"Ah, don't quarrel," begged Dorothy anxiously. "Tell me about Pompa and Peg Amy, Kabumpo, and how's everything in Pumperdink?" "Well," mused the Elegant Elephant, taking out his handkerchief again and mopping his forehead thoughtfully, "things are kinda slow. Since Pompa married Peg there's been no excitement at all. Fact is," admitted Kabumpo confidentially, "I was just on my way to the Emerald City to see whether I could stir up a little fun." "Why so are we!" cried Dorothy in delight. "Let's all go together. Oh Kabumpo, won't that be fun?" The Elegant Elephant looked dubiously at the dummy. "Well, so long as you're going in the same direction you might as well ride on my back," he remarked carelessly. Then, winding his trunk about Dorothy [Kabumpo, under his pompous manner, was really a kind-hearted old fellow] he set the little girl aloft and, snatching up the dummy, he tossed him recklessly over his shoulder. With a blast from his trunk like a steamboat whistle, Kabumpo got under way, plunging ahead so swiftly that Dorothy and Humpy had all they could do to keep their seats. "Isn't this fun?" called Dorothy, holding fast to the Elegant Elephant's great ear. "Is it?" inquired the dummy, clinging desperately to Kabumpo's jewelled harness and fluttering up and down like a banner at each step. "So this is fun? Ah, how fast I am learning." CHAPTER 13 Snip Meets the Blanks On the night before Ozma received the mysterious warning, Snip and Mombi--as we well know--were making their way through the deep forest on the other side of Catty Corners. Each step was growing harder and harder for the weary little button boy. Holding the great goose in his arms, he staggered along, guided by the flicker of Mombi's lantern, stumbling over roots, brushing against trees and shivering with the clammy chill of midnight. The old witch seemed positively tireless and Snip had about decided he could go no further, when she stopped suddenly beside a rough stone well. "Snip," wheezed Mombi craftily, "I'm thirsty. Now you're younger than I am. Just get me a drink, will you?" Her voice was so pleasant that Snip unsuspectingly set Pajuka on the ground and peered down into the dark depths of the well, while Mombi held the lantern. There was a chain at the side and, grasping it in both hands, Snip leaned over and began to haul up the bucket. This was the chance Mombi had been waiting for all evening and, seizing Snip by the heels, she heartlessly tumbled him into the well. Her wicked shout of triumph and Snip's shrill outcry awakened Pajuka. Fluttering into the air, he made a great snatch at the disappearing little button boy.