"Do not be afraid of the animal, my dear people," he said, "for he cannot harm you. We shall find the monster lying in the path. We shall walk on the beast for a number of yards, but he cannot harm us nor shake us off. There will be a little danger when we get to the head, but if we jump from his nose without falling, no harm can come to us. The name of the creature is Mortuus, and he is dangerous only to those who try to leave our kingdom. Few have escaped his deadly bite when doing that. But let us move on at once." The children did not hesitate to follow, for Uncle Rupert gave them confidence. When they came to the great tail, they stepped lightly upon it and walked along, as they might have walked on board an ocean liner. "Hist!" exclaimed Pietas, "let us all gather together and get ready to run and jump off the end of his snout. This is the beginning of the Middle Earth Kingdom." Uncle Rupert took little Bee in his arms, and the rest followed the dwarf, with Uncle Rupert in the rear. They walked with some difficulty upon the great head of the alligator, for he kept opening and shutting his jaws. When he opened his mouth, they seemed to be going uphill, and when he shut it, they felt as if they were sliding downhill. How the boys did enjoy it! But the girls found the road a little rough. When they came to jump off, Uncle Rupert showed them how to do so while the jaws were shut; then the fall was only seven or eight feet, whereas, with the mouth open, it would have been at least a hundred feet. As soon as they had all landed safely, the monster began to roar like fifty bulls. He must have been disappointed at losing his supper. But the children turned their backs on Mortuus and ran about a level held, gathering black roses and gazing upon the strange scenery that lay before them. They had never seen such peculiar flowers. All natural things were of a somber hue because there was so little sunlight. But the girls were pleased with the new sights and the boys took off their shoes and waded in the brooks, chasing little fish. To Uncle Rupert it was no wonder that the people would not believe what Pietas said about the better land, seeing that they had to face the monster alligator in their journey to the United States. "Pietas," said Uncle Rupert, "I do not believe we shall be able to convince your people, for the only entrance to the upper country is so horrible. If we could only kill or disable the monster, we might succeed in bringing your people out of this place."