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something in her ear, and Polly would nod her pretty head as if she
understood.
The shaggy man told Dorothy and Button-Bright to stand before him while he
emptied the potatoes out of one of the sacks. When this had been secretly
done, little Polychrome, dancing near to the guard, suddenly reached out her
hand and slapped his face, the next instant whirling away from him quickly to
rejoin her friends.
The angry Scoodler at once picked off his head and hurled it at the Rainbow's
Daughter; but the shaggy man was expecting that, and caught the head very
neatly, putting it in the sack, which he tied at the mouth. The body of the
guard, not having the eyes of its head to guide it, ran here and there in an
aimless manner, and the shaggy man easily dodged it and opened the door.
Fortunately, there was no one in the big cave at that moment, so he told
Dorothy and Polly to run as fast as they could for the entrance, and out across
the narrow bridge.
"
I'll carry Button-Bright," he said, for he knew the little boy's legs were too
short to run fast.
Dorothy picked up Toto and then seized Polly's hand and ran swiftly toward
the entrance to the cave. The shaggy man perched Button-Bright on his
shoulders and ran after them. They moved so quickly and their escape was so
wholly unexpected that they had almost reached the bridge when one of the
Scoodlers looked out of his house and saw them.
The creature raised a shrill cry that brought all of its fellows bounding out of
the numerous doors, and at once they started in chase. Dorothy and Polly had
reached the bridge and crossed it when the Scoodlers began throwing their
heads. One of the queer missiles struck the shaggy man on his back and
nearly knocked him over; but he was at the mouth of the cave now, so he set
down Button-Bright and told the boy to run across the bridge to Dorothy.
Then the shaggy man turned around and faced his enemies, standing just
outside the opening, and as fast as they threw their heads at him he caught
them and tossed them into the black gulf below. The headless bodies of the
foremost Scoodlers kept the others from running close up, but they also threw
their heads in an effort to stop the escaping prisoners. The shaggy man
caught them all and sent them whirling down into the black gulf. Among
them he noticed the crimson and yellow head of the Queen, and this he tossed
after the others with right good will.
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