The great dragon still had his eyes closed and waseven snoring in a manner that resembled distantthunder; but Polychrome was now desperate, becauseany further delay meant the destruction of herfriends. She seized the pearl necklace, to whichwas attached the great locket, and jerked it withall her strength.

The result was encouraging. Quox stoppedsnoring and his eyelids flickered. So Polychromejerked again--and again--till slowly the greatlids raised and the dragon looked at her steadily.Said he, in a sleepy tone:

"What's the matter, little Rainbow?"

"Come quick!" exclaimed Polychrome. "Ruggedo hascaptured all our friends and is about to destroythem."

"Well, well," said Quox, "I suspected that wouldhappen. Step a little out of my path, my dear, andI'll make a rush for the Nome King's cavern."

She fell back a few steps and Quox raisedhimself on his stout legs, whisked his long tailand in an instant had slid down the rocks and madea dive through the entrance.

Along the passage he swept, nearly filling itwith his immense body, and now he poked his headinto the jeweled cavern of Ruggedo.

But the King had long since made arrangements tocapture the dragon, whenever he might appear. Nosooner did Quox stick his head into the room thana thick chain fell from above and encircled hisneck. Then the ends of the chain were drawn tight--for in an adjoining cavern a thousand nomes werepulling on them--and so the dragon could advanceno further toward the King. He could not use histeeth or his claws and as his body was still inthe passage he had not even room to strike hisfoes with his terrible tail.

Ruggedo was delighted with the success of hisstratagem. He had just transformed the RosePrincess into a fiddle and was about to transformFiles into a fiddle bow, when the dragon appearedto interrupt him. So he called out:

"Welcome, my dear Quox, to my royalentertainment. Since you are here, you shallwitness some very neat magic, and after I havefinished with Files and Tik-Tok I mean totransform you into a tiny lizard--one of thechameleon sort--and you shall live in my cavernand amuse me.

"Pardon me for contradicting Your Majesty,"returned Quox in a quiet voice, "but I don'tbelieve you'll perform any more magic."

"Eh? Why not?" asked the King in surprise.

"There's a reason," said Quox. "Do you see thisribbon around my neck?"

"Yes; and I'm astonished that a dignified dragonshould wear such a silly thing."

"Do you see it plainly?" persisted the dragon,with a little chuckle of amusement.

"I do," declared Ruggedo.

"Then you no longer possess any magical powers,and are as helpless as a clam," asserted Quox. "Mygreat master, Tititi-Hoochoo, the Jinjin,enchanted this ribbon in such a way that wheneverYour Majesty looked upon it all knowledge of magicwould desert you instantly, nor will any magicalformula you can remember ever perform yourbidding."

"Pooh! I don't believe a word of it!" criedRuggedo, half frightened, nevertheless. Then heturned toward Files and tried to transform himinto a fiddle bow. But he could not remember theright words or the right pass of the hands andafter several trials he finally gave up theattempt.

By this time the Nome King was so alarmed thathe was secretly shaking in his shoes.

"I told you not to anger Tititi-Hoochoo,"grumbled Kaliko, "and now you see the result ofyour disobedience."

Ruggedo promptly threw his sceptre at his RoyalChamberlain, who dodged it with his usualcleverness, and then he said with an attempt toswagger:

"Never mind; I don't need magic to enable me todestroy these invaders; fire and the sword will dothe business and I am still King of the Nomes andlord and master of my Underground Kingdom!"

"Again I beg to differ with Your Majesty," saidQuox. "The Great Jinjin commands you to departinstantly from this Kingdom and seek the earth'ssurface, where you will wander for all time tocome, without a home or country, without a friendor follower, and without any more riches than youcan carry with you in your pockets. The GreatJinjin is so generous that he will allow you tofill your pockets with jewels or gold, but youmust take nothing more."

Ruggedo now stared at the dragon in amazement.

"Does Tititi-Hoochoo condemn me to such a fate?"he asked in a hoarse voice.

"He does," said Quox.

"And just for throwing a few strangers down theForbidden Tube?"

"Just for that," repeated Quox in a stern, gruffvoice.

"Well, I won't do it. And your crazy old Jinjincan't make me do it, either!" declared Ruggedo. "Iintend to remain here, King of the Nomes, untilthe end of the world, and I defy your Tititi-Hoochoo and all his fairies--as well as his clumsymessenger, whom I have been obliged to chain up!"

