The Green Monkey sank gently into the earth for alittle way and then tumbled swiftly through space,landing on a rocky floor with a thump that astonishedhim. Then he sat up, found that no bones were broken,and gazed around him.

He seemed to be in a big underground cave, which wasdimly lighted by dozens of big round discs that lookedlike moons. They were not moons, however, as Wootdiscovered when he had examined the place morecarefully. They were eyes. The eyes were in the headsof enormous beasts whose bodies trailed far behindthem. Each beast was bigger than an elephant, and threetimes as long, and there were a dozen or more of thecreatures scattered here and there about the cavern. Ontheir bodies were big scales, as round as pie-plates,which were beautifully tinted in shades of green,purple and orange. On the ends of their long tails wereclusters of jewels. Around the great, moon-like eyeswere circles of diamonds which sparkled in the subduedlight that glowed from the eyes.

Woot saw that the creatures had wide mouths and rowsof terrible teeth and, from tales he had heard of suchbeings, he knew he had fallen into a cavern inhabitedby the great Dragons that had been driven from thesurface of the earth and were only allowed to come outonce in a hundred years to search for food. Of coursehe had never seen Dragons before, yet there was nomistaking them, for they were unlike any other livingcreatures.

Woot sat upon the floor where he had fallen, staringaround, and the owners of the big eyes returned hislook, silently and motionless. Finally one of theDragons which was farthest away from him asked, in adeep, grave voice:

"What was that?"

And the greatest Dragon of all, who was just in frontof the Green Monkey, answered in a still deeper voice:

"It is some foolish animal from Outside."

"Is it good to eat?" inquired a smaller Dragon besidethe great one. "I'm hungry."

"Hungry!" exclaimed all the Dragons, in a reproachfulchorus; and then the great one said chidingly: "Tut-tut, my son! You've no reason to be hungry at thistime."

"Why not?" asked the little Dragon. "I haven't eatenanything in eleven years."

"Eleven years is nothing," remarked another Dragon,sleepily opening and closing his eyes; "I haven'tfeasted for eighty-seven years, and I dare not gethungry for a dozen or so years to come. Children whoeat between meals should be broken of the habit."

"All I had, eleven years ago, was a rhinoceros, andthat's not a full meal at all," grumbled the young one."And, before that, I had waited sixty-two years to befed; so it's no wonder I'm hungry."

"How old are you now?" asked Woot, forgetting his owndangerous position in his interest in the conversation.

"Why, I'm -- I'm -- How old am I, Father?" asked thelittle Dragon.

"Goodness gracious! what a child to ask questions. Doyou want to keep me thinking all the time? Don't youknow that thinking is very bad for Dragons?" returnedthe big one, impatiently.

"How old am I, Father?" persisted the small Dragon.

"About six hundred and thirty, I believe. Ask yourmother."

"No; don't!" said an old Dragon in the background;"haven't I enough worries, what with being wakened inthe middle of a nap, without being obliged to keeptrack of my children's ages?"

"You've been fast asleep for over sixty years,Mother," said the child Dragon. "How long a nap do youwish?"

"I should have slept forty years longer. And thisstrange little green beast should be punished forfalling into our cavern and disturbing us."

"I didn't know you were here, and I didn't know I wasgoing to fall in," explained Woot.

"Nevertheless, here you are," said the great Dragon,"and you have carelessly wakened our entire tribe; soit stands to reason you must be punished."

"In what way?" inquired the Green Monkey, trembling alittle.

"Give me time and I'll think of a way. You're in nohurry, are you?" asked the great Dragon.

"No, indeed," cried Woot. "Take your time. I'd muchrather you'd all go to sleep again, and punish me whenyou wake up in a hundred years or so."

"Let me eat him!" pleaded the littlest Dragon.

"He is too small," said the father. "To eat this oneGreen Monkey would only serve to make you hungry formore, and there are no more."

"Quit this chatter and let me get to sleep,"protested another Dragon, yawning in a fearful manner,for when he opened his mouth a sheet of flame leapedforth from it and made Woot jump back to get out of itsway.

In his jump he bumped against the nose of a Dragonbehind him, which opened its mouth to growl and shotanother sheet of flame at him. The flame was bright,but not very hot, yet Woot screamed with terror andsprang forward with a great bound. This time he landedon the paw of the great Chief Dragon, who angrilyraised his other front paw and struck the Green Monkeya fierce blow. Woot went sailing through the air andfell sprawling upon the rocky floor far beyond theplace where the Dragon Tribe was grouped.

All the great beasts were now thoroughly wakened andaroused, and they blamed the monkey for disturbingtheir quiet. The littlest Dragon darted after Woot andthe others turned their unwieldy bodies in hisdirection and followed, flashing from their eyes andmouths flames which lighted up the entire cavern. Wootalmost gave himself up for lost, at that moment, but hescrambled to his feet and dashed away to the farthestend of the cave, the Dragons following more leisurelybecause they were too clumsy to move fast. Perhaps theythought there was no need of haste, as the monkey couldnot escape from the cave. But, away up at the end ofthe place, the cavern floor was heaped with tumbledrocks, so Woot, with an agility born of fear, climbedfrom rock to rock until he found himself crouchedagainst the cavern roof. There he waited, for he couldgo no farther, while on over the tumbled rocks slowlycrept the Dragons -- the littlest one coming firstbecause he was hungry as well as angry.

The beasts had almost reached him when Woot,remembering his lace apron -- now sadly torn and soiled-- recovered his wits and shouted: "Open!" At the cry ahole appeared in the roof of the cavern, just over hishead, and through it the sunlight streamed full uponthe Green Monkey

The Dragons paused, astonished at the magic andblinking at the sunlight, and this gave Woot time toclimb through the opening. As soon as he reached thesurface of the earth the hole closed again, and the boymonkey realized, with a thrill of joy, that he had seenthe last of the dangerous Dragon family

He sat upon the ground, still panting hard from hisexertions, when the bushes before him parted and hisformer enemy, the Jaguar, appeared.

"Don't run," said the woodland beast, as Woot sprangup; "you are perfectly safe, so far as I am concerned,for since you so mysteriously disappeared I have had mybreakfast. I am now on my way home to sleep the rest ofthe day."

"Oh, indeed!" returned the Green Monkey, in a toneboth sorry and startled. "Which of my friends did youmanage to eat?"

"None of them," returned the Jaguar, with a sly grinhad a dish of magic scrambled eggs-on toast -- and itwasn't a bad feast, at all. There isn't room in me foreven you, and I don't regret it because I judge, fromyour green color, that you are not ripe, and would makean indifferent meal. We jaguars have to be careful ofour digestions. Farewell, Friend Monkey. Follow thepath I made through the bushes and you will find yourfriends."

With this the Jaguar marched on his way and Woot tookhis advice and followed the trail he had made until hecame to the place where the little Brown Bear, and theTin Owl, and the Canary were conferring together andwondering what had become of their comrade, the GreenMonkey.