The new General of the Nome King's army knew perfectly well that tofail in his plans meant death for him. Yet he was not at all anxiousor worried. He hated every one who was good and longed to make all whowere happy unhappy. Therefore he had accepted this dangerous positionas General quite willingly, feeling sure in his evil mind that he wouldbe able to do a lot of mischief and finally conquer the Land of Oz.

Yet Guph determined to be careful, and to lay his plans well, so asnot to fail. He argued that only careless people fail in what theyattempt to do.

The mountains underneath which the Nome King's extensive caverns werelocated lay grouped just north of the Land of Ev, which lay directlyacross the deadly desert to the east of the Land of Oz. As themountains were also on the edge of the desert the Nome King foundthat he had only to tunnel underneath the desert to reach Ozma'sdominions. He did not wish his armies to appear above ground in theCountry of the Winkies, which was the part of the Land of Oz nearestto King Roquat's own country, as then the people would give the alarmand enable Ozma to fortify the Emerald City and assemble an army. Hewanted to take all the Oz people by surprise; so he decided to run thetunnel clear through to the Emerald City, where he and his hosts couldbreak through the ground without warning and conquer the people beforethey had time to defend themselves.

Roquat the Red began work at once upon his tunnel, setting a thousandminers at the task and building it high and broad enough for hisarmies to march through it with ease. The Nomes were used to makingtunnels, as all the kingdom in which they lived was under ground; sothey made rapid progress.

While this work was going on General Guph started out alone to visitthe Chief of the Whimsies.

These Whimsies were curious people who lived in a retired country oftheir own. They had large, strong bodies, but heads so small thatthey were no bigger than door-knobs. Of course, such tiny heads couldnot contain any great amount of brains, and the Whimsies were soashamed of their personal appearance and lack of commonsense thatthey wore big heads made of pasteboard, which they fastened over theirown little heads. On these pasteboard heads they sewed sheep's woolfor hair, and the wool was colored many tints--pink, green andlavender being the favorite colors. The faces of these false headswere painted in many ridiculous ways, according to the whims of theowners, and these big, burly creatures looked so whimsical and absurdin their queer masks that they were called "Whimsies." They foolishlyimagined that no one would suspect the little heads that were insidethe imitation ones, not knowing that it is folly to try to appearotherwise than as nature has made us.

The Chief of the Whimsies had as little wisdom as the others, and hadbeen chosen chief merely because none among them was any wiser or morecapable of ruling. The Whimsies were evil spirits and could not bekilled. They were hated and feared by every one and were known asterrible fighters because they were so strong and muscular and had notsense enough to know when they were defeated.

General Guph thought the Whimsies would be a great help to the Nomesin the conquest of Oz, for under his leadership they could be inducedto fight as long so they could stand up. So he traveled to theircountry and asked to see the Chief, who lived in a house that had apicture of his grotesque false head painted over the doorway.

The Chief's false head had blue hair, a turned-up nose, and a mouththat stretched half across the face. Big green eyes had been paintedupon it, but in the center of the chin were two small holes made inthe pasteboard, so that the Chief could see through them with his owntiny eyes; for when the big head was fastened upon his shoulders theeyes in his own natural head were on a level with the false chin.

Said General Guph to the Chief of the Whimsies:

"We Nomes are going to conquer the Land of Oz and capture our King'sMagic Belt, which the Oz people stole from him. Then we are goingto plunder and destroy the whole country. And we want the Whimsiesto help us."

"Will there be any fighting?" asked the Chief.

"Plenty," replied Guph.

That must have pleased the Chief, for he got up and danced around theroom three times. Then he seated himself again, adjusted his falsehead, and said:

"We have no quarrel with Ozma of Oz."

"But you Whimsies love to fight, and here is a splendid chance to doso," urged Guph.

"Wait till I sing a song," said the Chief. Then he lay back in hischair and sang a foolish song that did not seem to the General to meananything, although he listened carefully. When he had finished, theChief Whimsie looked at him through the holes in his chin and asked:

"What reward will you give us if we help you?"

The General was prepared for this question, for he had been thinkingthe matter over on his journey. People often do a good deed withouthope of reward, but for an evil deed they always demand payment.

"When we get our Magic Belt," he made reply, "our King, Roquat theRed, will use its power to give every Whimsie a natural head as bigand fine as the false head he now wears. Then you will no longer beashamed because your big strong bodies have such teenty-weenty heads."

"Oh! Will you do that?" asked the Chief, eagerly.

"We surely will," promised the General.

"I'll talk to my people," said the Chief.

So he called a meeting of all the Whimsies and told them of the offermade by the Nomes. The creatures were delighted with the bargain, andat once agreed to fight for the Nome King and help him to conquer Oz.

One Whimsie alone seemed to have a glimmer of sense, for he asked:

"Suppose we fail to capture the Magic Belt? What will happen then,and what good will all our fighting do?"

But they threw him into the river for asking foolish questions, andlaughed when the water ruined his pasteboard head before he could swimout again.

So the compact was made and General Guph was delighted with hissuccess in gaining such powerful allies.

But there were other people, too, just as important as the Whimsies,whom the clever old Nome had determined to win to his side.