The dragon smiled again, but it was not the sortof smile that made Ruggedo feel very happy.Instead, there was something so cold and mercilessin the dragon's expression that the condemned NomeKing trembled and was sick at heart.

There was little comfort for Ruggedo in the factthat the dragon was now chained, although he hadboasted of it. He glared at the immense head ofQuox as if fascinated and there was fear in theold King's eyes as he watched his enemy'smovements.

For the dragon was now moving; not abruptly, butas if he had something to do and was about to doit. Very deliberately he raised one claw, touchedthe catch of the great jeweled locket that wassuspended around his neck, and at once it openedwide.

Nothing much happened at first; half a dozenhen's eggs rolled out upon the floor and then thelocket closed with a sharp click. But the effectupon the nomes of this simple thing wasastounding. General Guph, Kaliko, Pang and hisband of executioners were all standing close tothe door that led to the vast series ofunderground caverns which constituted thedominions of the nomes, and as soon as they sawthe eggs they raised a chorus of frantic screamsand rushed through the door, slamming it inRuggedo's face and placing a heavy bronze baracross it.

Ruggedo, dancing with terror and utteringloud cries, now leaped upon the seat of histhrone to escape the eggs, which had rolledsteadily toward him. Perhaps these eggs, sentby the wise and crafty Tititi-Hoochoo, were insome way enchanted, for they all rolled directlyafter Ruggedo and when they reached thethrone where he had taken refuge they beganrolling up the legs to the seat.

This was too much for the King to bear. Hishorror of eggs was real and absolute and he made aleap from the throne to the center of the room andthen ran to a far corner.

The eggs followed, rolling slowly but steadilyin his direction. Ruggedo threw his sceptre atthem, and then his ruby crown, and then he drewoff his heavy golden sandals and hurled these atthe advancing eggs. But the eggs dodged everymissile and continued to draw nearer. The Kingstood trembling, his eyes staring in terror, untilthey were but half a yard distant; then with anagile leap he jumped clear over them and made arush for the passage that led to the outerentrance.

Of course the dragon was in his way, beingchained in the passage with his head in thecavern, but when he saw the King making toward himhe crouched as low as he could and dropped hischin to the floor, leaving a small space betweenhis body and the roof of the passage.

Ruggedo did not hesitate an instant. Impelledby fear, he leaped to the dragon's nose and thenscrambled to his back, where he succeeded insqueezing himself through the opening. Afterthe head was passed there was more room andhe slid along the dragon's scales to his tail andthen ran as fast as his legs would carry him tothe entrance. Not pausing here, so great was hisfright, the King dashed on down the mountainpath, but before he had gone very far hestumbled and fell.

When he picked himself up he observed that noone was following him, and while he recovered hisbreath he happened to think of the decree of theJinjin--that he should be driven from his Kingdomand made a wanderer on the face of the earth.Well, here he was, driven from his cavern intruth; driven by those dreadful eggs; but he wouldgo back and defy them; he would not submit tolosing his precious Kingdom and his tyrannicalpowers, all because Tititi-Hoochoo had said hemust.

So, although still afraid, Ruggedo nervedhimself to creep back along the path to theentrance, and when he arrived there he saw the sixeggs lying in a row just before the archedopening.

At first he paused a safe distance away toconsider the case, for the eggs were nowmotionless. While he was wondering what could bedone, he remembered there was a magical charmwhich would destroy eggs and render them harmlessto nomes. There were nine passes to be made andsix verses of incantation to be recited; butRuggedo knew them all. Now that he had ample timeto be exact, he carefully went through the entireceremony.

But nothing happened. The eggs did notdisappear, as he had expected; so he repeated thecharm a second time. When that also failed, heremembered, with a moan of despair, that his magicpower had been taken away from him and in thefuture he could do no more than any common mortal.

And there were the eggs, forever barring himfrom the Kingdom which he had ruled so long withabsolute sway! He threw rocks at them, but couldnot hit a single egg. He raved and scolded andtore his hair and beard, and danced in helplesspassion, but that did nothing to avert the justjudgment of the Jinjin, which Ruggedo's own evildeeds had brought upon him.

From this time on he was an outcast--a wandererupon the face of the earth--and he had evenforgotten to fill his pockets with gold and jewelsbefore he fled from his former Kingdom!