“You’d better save your strength to fight the enemy,” suggested Kaliko. “There will be a terrible battle when the Army of Oogaboo gets here.”
“The Army won’t get here,” said the King, still coughing and panting. “I’ll drop 'em down the Hollow Tube—every man Jack and every girl Jill of 'em!”
“And defy Tititi-Hoochoo?” asked Kaliko.
“Yes. Go at once to my Chief Magician and order him to turn the path toward the Hollow Tube, and to make the top of the Tube invisible, so they’ll all fall into it.”
Kaliko went away shaking his head, for he thought Ruggedo was making a great mistake. He found the Magician and had the path twisted so that it led directly to the opening of the Hollow Tube, and this opening he made invisible.
Having obeyed the orders of his master, the Royal Chamberlain went to his private room and began to write letters of recommendation of himself, stating that he was an honest man, a good servant and a small eater.
“Pretty soon,” he said to himself, “I shall have to look for another job, for it is certain that Ruggedo has ruined himself by this reckless defiance of the mighty Tititi-Hoochoo. And in seeking a job nothing is so effective as a letter of recommendation.”
