AbdulHannanMujawar/ch_development · Datasets at Hugging Face

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INTO THE BLACK PIT AND OUT AGAIN


When they came to the mountain it proved to be a rugged, towering chunk
of deep green glass, and looked dismal and forbidding in the extreme.
Half way up the steep was a yawning cave, black as night beyond the
point where the rainbow rays of the colored suns reached into it.

The Mangaboos drove the horse and the kitten and the piglets into this
dark hole and then, having pushed the buggy in after them--for it seemed
some of them had dragged it all the way from the domed hall--they began
to pile big glass rocks within the entrance, so that the prisoners could
not get out again.

"This is dreadful!" groaned Jim. "It will be about the end of our
adventures, I guess."

"If the Wizard was here," said one of the piglets, sobbing bitterly, "he
would not see us suffer so."

"We ought to have called him and Dorothy when we were first attacked,"
added Eureka. "But never mind; be brave, my friends, and I will go and
tell our masters where you are, and get them to come to your rescue."

The mouth of the hole was nearly filled up now, but the kitten gave a
leap through the remaining opening and at once scampered up into the
air. The Mangaboos saw her escape, and several of them caught up their
thorns and gave chase, mounting through the air after her. Eureka,
however, was lighter than the Mangaboos, and while they could mount only
about a hundred feet above the earth the kitten found she could go
nearly two hundred feet. So she ran along over their heads until she had
left them far behind and below and had come to the city and the House of
the Sorcerer. There she entered in at Dorothy's window in the dome and
aroused her from her sleep.

As soon as the little girl knew what had happened she awakened the
Wizard and Zeb, and at once preparations were made to go to the rescue
of Jim and the piglets. The Wizard carried his satchel, which was quite
heavy, and Zeb carried the two lanterns and the oil can. Dorothy's
wicker suit-case was still under the seat of the buggy, and by good
fortune the boy had also placed the harness in the buggy when he had
taken it off from Jim to let the horse lie down and rest. So there was
nothing for the girl to carry but the kitten, which she held close to
her bosom and tried to comfort, for its little heart was still beating
rapidly.

Some of the Mangaboos discovered them as soon as they left the House of
the Sorcerer; but when they started toward the mountain the vegetable
people allowed them to proceed without interference, yet followed in a
crowd behind them so that they could not go back again.

Before long they neared the Black Pit, where a busy swarm of Mangaboos,
headed by their Princess, was engaged in piling up glass rocks before
the entrance.

"Stop, I command you!" cried the Wizard, in an angry tone, and at once
began pulling down the rocks to liberate Jim and the piglets. Instead of
opposing him in this they stood back in silence until he had made a
good-sized hole in the barrier, when by order of the Princess they all
sprang forward and thrust out their sharp thorns.

[Illustration: THROUGH THE BLACK PIT.]

Dorothy hopped inside the opening to escape being pricked, and Zeb and
the Wizard, after enduring a few stabs from the thorns, were glad to
follow her. At once the Mangaboos began piling up the rocks of glass
again, and as the little man realized that they were all about to be
entombed in the mountain he said to the children:

"My dears, what shall we do? Jump out and fight?"

"What's the use?" replied Dorothy. "I'd as soon die here as live much
longer among those cruel and heartless people."

"That's the way I feel about it," remarked Zeb, rubbing his wounds.
"I've had enough of the Mangaboos."

"All right," said the Wizard; "I'm with you, whatever you decide. But we
can't live long in this cavern, that's certain."

Noticing that the light was growing dim he picked up his nine piglets,
patted each one lovingly on its fat little head, and placed them
carefully in his inside pocket.

Zeb struck a match and lighted one of the lanterns. The rays of the
colored suns were now shut out from them forever, for the last chinks
had been filled up in the wall that separated their prison from the Land
of the Mangaboos.

"How big is this hole?" asked Dorothy.

"I'll explore it and see," replied the boy.

So he carried the lantern back for quite a distance, while Dorothy and
the Wizard followed at his side. The cavern did not come to an end, as
they had expected it would, but slanted upward through the great glass
mountain, running in a direction that promised to lead them to the side
opposite the Mangaboo country.

