Chapter 20: At the End of the Tunnel

"Seems to me," remarked the Shaggy Man after they had progressed for some distance, "that by now we may have crossed the Barrier of Invisibility."

"You're right," agreed the beaver King. "And that means we are now journeying underground in the Land of Oz. It also means that the Cloaks of Visibility are no longer necessary for our journey, so I propose that we discard them here and I will destroy them so that they may never be used by anyone else for reaching the Land of Oz."

Each of the traveler removed his shimmering cloak and placed it on a little pile in the center of the tunnel. When all the cloaks were there, the beaver King waved his beechwood wand over the little heap of silvery material and in a flash it had vanished.

"Seems a shame," murmured Twink, "they were so beautiful."

But Twink forgot the Cloaks as they journeyed on. She and Tom could scarcely believe it--just over their heads was the marvelous Land of Oz. They began talking of all the famous people who lived in Oz, and the boy and girl would probably have walked all night had not the King of the Fairy Beavers announced after they had been trudging steadily for more than six hours:

"My fairy powers tell me it is dark in the land above. That means we have been walking all day. I propose we stop and sleep here and resume our journey in the morning. We should reach the Emerald City shortly after noon."

The Shaggy Man looked a bit ruefully at the hard stone floor of the tunnel. "Well," he sighed, "in my wanderings I have slept in less comfortable places. Twink can have my coat to rest her head on."

The beaver King chuckled softly. "Don't worry, Shaggy Man," he said, "I will provide beds for us. First let us enjoy a good dinner so that we will sleep the more soundly."

After the dinner two small beds and a large one magically appeared for Twink, Tom, and Shaggy. Although he did not need to sleep, Twiffle was provided with a little bed just his size. The beaver King curled up on a silken cushion. Other cushions were provided for the young beaver torch-bearers who took turns throughout the night sleeping and standing guard.

The next morning found them refreshed and eager to be on their way toward the Emerald City. The tunnel was cool now and they advanced rapidly. They were all weary of the sameness of the rocky tunnel walls and eager to reach the Land of Oz.

At last the young beavers who were leading the way came to a halt. For some distance the travelers had noticed that the tunnel had been gently sloping upward. Now they had arrived at its end. Just before them was a round patch of earth--a sort of "cork" of earth that Ozma had set in the end of the tunnel where it emerged in her garden.

The young beavers knew exactly what to do. They set to work digging and burrowing around the rim of this patch of earth. When they had loosened it sufficiently it would roll back into the tunnel, leaving free the exit for the Shaggy Man and his friends to emerge from the underground passage.

Twink and Tom watched in fascinated silence while the beavers worked. They were amazingly fast and skillful. Their paws fairly flew as they scooped out the earth and then brushed it from behind them with their wide, flat tails.

In a few more seconds the beavers would be through the earth. The beaver King warned his comrades to step back in the tunnel, as the earth was about to come tumbling down.

There was a creaking and crashing of earth and stones, and the beavers dashed to safety. Suddenly loud roars of mingled anger and fright filled the tunnel. Sitting on the pile of earth that had crashed down into the tunnel, and glaring at them frightfully while he roared, was an enormous beast.