Up, up, my lieges and away!
We take the field again—
For Ladies fair we fight today
And KING! Up, up, my merry men!
shrilled the Knight as if he were leading an army to battle. The Pokes opened both eyes, but did not immediately retire. Sir Hokus bravely swallowed a yawn and hastily clearing his throat shouted another song, which he evidently made up on the spur of the moment:
Avaunt! Be off! Be gone—Methinks
We'll be asleep in forty winks!
This time the Pokes left sullenly, but the effect of their presence had thrown Dorothy, the Cowardly Lion, and the Knight into a violent fit of the gapes.
"If I fall asleep, nothing can save you," said Sir Hokus in an agitated voice. "Hah, hoh, hum! Hah—!"
The Knight's eyes closed.
"Don't do it, don't do it!" begged Dorothy, shaking him violently. "Can't we run away?"
"I've been trying for five centuries," wailed the Knight in a discouraged voice, "but I always fall asleep before I reach the gate, and they bring me back here. They're rather fond of me in their slow way," he added apologetically.
"Couldn't you keep singing?" asked the Cowardly Lion anxiously, for the prospect of a five-century stay in Pokes was more than he could bear.
"Couldn't we all sing?" suggested Dorothy. "Surely all three of us won't fall asleep at once."