With fast beating hearts they all rushed forwardand, beyond a group of stately metal trees, camefull upon a most astonishing scene.

There was Ruggedo in the hands of the officersof Oogaboo, a dozen of whom were clinging to theold nome and holding him fast in spite of hisefforts to escape. There also was Queen Ann,looking grimly upon the scene of strife; but whenshe observed her former companions approaching sheturned away in a shamefaced manner.

For Ann and her officers were indeed a sight tobehold. Her Majesty's clothing, once so rich andgorgeous, was now worn and torn into shreds by herlong crawl through the tunnel, which, by the way,had led her directly into the Metal Forest. Itwas, indeed, one of the three secret passages, andby far the most difficult of the three. Ann hadnot only torn her pretty skirt and jacket, but hercrown had become bent and battered and even hershoes were so cut and slashed that they were readyto fall from her feet.

The officers had fared somewhat worse than theirleader, for holes were worn in the knees of theirtrousers, while sharp points of rock in the roofand sides of the tunnel had made rags of everyinch of their once brilliant uniforms. A moretattered and woeful army never came out of abattle, than these harmless victims of the rockypassage. But it had seemed their only means ofescape from the cruel Nome King; so they hadcrawled on, regardless of their sufferings.

When they reached the Metal Forest their eyesbeheld more plunder than they had ever dreamed of;yet they were prisoners in this huge dome andcould not escape with the riches heaped aboutthem. Perhaps a more unhappy and homesick lot of"conquerors" never existed than this band fromOogaboo.

After several days of wandering in theirmarvelous prison they were frightened by thediscovery that Ruggedo had come among them.Rendered desperate by their sad condition, theofficers exhibited courage for the first timesince they left home and, ignorant of the factthat Ruggedo was no longer King of the nomes, theythrew themselves upon him and had just succeededin capturing him when their fellow adventurersreached the spot.

"Goodness gracious!" cried Betsy. "What hashappened to you all?"

Ann came forward to greet them, sorrowful andindignant.

"We were obliged to escape from the pit througha small tunnel, which was lined with sharp andjagged rocks," said she, "and not only was ourclothing torn to rags but our flesh is so bruisedand sore that we are stiff and lame in everyjoint. To add to our troubles we find we are stillprisoners; but now that we have succeeded incapturing the wicked Metal Monarch we shall forcehim to grant us our liberty."

"Ruggedo is no longer Metal Monarch, or King ofthe nomes," Files informed her. "He has beendeposed and cast out of his kingdom by Quox; buthere is the new King, whose name is Kaliko, and Iam pleased to assure Your Majesty that he is ourfriend."

"Glad to meet Your Majesty, I'm sure," saidKaliko, bowing as courteously as if the Queenstill wore splendid raiment.

The officers, having heard this explanation, nowset Ruggedo free; but, as he had no place to go,he stood by and faced his former servant, who wasnow King in his place, in a humble and pleadingmanner.

"What are you doing here?" asked Kaliko sternly.

"Why, I was promised as much treasure as Icould carry in my pockets," replied Ruggedo;"so I came here to get it, not wishing to disturbYour Majesty."

"You were commanded to leave the country of thenomes forever!" declared Kaliko.

"I know; and I'll go as soon as I have filled mypockets," said Ruggedo, meekly.

"Then fill them, and be gone," returned the newKing.

Ruggedo obeyed. Stooping down, he begangathering up jewels by the handful and stuffingthem into his many pockets. They were heavythings, these diamonds and rubies and emeralds andamethysts and the like, so before long Ruggedo wasstaggering with the weight he bore, while thepockets were not yet filled. When he could nolonger stoop over without falling, Betsy andPolychrome and the Rose Princess came to hisassistance, picking up the finest gems and tuckingthem into his pockets.

At last these were all filled and Ruggedopresented a comical sight, for surely no man everbefore had so many pockets, or any at all filledwith such a choice collection of precious stones.He neglected to thank the young ladies for theirkindness, but gave them a surly nod of farewelland staggered down the path by the way he hadcome. They let him depart in silence, for with allhe had taken, the masses of jewels upon the groundseemed scarcely to have been disturbed, sonumerous were they. Also they hoped they had seenthe last of the degraded King.

"I'm awful glad he's gone," said Betsy, sighingdeeply. "If he doesn't get reckless and spend hiswealth foolishly, he's got enough to start a bankwhen he gets to Oklahoma."

"But my brother--my dear brother! Where is he?"inquired Shaggy anxiously. "Have you seen him,Queen Ann?"

"What does your brother look like?" asked theQueen.

Shaggy hesitated to reply, but Betsy said: "He'scalled the Ugly One. Perhaps you'll know him bythat."

"The only person we have seen in this cavern,"said Ann, "has run away from us whenever weapproached him. He hides over yonder, among thetrees that are not gold, and we have never beenable to catch sight of his face. So I can not tellwhether he is ugly or not."

"That must be my dear brother!" exclaimedShaggy.

"Yes, it must be," assented Kaliko. "No one elseinhabits this splendid dome, so there can be nomistake."

"But why does he hide among those green trees,instead of enjoying all these glittery goldenones?" asked Betsy.

"Because he finds food among the natural trees,"replied Kaliko, "and I remember that he has builta little house there, to sleep in. As for theseglittery golden trees, I will admit they are verypretty at first sight. One cannot fail to admirethem, as well as the rich jewels scattered beneaththem; but if one has to look at them always, theybecome pretty tame."

"I believe that is true," declared Shaggy. "Mydear brother is very wise to prefer real trees tothe imitation ones. But come; let us go there andfind him."

Shaggy started for the green grove at once, andthe others followed him, being curious to witnessthe final rescue of his long-sought, long-lostbrother.

Not far from the edge of the grove they cameupon a small hut, cleverly made of twigs andgolden branches woven together. As they approachedthe place they caught a glimpse of a form thatdarted into the hut and slammed the door tightshut after him.

Shaggy Man ran to the door and cried aloud:

"Brother! Brother!"

"Who calls," demanded a sad, hollow voicefrom within.

"It is Shaggy--your own loving brother--who hasbeen searching for you a long time and has nowcome to rescue you."

"Too late!" replied the gloomy voice. "No onecan rescue me now.

"Oh, but you are mistaken about that," saidShaggy. "There is a new King of the nomes, namedKaliko, in Ruggedo's place, and he has promisedyou shall go free."

"Free! I dare not go free!" said the Ugly One,in a voice of despair.

"Why not, Brother?" asked Shaggy, anxiously.

"Do you know what they have done to me?" camethe answer through the closed door.

"No. Tell me, Brother, what have they done?"

"When Ruggedo first captured me I was veryhandsome. Don't you remember, Shaggy?"

"Not very well, Brother; you were so young whenI left home. But I remember that mother thoughtyou were beautiful."

"She was right! I am sure she was right," wailedthe prisoner. "But Ruggedo wanted to injure me--tomake me ugly in the eyes of all the world--so heperformed a wicked enchantment. I went to bedbeautiful--or you might say handsome--to be verymodest I will merely claim that I was good-looking--and I wakened the next morning thehomeliest man in all the world! I am so repulsivethat when I look in a mirror I frighten myself."

"Poor Brother!" said Shaggy softly, and all theothers were silent from sympathy.

"I was so ashamed of my looks," continued thevoice of Shaggy's brother, "that I tried to hide;but the cruel King Ruggedo forced me to appearbefore all the legion of nomes, to whom he said:'Behold the Ugly One!' But when the nomes saw myface they all fell to laughing and jeering, whichprevented them from working at their tasks. Seeingthis, Ruggedo became angry and pushed me into atunnel, closing the rock entrance so that I couldnot get out. I followed the length of the tunneluntil I reached this huge dome, where themarvelous Metal Forest stands, and here I haveremained ever since.

"Poor Brother!" repeated Shaggy. "But I beg younow to come forth and face us, who are yourfriends. None here will laugh or jeer, howeverunhandsome you may be."

"No, indeed," they all added pleadingly.

But the Ugly One refused the invitation.

"I cannot," said he; "indeed, I cannot facestrangers, ugly as I am."

Shaggy Man turned to the group surrounding him.

"What shall I do?" he asked in sorrowful tones."I cannot leave my dear brother here, and herefuses to come out of that house and face us.

"I'll tell you," replied Betsy. "Let him put ona mask."

"The very idea I was seeking!" exclaimed Shaggyjoyfully; and then he called out: "Brother, put amask over your face, and then none of us can seewhat your features are like."

"I have no mask," answered the Ugly One.

"Look here," said Betsy; "he can use myhandkerchief."

Shaggy looked at the little square of cloth andshook his head.

"It isn't big enough," he objected; "I'm sure itisn't big enough to hide a man's face. But he canuse mine.

Saying this he took from his pocket his ownhandkerchief and went to the door of the hut.

"Here, my Brother," he called, "take thishandkerchief and make a mask of it. I will alsopass you my knife, so that you may cut holes forthe eyes, and then you must tie it over yourface."

The door slowly opened, just far enough for theUgly One to thrust out his hand and take thehandkerchief and the knife. Then it closed again.

"Don't forget a hole for your nose," criedBetsy. "You must breathe, you know."

For a time there was silence. Queen Ann and herarmy sat down upon the ground to rest. Betsy saton Hank's back. Polychrome danced lightly up anddown the jeweled paths while Files and thePrincess wandered through the groves arm in arm.Tik-Tok, who never tired, stood motionless.

By and by a noise sounded from within the hut.

"Are you ready?" asked Shaggy.

"Yes, Brother," came the reply and the door wasthrown open to allow the Ugly One to step forth.

Betsy might have laughed aloud had she notremembered how sensitive to ridicule Shaggy'sbrother was, for the handkerchief with which hehad masked his features was a red one covered withbig white polka dots. In this two holes had beencut--in front of the eyes--while two smaller onesbefore the nostrils allowed the man to breathefreely. The cloth was then tightly drawn over theUgly One's face and knotted at the back of hisneck.

He was dressed in clothes that had once beengood, but now were sadly worn and frayed. His silkstockings had holes in them, and his shoes werestubtoed and needed blackening. "But what can youexpect," whispered Betsy, "when the poor man hasbeen a prisoner for so many years?"

Shaggy had darted forward, and embraced hisnewly found brother with both his arms. Thebrother also embraced Shaggy, who then led himforward and introduced him to all the assembledcompany.

"This is the new Nome King," he said when hecame to Kaliko. "He is our friend, and has grantedyou your freedom."

"That is a kindly deed," replied Ugly in a sadvoice, "but I dread to go back to the world inthis direful condition. Unless I remain forevermasked, my dreadful face would curdle all the milkand stop all the clocks."

"Can't the enchantment be broken in some way?"inquired Betsy.

Shaggy looked anxiously at Kaliko, who shook hishead.

"I am sure I can't break the enchantment," hesaid. "Ruggedo was fond of magic, and learned agood many enchantments that we nomes knownothing of."

"Perhaps Ruggedo himself might break his ownenchantment," suggested Ann; "but unfortunately wehave allowed the old King to escape."

"Never mind, my dear Brother," said Shaggyconsolingly; "I am very happy to have found youagain, although I may never see your face. So letus make the most of this joyful reunion."

The Ugly One was affected to tears by thistender speech, and the tears began to wet the redhandkerchief; so Shaggy gently wiped them awaywith his coat sleeve.