He now realized that he must make good Ruggedo's boast, so
he retreated to the edge of the clearing and whispered the magic word.
Instantly the Unicorn became a fat, chubby little man, dressed in
the purple Gillikin costume, and it was hard to tell which was the
more astonished, the King, the Bear, the Ape or the former Unicorn.
"It's true!" shorted the man-beast. "Good gracious, look what I am!
It's wonderful!"
The King of Beasts now addressed Ruggedo in a more friendly tone.
"We must believe your story, since you have given us proof of your
power," said he. "But why, if you are so great a magician, cannot you
conquer the Oz people without our help, and so save us the trouble?"
"Alas!" replied the crafty old Nome, "no magician is able to do
everything. The transformations are easy to us because we are
Li-Mon-Eags, but we cannot fight, or conquer even such weak creatures
as the Oz people. But we will stay with you and advise and help you,
and we will transform all the Oz people into beasts, when the time
comes, and all the beasts into people."
Gugu the King turned to his Counselors.
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