www.freeclassicebooks.com

11. How the General Met the First and Foremost

On leaving the Growleywogs General Guph had to recross the Ripple

Lands, and he did not find it a pleasant thing to do. Perhaps having his

whiskers pulled out one by one and being used as a pin-cushion for the

innocent amusement of a good natured jailer had not improved the

quality of Guph's temper, for the old Nome raved and raged at the

recollection of the wrongs he had suffered, and vowed to take vengeance

upon the Growleywogs after he had used them for his purposes and Oz

had been conquered. He went on in this furious way until he was half

across the Ripple Land. Then he became seasick, and the rest of the way

this naughty Nome was almost as miserable as he deserved to be.

But when he reached the plains again and the ground was firm under

his feet he began to feel better, and instead of going back home he turned

directly west. A squirrel, perched in a tree, saw him take this road and

called to him warningly: "Look out!" But he paid no attention. An eagle

paused in its flight through the air to look at him wonderingly and say:

Look out!" But on he went.

No one can say that Guph was not brave, for he had determined to visit

those dangerous creatures the Phanfasms, who resided upon the very

top of the dread Mountain of Phantastico. The Phanfasms were Erbs,

and so dreaded by mortals and immortals alike that no one had been

near their mountain home for several thousand years. Yet General Guph

hoped to induce them to join in his proposed warfare against the good

and happy Oz people.

Guph knew very well that the Phanfasms would be almost as dangerous

to the Nomes as they would to the Ozites, but he thought himself so

clever that he believed he could manage these strange creatures and

make them obey him. And there was no doubt at all that if he could

enlist the services of the Phanfasms, their tremendous power, united to

the strength of the Growleywogs and the cunning of the Whimsies would

doom the Land of Oz to absolute destruction.

So the old Nome climbed the foothills and trudged along the wild

mountain paths until he came to a big gully that encircled the Mountain

of Phantastico and marked the boundary line of the dominion of the

Phanfasms. This gully was about a third of the way up the mountain,

The Emerald City of Oz