  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—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 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 this 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 spider webs. 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—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. Underground, Glinda's spell is much less intense, because the earth and sands absorb and destroy the fairy spell. Glinda is a fairy just as Ozma is, and fairies, you know, are creatures of the light and air, and it is there that their powers are the strongest." The beaver King then handed out Cloaks of the shimmering material to all of them. There was a tiny one that fitted Twiffle perfectly. The twenty young beavers opened their knapsacks and drew from them their own Cloaks of Visibility, which they adjusted about themselves. "Now we are ready to test the power of the Cloaks," said the beaver King. "They should not only make us visible, but should enable us to see the invisible." Twink thought she detected the slightest tremor in the King's voice. It was no wonder, she thought, for so much depended on those cloaks he had made. Once again they proceeded into the tunnel, this time holding their breaths with excitement. Would the Cloaks of Visibility work? One—two—three—four—five steps and they found themselves watching one another to see if they were still visible. Six—seven—eight—nine—ten steps—but no one breathed freely until they had counted twenty steps. They all were still visible! And they could still see the tunnel walls. The Cloaks of Visibility worked perfectly. Eagerly the twenty young beavers took the lead again. |
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