"Those wooden things are impossible to hurt," he said, "and all the
damage Jim has done to them is to knock a few splinters from their
noses and ears. That cannot make them look any uglier, I'm sure, and
it is my opinion they will soon renew the attack."
"What made them fly away?" asked Dorothy.
"The noise, of course. Don't you remember how the Champion escaped
them by shouting his battle-cry?"
"Suppose we escape down the stairs, too," suggested the boy. "We have
time, just now, and I'd rather face the invis'ble bears than those
wooden imps."
"No," returned Dorothy, stoutly, "it won't do to go back, for then we
would never get home. Let's fight it out."
"That is what I advise," said the Wizard. "They haven't defeated us
yet, and Jim is worth a whole army."
But the Gargoyles were clever enough not to attack the horse the next
time. They advanced in a great swarm, having been joined by many more
of their kind, and they flew straight over Jim's head to where the
others were standing.
The Wizard raised one of his revolvers and fired into the throng of
his enemies, and the shot resounded like a clap of thunder in that
silent place.
Some of the wooden beings fell flat upon the ground, where they
quivered and trembled in every limb; but most of them managed to wheel
and escape again to a distance.
|