Snatching into the air a startled Munchkin shepherd, who was strolling along with his hands in his pockets, he asked him the way to Mudge. When the lad's teeth stopped chattering long enough to tell him, he dropped him carelessly on the ground and picked up the Cowardly Lion. The next instant he was running with all his might toward Mustafa's dreadful desert, trampling under his feet any fences or small buildings that got in the way, and jarring the whole country with his heavy strides. The Cowardly Lion awakened almost immediately and tried to wriggle out of his grasp, but escape from those mighty arms was an impossibility. [Illustration: CRUNCH, THE STONE GIANT, PICKED UP THE COWARDLY LION, WHO TRIED TO WIGGLE FROM HIS GRASP] "Where are you going?" he growled angrily, the words being fairly jolted out of him. "To Mudge!" shouted Crunch without slackening his speed. "I promised not to change you to a courageous lion till we finished with Mustafa. Well, now, I am going to finish Mustafa." "Stop!" implored the Cowardly Lion, but he might as well have argued with the wind, and to continue the argument, when Crunch's every step deprived him of his breath, took the whole of his strength and determination. But continue it he did, with roars, threats and rumblings. To these the Stone Man paid not the slightest attention, and finally the Cowardly Lion was too exhausted and shaken to utter another roar. "There's no use reasoning with me," Crunch had insisted stubbornly, "for I am a hard mass of mineral matter. I will take you to Mudge because that I promised to do, but as soon as we reach Mudge you will be mine forever!" The Cowardly Lion had not even strength to tremble at these awful words, so he closed his eyes and tried not to think about Mustafa and his nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine lions, nor Crunch and his terrible threat. It would be impossible for Notta and Bob to reach Mudge in time to help him now, so the poor Cowardly Lion resolved to fight as long as he could, and then bravely resign himself to whatever fate had in store for him. At every step of the Stone Man, he more bitterly regretted the moment he had trusted himself to the company of this treacherous giant. Whether he fell asleep, or was shaken into unconsciousness, the Cowardly Lion never knew. The next thing he remembered was leaning up against an iron enclosure and hearing Crunch calling loudly for admittance into Mudge. For the Stone Man had run, without turning so much as an inch out of the way, directly to the land of the Mudgers. The sun was high in the Heavens, and winds from Mustafa's desert blew hotly in their faces. The Mudger Guard, hearing the terrible clamor, came running to see who was hammering on the gates, and when they saw Crunch and the Cowardly Lion they turned and flew toward their master's striped tent.