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grandfather will be worried, besides I'm captain of our baseball team and there's a big game on soon.
"Would you rather be captain of a baseball team than an army?" asked Ruggedo, staring at the
little boy in real amazement. He didn't know just what a baseball team was, but felt that it could not
compare with his army of gnomes.
"Of course," answered Peter, in a matter of fact voice, "but if we're going to get anywhere
we'll have to steer the ship." The sun had sunk down into the sea by this time and it was growing darker
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and darker. Stepping carefully along the rail, for the ship was still plunging and pitching terribly, Peter
made a careful survey. But the rudder was gone, the masts crumbled to mere stumps and not a vestige of
the sails remained.
"We'll have to drift," called Peter resignedly. Scarcely hearing him, the old gnome nodded.
Already a hundred plans were skimming through his wicked little head-plans to reinstate himself as Metal
Monarch, revenge himself upon Ozma and Dorothy and destroy once and for all the Emerald City of Oz.
The tides of the Nonestic Ocean were very strong, and he felt that sooner or later they would be carried
to the shores of Ev, under the surface of which lay his own vast dominions. Directly across the Deadly
Desert from Ev, lay Oz, and when he reached his own kingdom some means of crossing the desert
would have to be devised.
While Ruggedo was planning all this, Peter was busily exploring the ship. He would have liked
to descend into the hold of the pirate vessel, but it was already too dark to venture down, and as he was
very hungry, he began to look around for something to eat. Fortunately the decks were still full of
wiggling sea creatures that had failed to get back in the water after the sea quake. Peter threw most of
them overboard, keeping only three tiny fish for his dinner. These he killed, cleaned and scaled with his
pocket knife and, borrowing Ruggedo's pipe which quite miraculously had stayed lit, kindled a small fire
in an iron pot and broiled them most satisfactorily.
Ruggedo refused to share Peter's dinner, crunching up instead a handful of pebbles he had in
his pocket. As the moon rose the sea grew calmer and, riding up and down the silvered waves, the
strange ship mates sat conversing together. Delighted to be off the lonely island, impressed by Peter's
enterprise and spirit, Ruggedo had grown almost friendly. He listened quite pleasantly, while Peter told
how the balloon bird had carried him off and then in his turn related a bit of his own history. He first
explained to the little boy how Dorothy had captured his magic belt, which seemed to be his most
treasured possession, and how she had given it to Ozma. Pulling away at his pipe, he spoke of his many
efforts to recover his property, but always, it seemed, through no fault of his own, he had been defeated.
After his last attempt he related how Ozma had banished him to the lonely island where Peter had found
him.
"Well, why bother with the belt?" asked Peter, a little sleepily, as the gnome paused to knock
the ashes from his pipe. "If you have all the riches you say you have, and are ruler over five hundred
thousand gnomes, why do you need this belt?"
"Because it is my most magic possession," explained Ruggedo impatiently. "With the magic
belt one can change people into any shape or form whatsoever and transport them where one desires.
And don't you see that so long as Ozma has this belt, I am in her power?"
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"I suppose so," yawned Peter, but he couldn't help reflecting, from what he had read of Ozma
and what he already knew of Ruggedo, that the magic belt was far safer with the little fairy ruler of Oz.
"Why did Dorothy take it from you in the first place?" he inquired drowsily.
"Just because I wanted to transform her and a few of those useless Oz people into ornaments
for my palace," complained Ruggedo in a grieved voice.
"Oh!" murmured Peter and, chuckling a little to himself, curled into a more comfortable
position. The deck was hard and wet, but Peter, thinking over the strange events of the day, did not even
notice. Up to now, he had believed in the usual things of life, like grandfathers, school, baseball, circuses,
vaca-tions in summer, plenty of friends and fun. To suddenly be confronted by balloon birds, gnomes,
fairy kingdoms and sea quakes was terribly confusing. Peter tried his best to figure it all out but, lulled by
the motion of the ship and the monotonous drone of Ruggedo's voice, he finally fell into a deep slumber.
CHAPTER 6
Ruggedo Discovers Pirate's Treasure
WHEN Peter awakened, the sun was already high in the heavens and the sea a glittering,
dancing expanse of blue. Stretching his arms joyously, Peter bounded to his feet, not even minding the
little stiffness he felt from his long sleep on deck. The ship was rolling along comfortably with the current, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]