Suddenly as they strode along at a brisk pace, the earth slid from beneath them, and they fell feet first, down, down—they did not know where. Filled with terror, they could only think of what might happen when they struck something.
At last, with a great jolt, they landed and went sprawling in all directions. When they scrambled to their feet they were glad to be alive, and for a few moments they stood there panting and wondering.
"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Uncle Rupert, "that was a terrible fall! I wonder where we are now? Tell us, Pietas."
Pietas said they had fallen three miles. But the force of gravity being not so strong near the center of the earth they did not fall as fast as they would have fallen near the surface. They were near his own kingdom, he said, and a walk of about a hundred yards would bring them to the alligator's tail.
"Do not be afraid of the animal, my dear people," he said, "for he cannot harm you. We shall find the monster lying in the path. We shall walk on the beast for a number of yards, but he cannot harm us nor shake us off. There will be a little danger when we get to the head, but if we jump from his nose without falling, no harm can come to us. The name of the creature is Mortuus, and he is dangerous only to those who try to leave our kingdom. Few have escaped his deadly bite when doing that. But let us move on at once."
The children did not hesitate to follow, for Uncle Rupert gave them confidence. When they came to the great tail, they stepped lightly upon it and walked along, as they might have walked on board an ocean liner.
"Hist!" exclaimed Pietas, "let us all gather together and get ready to run and jump off the end of his snout. This is the beginning of the Middle Earth Kingdom."
Uncle Rupert took little Bee in his arms, and the rest followed the dwarf, with Uncle Rupert in the rear.
They walked with some difficulty upon the great head of the alligator, for he kept opening and shutting his jaws. When he opened his mouth, they seemed to be going uphill, and when he shut it, they felt as if they were sliding downhill. How the boys did enjoy it! But the girls found the road a little rough.
When they came to jump off, Uncle Rupert showed them how to do so while the jaws were shut; then the fall was only seven or eight feet, whereas, with the mouth open, it would have been at least a hundred feet.