"It isn't a bad road," observed the Wizard, "and if we followed it it

INTO THE BLACK PIT AND OUT AGAIN

When they came to the mountain it proved to be a rugged, towering chunk

of deep green glass, and looked dismal and forbidding in the extreme.

Half way up the steep was a yawning cave, black as night beyond the

point where the rainbow rays of the colored suns reached into it.

The Mangaboos drove the horse and the kitten and the piglets into this

dark hole and then, having pushed the buggy in after them--for it seemed

some of them had dragged it all the way from the domed hall--they began

to pile big glass rocks within the entrance, so that the prisoners could

not get out again.

"This is dreadful!" groaned Jim. "It will be about the end of our

adventures, I guess."

"If the Wizard was here," said one of the piglets, sobbing bitterly, "he

would not see us suffer so."

"We ought to have called him and Dorothy when we were first attacked,"

added Eureka. "But never mind; be brave, my friends, and I will go and

tell our masters where you are, and get them to come to your rescue."

The mouth of the hole was nearly filled up now, but the kitten gave a

leap through the remaining opening and at once scampered up into the

air. The Mangaboos saw her escape, and several of them caught up their

thorns and gave chase, mounting through the air after her. Eureka,

however, was lighter than the Mangaboos, and while they could mount only

about a hundred feet above the earth the kitten found she could go

nearly two hundred feet. So she ran along over their heads until she had

left them far behind and below and had come to the city and the House of

the Sorcerer. There she entered in at Dorothy's window in the dome and

aroused her from her sleep.

As soon as the little girl knew what had happened she awakened the

Wizard and Zeb, and at once preparations were made to go to the rescue

of Jim and the piglets. The Wizard carried his satchel, which was quite

heavy, and Zeb carried the two lanterns and the oil can. Dorothy's

wicker suit-case was still under the seat of the buggy, and by good

fortune the boy had also placed the harness in the buggy when he had

taken it off from Jim to let the horse lie down and rest. So there was

nothing for the girl to carry but the kitten, which she held close to

her bosom and tried to comfort, for its little heart was still beating

rapidly.

Some of the Mangaboos discovered them as soon as they left the House of

the Sorcerer; but when they started toward the mountain the vegetable

people allowed them to proceed without interference, yet followed in a

crowd behind them so that they could not go back again.

Before long they neared the Black Pit, where a busy swarm of Mangaboos,

headed by their Princess, was engaged in piling up glass rocks before

the entrance.

"Stop, I command you!" cried the Wizard, in an angry tone, and at once

began pulling down the rocks to liberate Jim and the piglets. Instead of

opposing him in this they stood back in silence until he had made a

good-sized hole in the barrier, when by order of the Princess they all

sprang forward and thrust out their sharp thorns.

[Illustration: THROUGH THE BLACK PIT.]

Dorothy hopped inside the opening to escape being pricked, and Zeb and

the Wizard, after enduring a few stabs from the thorns, were glad to

follow her. At once the Mangaboos began piling up the rocks of glass

again, and as the little man realized that they were all about to be

entombed in the mountain he said to the children:

"My dears, what shall we do? Jump out and fight?"

"What's the use?" replied Dorothy. "I'd as soon die here as live much

longer among those cruel and heartless people."

"That's the way I feel about it," remarked Zeb, rubbing his wounds.

"I've had enough of the Mangaboos."

"All right," said the Wizard; "I'm with you, whatever you decide. But we

can't live long in this cavern, that's certain."

Noticing that the light was growing dim he picked up his nine piglets,

patted each one lovingly on its fat little head, and placed them

carefully in his inside pocket.

Zeb struck a match and lighted one of the lanterns. The rays of the

colored suns were now shut out from them forever, for the last chinks

had been filled up in the wall that separated their prison from the Land

of the Mangaboos.

"How big is this hole?" asked Dorothy.

"I'll explore it and see," replied the boy.

So he carried the lantern back for quite a distance, while Dorothy and

the Wizard followed at his side. The cavern did not come to an end, as

they had expected it would, but slanted upward through the great glass

mountain, running in a direction that promised to lead them to the side

opposite the Mangaboo country.

"It isn't a bad road," observed the Wizard, "and if we followed it it