After leaving the Whimsies, Guph continued on his journey andpenetrated far into the Northwest. He wanted to get to the Country ofthe Growleywogs, and in order to do that he must cross the RippleLand, which was a hard thing to do. For the Ripple Land was asuccession of hills and valleys, all very steep and rocky, and theychanged places constantly by rippling. While Guph was climbing ahill it sank down under him and became a valley, and while he wasdescending into a valley it rose up and carried him to the top of ahill. This was very perplexing to the traveler, and a stranger mighthave thought he could never cross the Ripple Land at all. But Guphknew that if he kept steadily on he would get to the end at last; sohe paid no attention to the changing hills and valleys and ploddedalong as calmly as if walking upon the level ground.

The result of this wise persistence was that the General finallyreached firmer soil and, after penetrating a dense forest, came to theDominion of the Growleywogs.

No sooner had he crossed the border of this domain when two guardsseized him and carried him before the Grand Gallipoot of theGrowleywogs, who scowled upon him ferociously and asked him why hedared intrude upon his territory.

"I'm the Lord High General of the Invincible Army of the Nomes, and myname is Guph," was the reply. "All the world trembles when that nameis mentioned."

The Growleywogs gave a shout of jeering laughter at this, and one ofthem caught the Nome in his strong arms and tossed him high into theair. Guph was considerably shaken when he fell upon the hard ground,but he appeared to take no notice of the impertinence and composedhimself to speak again to the Grand Gallipoot.

"My master, King Roquat the Red, has sent me here to confer with you.He wishes your assistance to conquer the Land of Oz."

Here the General paused, and the Grand Gallipoot scowled upon him moreterribly than ever and said:

"Go on!"

The voice of the Grand Gallipoot was partly a roar and partly a growl.He mumbled his words badly and Guph had to listen carefully in orderto understand him.

These Growleywogs were certainly remarkable creatures. They were ofgigantic size, yet were all bone and skin and muscle, there being nomeat or fat upon their bodies at all. Their powerful muscles lay justunderneath their skins, like bunches of tough rope, and the weakestGrowleywog was so strong that he could pick up an elephant and toss itseven miles away.

It seems unfortunate that strong people are usually so disagreeableand overbearing that no one cares for them. In fact, to be differentfrom your fellow creatures is always a misfortune. The Growleywogsknew that they were disliked and avoided by every one, so they hadbecome surly and unsociable even among themselves. Guph knew thatthey hated all people, including the Nomes; but he hoped to win themover, nevertheless, and knew that if he succeeded they would affordhim very powerful assistance.

"The Land of Oz is ruled by a namby-pamby girl who is disgustinglykind and good," he continued. "Her people are all happy and contentedand have no care or worries whatever."

"Go on!" growled the Grand Gallipoot.

"Once the Nome King enslaved the Royal Family of Ev--anothergoody-goody lot that we detest," said the General. "But Ozmainterfered, although it was none of her business, and marched her armyagainst us. With her was a Kansas girl named Dorothy, and a YellowHen, and they marched directly into the Nome King's cavern. Therethey liberated our slaves from Ev and stole King Roquat's Magic Belt,which they carried away with them. So now our King is making a tunnelunder the deadly desert, so we can march through it to the EmeraldCity. When we get there we mean to conquer and destroy all the landand recapture the Magic Belt."

Again he paused, and again the Grand Gallipoot growled:

"Go on!"

Guph tried to think what to say next, and a happy thought soonoccurred to him.

"We want you to help us in this conquest," he announced, "for we needthe mighty aid of the Growleywogs in order to make sure that we shallnot be defeated. You are the strongest people in all the world, andyou hate good and happy creatures as much as we Nomes do. I am sureit will be a real pleasure to you to tear down the beautiful EmeraldCity, and in return for your valuable assistance we will allow you tobring back to your country ten thousand people of Oz, to be your slaves."

"Twenty thousand!" growled the Grand Gallipoot.

"All right, we promise you twenty thousand," agreed the General.

The Gallipoot made a signal and at once his attendants picked upGeneral Guph and carried him away to a prison, where the jailer amusedhimself by sticking pins in the round fat body of the old Nome, to seehim jump and hear him yell.

But while this was going on the Grand Gallipoot was talking with hiscounselors, who were the most important officials of the Growleywogs.When he had stated to them the proposition of the Nome King, he said:

"My advice is to offer to help them. Then, when we have conquered theLand of Oz, we will take not only our twenty thousand prisoners butall the gold and jewels we want."

"Let us take the Magic Belt, too," suggested one counselor.

"And rob the Nome King and make him our slave," said another.

"That is a good idea," declared the Grand Gallipoot. "I'd like KingRoquat for my own slave. He could black my boots and bring me myporridge every morning while I am in bed."

"There is a famous Scarecrow in Oz. I'll take him for my slave," saida counselor.

"I'll take Tiktok, the machine man," said another.

"Give me the Tin Woodman," said a third.

They went on for some time, dividing up the people and the treasure ofOz in advance of the conquest. For they had no doubt at all that theywould be able to destroy Ozma's domain. Were they not the strongestpeople in all the world?

"The deadly desert has kept us out of Oz before," remarked the GrandGallipoot, "but now that the Nome King is building a tunnel we shallget into the Emerald City very easily. So let us send the little fatGeneral back to his King with our promise to assist him. We will notsay that we intend to conquer the Nomes after we have conquered Oz,but we will do so, just the same."

This plan being agreed upon, they all went home to dinner, leavingGeneral Guph still in prison. The Nome had no idea that he hadsucceeded in his mission, for finding himself in prison he feared theGrowleywogs intended to put him to death.

By this time the jailer had tired of sticking pins in the General, andwas amusing himself by carefully pulling the Nome's whiskers out bythe roots, one at a time. This enjoyment was interrupted by the GrandGallipoot sending for the prisoner.

"Wait a few hours," begged the jailer. "I haven't pulled out aquarter of his whiskers yet."

"If you keep the Grand Gallipoot waiting, he'll break your back,"declared the messenger.

"Perhaps you're right," sighed the jailer. "Take the prisoner away,if you will, but I advise you to kick him at every step he takes. Itwill be good fun, for he is as soft as a ripe peach."

So Guph was led away to the royal castle, where the Grand Gallipoottold him that the Growleywogs had decided to assist the Nomes inconquering the Land of Oz.

"Whenever you are ready," he added, "send me word and I will marchwith eighteen thousand of my most powerful warriors to your aid."

Guph was so delighted that he forgot all the smarting caused by thepins and the pulling of whiskers. He did not even complain of thetreatment he had received, but thanked the Grand Gallipoot and hurriedaway upon his journey.

He had now secured the assistance of the Whimsies and the Growleywogs;but his success made him long for still more allies. His own lifedepended upon his conquering Oz, and he said to himself:

"I'll take no chances. I'll be certain of success. Then, when Oz isdestroyed, perhaps I shall be a greater man than old Roquat, and I canthrow him away and be King of the Nomes myself. Why not? TheWhimsies are stronger than the Nomes, and they also are my friends.There are some people still stronger than the Growleywogs, and if Ican but induce them to aid me I shall have nothing more to fear."