"Well, well, well!" he exclaimed. "Where did
you come from and how did you get here?"

Betsy tried to answer him, for Queen Ann was
surly and silent.

"I can't say, exac'ly where we came from,
cause I don't know the name of the place," said
the girl, "but the way we got here was through
the Hollow Tube."

"Don't call it a 'hollow' Tube, please,"
exclaimed the Peculiar Person in an irritated tone
of voice. "If it's a tube, it's sure to be
hollow."

"Why?" asked Betsy.

"Because all tubes are made that way. But this
Tube is private property and everyone is forbidden
to fall into it."

"We didn't do it on purpose," explained Betsy,
and Polychrome added: "I am quite sure that
Ruggedo, the Nome King, pushed us down that Tube."

"Ha! Ruggedo! Did you say Ruggedo?" cried the
man, becoming much excited.

"That is what she said," replied Shaggy, "and I