  Early the next morning Shaggy and his friends found a steaming hot breakfast waiting for them in their rooms. No sooner had they finished than the King of the Fairy Beavers appeared to lead them to the Nome King's tunnel. They followed the King through several miles of weaving and twisting beaver burrows, until at last they stood at the entrance of the tunnel. Shaggy had noted that the King bore on his back, like a tiny knapsack, a small bundle. Now he saw that the twenty young beavers, who were waiting at the tunnel's entrance to undertake the journey with them, bore similar though smaller bundles on their backs. In addition, each of the young beavers carried a pine torch to light the way through the dark tunnel. At a signal from the beaver King, the torch-bearing beavers advanced into the tunnel and the journey was on. "How far are we from the Deadly Desert?" inquired the Shaggy Man. "Not more than a mile," answered the beaver King. "We will know when we reach the Desert, because of the heat radiated downward by the sands. The tunnel is not far from the surface—no more than twenty feet, I would judge." The tunnel was hewn from solid rock, but the floor of it was smooth, so the travelers were able to proceed at a good rate of speed. They all noticed that the heat increased perceptibly the closer they came to the shifting sands above them. "Whee-ew!" exclaimed the Shaggy Man. "This is no place for a pleasure trip. I can see why the Nome King was thirsty when he got out of here." They were now directly under the Deadly Desert and the heat radiated by the shifting sands above them was intense. But Twink and Tom were lightly dressed, so they didn't mind the heat so much. Twiffle naturally paid not the slightest attention to the temperature. The beavers who were used to underground heat moved swiftly forward. The pine torches of the young beavers cast flickering shadows on the rough stone walls about the travelers. But suddenly the light of the torches dimmed and faded in a greater brilliance. The torch-bearing beavers stopped in their tracks and were chattering excitedly among themselves, waiting for the beaver King and his party to catch up with them. The travelers hurried forward and found to their amazement that the new light came from a rift in the rock roof. Sunlight was shining down into the tunnel! But no sooner had they recovered from this surprise than they were overwhelmed by another. Directly ahead of them, blocking their passage through the tunnel, was a group of the strangest people they had ever seen. These beings were human in shape, yet they seemed to be made of flame. The living fire that formed their bodies varied in hue from a deep, glowing red to light orange and yellow, while their finger-tips, eyes, and features gave off blue and greenish colored flames. There were perhaps ten of the creatures, standing side by side so that the beaver King and his friends found their way completely blocked by this wall of living flame. Waves of heat radiated from their flaming bodies, and Twink and Tom had to blink their eyes several times to become accustomed to the glare of flame and light. "Halt! You can go no further. Turn back at once to whence you came." One of the flame folk was speaking. He appeared to be their leader, since he was taller than his companions and his eyes glowed much more fiercely than the rest. "Who are you?" asked the beaver King calmly. "We are Dwellers of the Desert. We live on the shifting sands on the surface. Occasionally we visit the oasis just above, where there is no sand, but blue grass that glows with blue flame," the flame being answered. "An oasis on the Deadly Desert?" asked the Shaggy Man incredulously. "Certainly. Did you ever hear of a desert that didn't have an oasis?" replied the fire creature. "Maybe not," muttered the Shaggy Man. "And I suppose the flame grass keeps the deadly sand from shifting into the tunnel." "Exactly," replied the fire creature. "But we are not concerned with sand in the tunnel. There are other things much more objectionable—yourselves, for instance." "How did you find out about the tunnel?" asked the beaver King, ignoring the fire being's insult. "Not that it is any of your business, but we were aware of the tunnel's existence while the Nome King was building it. After he returned to his own silly 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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