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Sacho ranged the prisoners in a circle before Zog's throne, and slowly the
magician turned his eyes, glowing like live coals, upon the four. "Captives," said
he, speaking in his clear, sweet voice, "in our first interview you defied me, and
both the mermaid queen and the princess declared they could not die. But if that
is a true statement, as I have yet to discover, there are various ways to make you
miserable and unhappy, and this I propose to do in order to amuse myself at your
expense. You have been brought here to undergo the first trial of strength
between us." None of the prisoners replied to this speech, so Zog turned to one of
his slaves and said, "Rivivi, bring in the Yell-Maker."
Rivivi was a big fellow, brown of skin and with flashing, black eyes. He bowed to
his master and left the room by an archway covered with heavy draperies. The
next moment these curtains were violently pushed aside, and a dreadful sea
creature swam into the hall. It had a body much like that of a crab, only more
round and of a jet-black color. Its eyes were bright yellow balls set on the ends of
two horns that stuck out of its head. They were cruel-looking eyes, too, and
seemed able to see every person in the room at the same time. The legs of the
Yell-Maker, however, were the most curious part of the creature. There were six of
them, slender and black as coal, and each extended twelve to fifteen feet from its
body when stretched out in a straight line. They were hinged in several places so
they could be folded up or extended at will. At the ends of these thin legs were
immense claws shaped like those of a lobster, and they were real "nippers" of a
most dangerous sort.
The prisoners knew, as soon as they saw the awful claws, why the thing was
called the "Yell-Maker," and Trot gave a little shiver and crept closer to Cap'n Bill.
Zog looked with approval upon the creature he had summoned and said to it, "I
give you four victims, the four people with fish's tails. Let me hear how loud they
can yell."
The Yell-Maker uttered a grunt of pleasure and in a flash stretched out one of its
long legs toward the queen's nose, where its powerful claws came together with a
loud noise. Aquareine did not stir; she only smiled. Both Zog and the creature
that had attacked her seemed much surprised to find she was unhurt. "Again!"
cried Zog, and again the Yell-Maker's claw shot out and tried to pinch the queen's
pretty ear. But the magic of the fairy mermaid was proof against this sea-rascal's
strength and swiftness, nor could he touch any part of Aquareine, although he
tried again and again, roaring with anger like a mad bull.
Trot began to enjoy this performance, and as her merry, childish laughter rang
out, the Yell-Maker turned furiously upon the little girl, two of the dreadful claws
trying to nip her at the same time. She had no chance to cry out or jump
backward, yet she remained unharmed. For the Fairy Circle of Queen Aquareine
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