"I'll carry him," said Snip stiffly and, bending over, he picked Pajuka carefully up in his arms. He was quite an armful, but never stirred nor wakened at all. Snip longed to tell Mombi what he thought of her, but she looked so fierce he decided not to try it. "Where are the cats?" he shivered, tiptoeing nervously after the old witch. Mombi waved her stick aloft, and you can imagine the astonishment of the little boy to see a perfect cloud of cats sailing across the moon. "Gave 'em rice pudding and they riz," wheezed the old witch gleefully. Having no one else to boast to, Mombi condescended to explain her trick to Snip. Snip, on his part, was glad to escape from the catty creatures, but he could not help feeling a bit sorry for them. "How long will they have to stay up there?" he inquired curiously. "Till it rains," grunted Mombi, swinging the lantern carelessly. "But come on, I can't stand here talking all night. We'll never reach the Emerald City at this rate." "Anyway," thought Snip, stepping along carefully so as not to wake Pajuka, "anyway they can eat their supper in the milky way and won't it be raining cats when they do come down though!" While Mombi stopped to straighten her hat, Snip took a long drink from one of the cream fountains. "Nobody knows when we'll get anything to eat," said the little button boy to himself. "Are we going to travel all night?" he puffed, running to catch up with Mombi. "Mind your own buttons," hissed the old witch, lapsing into her usual ill-temper, and as she refused to say another word, there was nothing to do but follow the uncertain flicker of her lantern. After an hour of zig-zagging along the fences, they reached the other side, unbolted the great iron doors in the wall and found themselves in another forest. Snip thought surely Mombi would stop, but the old witch went muttering and mumbling along, her eyes gleaming like hot coals in the darkness. Every once in a while, she would glance sideways at Snip in a way that caused him great uneasiness. To tell the truth, Mombi had about decided to rid herself of the little button boy. He knew too much and might run off and tell Ozma her plans before she could reach the Emerald City, herself. With Pajuka's help, Mombi meant to find the old King, if she could, but when he had restored her magic powers Mombi intended to be the real ruler of Oz. So, hurrying along through the inky forest, she began casting about in her mind for a way to destroy Snip. "I'll wait till I reach the center of the forest," hissed Mombi, stumping along under the silent trees, "and then--" "What did you say?" asked Snip anxiously. "Nothing," grunted Mombi, smiling sourly to herself, "at least nothing that concerns you." CHAPTER 8 The Mysterious Message Scraps, the Patch Work Girl, danced crazily down the flower-bordered path in Ozma's lovely garden in the Emerald City, shouting this verse: