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Chapter Twenty-Two

spikes of the wicked old gnome's gray head.

"He will nev-er re-form," said Tik Tok mournfully, as Ruggedo finished his recital. The bad little gnome assured Ozma that he had reformed and begged for another chance, but this time Ozma knew better, and putting on her Magic Belt she whispered a few secret words. Then they all hurried over to the Magic Picture, for they knew that Ruggedo had been transported to a safe place at last. The picture showed the Runaway Country rushing along faster than an express train and dancing up and down on its highest hill was the furious old King of the Gnomes. They watched until the Country plunged joyfully into the Nonestic Ocean and, when it was almost in the middle, Ozma stopped it by the magic spinning process and it became Ruggedo's Island.

"Well," sighed Dorothy as they turned from the picture, "I guess that will be Ruggedo's last rock!"

"He's rocked in the cradle of the deep now," chuckled the Scarecrow. "And I hope it quiets him down. They ought to make a good pair—that bad little Island and that bad little King," he added reflectively.

Then Ozma proposed that they follow the adventures of Peg and Pompa, having so satisfactorily disposed of Ruggedo. How she transported Glegg just

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