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"It's every man's duty to do the best he knows how; and I'm going to do |
it." |
"Wish I had an axe," said Zeb, who by now had unhitched the horse. |
"If we had known we were coming we might have brought along several |
other useful things," responded the Wizard. "But we dropped into this |
adventure rather unexpectedly." |
The Gargoyles had backed away a distance when they heard the sound of |
talking, for although our friends had spoken in low tones their words |
seemed loud in the silence surrounding them. But as soon as the |
conversation ceased the grinning, ugly creatures arose in a flock and |
flew swiftly toward the strangers, their long arms stretched out before |
them like the bowsprits of a fleet of sail-boats. The horse had |
especially attracted their notice, because it was the biggest and |
strangest creature they had ever seen; so it became the center of their |
first attack. |
But Jim was ready for them, and when he saw them coming he turned his |
heels toward them and began kicking out as hard as he could. Crack! |
crash! bang! went his iron-shod hoofs against the wooden bodies of the |
Gargoyles, and they were battered right and left with such force that |
they scattered like straws in the wind. But the noise and clatter seemed |
as dreadful to them as Jim's heels, for all who were able swiftly turned |
and flew away to a great distance. The others picked themselves up from |
the ground one by one and quickly rejoined their fellows, so for a |
moment the horse thought he had won the fight with ease. |
But the Wizard was not so confident. |
"Those wooden things are impossible to hurt," he said, "and all the |
damage Jim has done to them is to knock a few splinters from their noses |
and ears. That cannot make them look any uglier, I'm sure, and it is my |
opinion they will soon renew the attack." |
"What made them fly away?" asked Dorothy. |
"The noise, of course. Don't you remember how the Champion escaped them |
by shouting his battle-cry?" |
"Suppose we escape down the stairs, too," suggested the boy. "We have |
time, just now, and I'd rather face the invis'ble bears than those |
wooden imps." |
"No," returned Dorothy, stoutly, "it won't do to go back, for then we |
would never get home. Let's fight it out." |
"That is what I advise," said the Wizard. "They haven't defeated us yet, |
and Jim is worth a whole army." |
But the Gargoyles were clever enough not to attack the horse the next |
time. They advanced in a great swarm, having been joined by many more of |
their kind, and they flew straight over Jim's head to where the others |
were standing. |
The Wizard raised one of his revolvers and fired into the throng of his |
enemies, and the shot resounded like a clap of thunder in that silent |
place. |
Some of the wooden beings fell flat upon the ground, where they quivered |
and trembled in every limb; but most of them managed to wheel and escape |
again to a distance. |
Zeb ran and picked up one of the Gargoyles that lay nearest to him. The |
top of its head was carved into a crown and the Wizard's bullet had |
struck it exactly in the left eye, which was a hard wooden knot. Half of |
the bullet stuck in the wood and half stuck out, so it had been the jar |
and the sudden noise that had knocked the creature down, more than the |
fact that it was really hurt. Before this crowned Gargoyle had recovered |
himself Zeb had wound a strap several times around its body, confining |
its wings and arms so that it could not move. Then, having tied the |
wooden creature securely, the boy buckled the strap and tossed his |
prisoner into the buggy. By that time the others had all retired. |
[Illustration] |
CHAPTER 12. |
A WONDERFUL ESCAPE |
For a while the enemy hesitated to renew the attack. Then a few of them |
advanced until another shot from the Wizard's revolver made them |
retreat. |
"That's fine," said Zeb. "We've got 'em on the run now, sure enough." |
"But only for a time," replied the Wizard, shaking his head gloomily. |
"These revolvers are good for six shots each, but when those are gone we |
shall be helpless." |
The Gargoyles seemed to realize this, for they sent a few of their band |
time after time to attack the strangers and draw the fire from the |
little man's revolvers. In this way none of them was shocked by the |
dreadful report more than once, for the main band kept far away and |
each time a new company was sent into the battle. When the Wizard had |
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