"Then let's go and inform the new Queen straightaway!" trumpeted Elephant. "I am willing to believe that she has the power to help us if anyone does." "But we should have something to show her to prove that we are not insane," said Nibbles. "After all, who would ever believe that such a beast could exist? It isn't natural. And besides ..." He cut his sentence short when his eye fell upon a large marking on the ground. "Gads!" exclaimed Elephant. "That is one of the Monster's footprints! Goodness! Just look how deep it is! That creature must weigh a million tons!" "Yes," agreed Tweaty, flittering into the hole. "This footprint is almost as big around as a horse! And look at the size of those claws! I'll bet it could rip Elephant in two without even straining itself!" "Let's not discuss that," shuddered the pachyderm. "But I think we should save this footprint for the Queen. Because she is a mere child, she will be most impressed by its mass. I think we should make a cast of it and carry it to the Emerald City to show her what we are up against." Nibbles and Tweaty hurriedly went to a nearby maple tree and gnawed at its trunk for a time. With Elephant's help, they poured some maple syrupy sap into the footprint. Elephant blew on this with his strong lungs until it hardened. Then, there before the trio, was a perfect cast of the Forest Monster's footprint. Eagerly Elephant snatched it up in his trunk and flung it onto his back. "Let's get on our way," he said. The other two nestled upon his head and they were off to the Emerald City of Oz. CHAPTER 4 AN UNLIKELY TRIO OF FRIENDS Elephant, Tweaty and Nibbles were ready to leave, and it seemed that dozens of other forest animals were of the same mind. The ferocity of the Forest Monster had led many of the denizens of the Lunechien Forest to panic. Many of them wanted to tell the Lord of the Forest about the trouble, while others elected to go to Glinda the Good, who ruled over the neighboring Land of the Quadlings. Animals were running to and fro, and there was a mass of confusion. "Look out!" Nibbles cried suddenly. "That Unicorn is coming right at us!" Elephant was helpless in trying to avert the disaster. An abnormally frightened Unicorn, undoubtedly made nervous by the excitement, had lost control of her footing. She plowed into the rear of the elephant with a jolt which nearly flung the two passengers on his head into Glowing Limbo. Retrieving his companions and determining that they were unhurt, he listened for a few moments to the oft-repeated apologies of the Unicorn and then set out again. "I sure hope that Queen Ozma can do something about that ugly brute," said Nibbles. "If she can't, we'll be no worse off than when we started," replied Tweaty. The subject was dropped there. Elephant had run most rapidly and the trio was now approaching the Emerald City. "Excuse me," said the man at the gate. "Who are you and what is your business in the Emerald City?"