to the plain was located, so they made directly for it.
Some people were in the paths but these they dodged
around. One or two Flatheads heard the pattering of
footsteps of the girls on the stone pavement and
stopped with bewildered looks to gaze around them, but
no one interfered with the invisible fugitives.

The Su-dic had lost no time in starting the chase. He
and his men ran so fast that they might have overtaken
the girls before they reached the stairway had not the
Golden Pig suddenly run across their path. The Su-dic
tripped over the pig and fell flat, and his four men
tripped over him and tumbled in a heap. Before they
could scramble up and reach the mouth of the passage it
was too late to stop the two girls.

There was a guard on each side of the stairway, but
of course they did not see Ozma and Dorothy as they
sped past and descended the steps. Then they had to go
up five steps and down another ten, and so on, in the
same manner in which they had climbed to the top of the
mountain. Ozma lighted their way with her wand and they
kept on without relaxing their speed until they reached
the bottom. Then they ran to the right and turned the
corner of the invisible wall just as the Su-dic and his
followers rushed out of the arched entrance and looked
around in an attempt to discover the fugitives.

Ozma now knew they were safe, so she told Dorothy to
stop and both of them sat down on the grass until they