” said Ruggedo. “I’m not afraid of him. Why, only the other day I met the fellow and threw him down a well.”
“Then some one must have pulled him out again,” said Kaliko. “And there’s a little girl—”
“Dorothy?” asked Ruggedo, jumping up in fear.
“No; some other girl. In fact, there are several girls, of various sizes; but Dorothy is not with them, nor is Ozma.”
“That’s good!” exclaimed the King, sighing in relief.
Kaliko still had his eye to the spyglass.