"
"You are right!" declared the General. "Ozma is surely lost."
And now the First and Foremost, who was in advance and nearing the
Emerald City, began to cough and to sneeze.
"This tunnel is terribly dusty," he growled, angrily. "I'll punish
that Nome King for not having it swept clean. My throat and eyes are
getting full of dust and I'm as thirsty as a fish!"
The Grand Gallipoot was coughing too, and his throat was parched and dry.
"What a dusty place!" he cried. "I'll be glad when we reach Oz,
where we can get a drink."
"Who has any water?" asked the Whimsie Chief, gasping and choking.
But none of his followers carried a drop of water, so he hastened
on to get through the dusty tunnel to the Land of Oz.
"Where did all this dust come from?" demanded General Guph, trying
hard to swallow but finding his throat so dry he couldn't.
"I don't know," answered the Nome King. "I've been in the tunnel
every day while it was being built, but I never noticed any dust before."
"Let's hurry!" cried the General. "I'd give half the gold in Oz for a
drink of water."
The dust grew thicker and thicker, and the throats and eyes and noses
of the invaders were filled with it.
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