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existence while the Nome King was building it. After he returned to his own
kingdom, we burned our way down through the rocks from the oasis
above."
"Why did you do that?" persisted the beaver King.
The leader of the fire creatures hesitated for a moment, then replied in an
angry voice, "Because we enjoy the coolness of the tunnel. By contrast it
makes the fiery sands of the desert even more pleasant. Now, be on your
way
back where you came from, or we will advance upon you and blast you to
cinders."
"My, what a fiery-tempered fellow," said Shaggy. This seemed to infuriate
the fire creature, and he was about to leap toward Shaggy when the beaver
King stepped forward holding out his beechwood wand. Instantly from the
tip
of the wand there came forth a spray of water that showered on the row of
fire creatures. As soon as it touched their flaming bodies, the water
hissed into steam. The effect on the fire beings was amazing. They uttered
loud howls of pain and fright and leaped like flames from a great fire into
the air and through the rift in the rock. Their cries resounded as they
dashed over the oasis to roll in the flaming sands of the desert.
"Come," urged the beaver King, "let us hurry, although I do not think there
is any danger of pursuit."
The young beavers went first, followed by Shaggy and his friends. They
hurried until they had passed out of sight of the sunlight that flowed down
the rift into the tunnel. "I guess that's the first time those critters
ever saw water," said the Shaggy Man, grinning.
"The water didn't hurt them," said the beaver King, "and the burning sands
will soon restore whatever heat they lost. Nevertheless, I don't think they
will cause us any further annoyance."
They walked ahead rapidly hour after hour with the young beavers lighting
the way through the Nome King's tunnel.
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CHAPTER 19
THE BARRIER OF INVISIBILITY
Suddenly Shaggy stopped and stared about him. He was alone in the tunnel!
He
had been walking along looking at nothing in particular, when in a flash
his companions had vanished. Just ahead of him he could hear the excited
chattering of the twenty young beavers. But there was no sign of any living
thing. Then Shaggy looked down at himself and cried out in amazement C4
he
wasn't there either! He could see nothing of his body, although he felt as
firm as ever.
"You will be kind enough to remove your wand from my eye, please!" It was
Twiffle's voice speaking somewhere near Shaggy.
"I beg your pardon, we are both invisible, so my poking my wand in your
eye
was entirely unintentional, I assure you," the beaver King's voice
answered.
"Hey! Stay off my foot!" Tom called out.
"Was that your foot? I'm sure I didn't see it," Twink's voice answered
soothingly.
"Neither do I, but it's there just the same," replied Tom's voice ruefully.
All about them the young beavers' voices had risen, and several angry
disputes were taking place. Evidently some accidents had occurred among
the
little animals, too. The Shaggy Man said sadly, "Well, this seems to be the
Barrier of Invisibility, and it's most effective, too. I propose we all
stay just where we are until we decide what to do, for we all seem to be
quite invisible."
"Must we turn back?" asked Twink anxiously.
"Don't you worry, Twink," said Tom. "Even if we can't get to the Land of Oz,
we'll find our way home."
"Yes, I think we must turn back," announced the beaver King. "Let us
retreat
in the tunnel to the point where the Barrier of Invisibility begins. It
should be only a few feet from where we are now, since we just entered it."
"But we have turned about and lost all sense of direction since becoming
invisible," said the Shaggy Man. "Since we cannot see the tunnel, it looks
the same in every direction, so how are we to know which way to turn to go
back?"
"Walk ten steps in one direction, and if you are still invisible, then turn
about and walk twenty feet in the other direction," instructed the beaver
King. This they all did, and after a bit of experimentation and several
minor collisions, they were relieved to find themselves visible once more
and standing on the edge of the Barrier of Invisibility. At the King's
order the young beavers had remained where they were until the others
had
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found their way out of the Barrier. Now the beaver King uttered a series of
calls that quickly guided the animals beyond the Barrier of Invisibility.
Shaggy and his friends stood about in the tunnel gazing from one to another
almost despairingly, wondering what to do next. "There is still hope that
we may not have to go back and may be able to use the tunnel to reach Oz,
my friends," began the beaver King quietly. "Last night and far into the
morning, while you were sleeping, I was busy in my fairy workshop
studying
the problem. I believe I have solved it, although of course we cannot be
quite sure until we make the test."
With that, the little animal unstrapped from his back the small bundle he
had been carrying. Laying it on the tunnel floor, he carefully unfolded it.
The bundle seemed to consist of a number of shimmering pieces of silver
cloth so light they might have been spun from spiderwebs. The beaver King
selected one of the folds of gossamer cloth and handed it to Twink. "Unfold
it and put it about you, my dear," he said. "I think you will find it just
your size."
Twink did as instructed and found the cloth fitted about her like a fairy
cloak. "Oh, it's lovely," she exclaimed.
"It's more than that, I hope," said the beaver King. "It is a Cloak of
Visibility."
"A cloak of what?" exclaimed the Shaggy Man.
"You have all heard and read tales of cloaks of invisibility," explained the
beaver King. "Cloaks that make the wearer invisible are famous in the fairy
tales of all lands. Well, I knew that we would become invisible today
against our wishes, so I have attempted to create a Cloak of Visibility C4
a cloak that would overcome the spell of invisibility."
"Do you think it will work?" asked the Shaggy Man hopefully.
"I do not know," confessed the beaver King. "I am sure it wouldn't work
above ground where Glinda's Barrier of Invisibility is full strength.
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