CHAPTER 11
...AND HE SHOWS THEM PEARLY WHITES
As the little group, together with a party of five of the Saber-ToothedLight-Bulbs, turned a bend in the road, they came upon a huge dried seabed. They could see for miles, and there was not a soul in sight.
"I think we're in uncharted territory," remarked Elephant, peering intothe distance. "I don't remember anyone ever mentioning this. But itlooks safe enough to cross. No more unpleasant surprises, I'm sure."
At that moment a deep disembodied voice said, "Dinnah iss serffed,laddies and lassies, pliss shtep oop to da table."
Everyone turned around to see who was speaking, but could see no one.
Suddenly, several mounds of sand that they had not noticed before beganto quiver and slowly rise a couple of feet above the ground. The moundsshook themselves and the sand fell off to reveal about fifty _GreatWhite Sharks_. They were not suspended above the ground as it firstseemed, but were supported with legs like an alligator.
This was a frightening scene to behold, as you can well imagine. Andwhen their leader approached our heroes, he repeated the words "Dinnahiss serffed," and licked his lips with anticipation.
He spoke again in that very strange accent, this time addressingElephant: "Vatt iss a madder vi' chew? You nebber seen land sharks'afore?"
"N-N-N-No, w-w-w-we h-h-h-haven't," stuttered Elephant.
"Habben chew?" the leader said, winking at his friends. "Den ah villshare some knowletch vi' chew to take vi' chew to da hereafter. (Theother sharks roared with laughter at this). Ven our ocean dried oopmillons off yearss ago, all da fishies died, includen uss sharks--exceptfor two, zat iss. Undt dare chilluns ver born vi' liddle leggies. Vearrda descendants off dose two, undt ve haff effolved over da yearss toour present selfs. Fully adapted to da land. Undt ve haff kept alive alldeess yearss on a steady diet off hunsuspecting helaffant. So vat chew'tink 'bout zat?"
"N-n-not t-t-too m-m-much," answered Elephant in a high pitched voice."I-I mean, I d-d-d-don't know wh-what t-to think."
"Tell chew vat ve do," said the shark. "Chew seem like nice a guyss. Veno eat chew tonight. Ve eat chew tomorrow--fer break'ast."
Land Sharks]
All the sharks laughed uproariously, whereupon they surrounded ourheroes and promptly lay back down in the sand and went to sleep.
"Well," said Watts. "This is a fine how-do-you-do. But I don't think wehave to worry about these guys too much. I seriously doubt they couldeat glass, so we can protect the rest of you." He smiled a very sharptoothy smile. "Besides, they seem to be very lazy. It isn't like they'veenclosed us in a cage or anything like that. What's to stop us fromsimply slipping out between two of them and walking away?"
"Ahh am," came a rumbling voice. "Ahh am ze vatchman uff ze Land Sharks.But chew do have a point. Ve cannot eat glass. Ve can break it, but vecan't eat it. Chew are uff no value to us. Ve vill only be able to eatze meat creatchures. Chew that are a made from glass may go."
Watts and his friends made their most ferocious faces at the LandSharks. "You will allow us all to go!" said Watts to the Shark. "Youwill not hold any of us back! Besides, we have with us the Queen of Oz.Your own Queen, for crying out loud!"
"Chew does have some pretty teeth, don' chew?" said the watchman. "But Iam not afraid of chew, zo chew should leave now. I do not know chust'zactly vat a queen might be, but I am sure that it iss delissious."
"We do not have time for this," hooted Lisa. "We are on an importantmission to save the Lunechien Forest of Oz from a gigantic ForestMonster, and you had better not hold us back! The Forest Monster isalready bigger than the lot of you, and he will come for you sooner orlater if you don't let us stop him!"
"Vorest Monzter?" echoed the great shark.
"That's what I said," replied Lisa angrily.
"Chust vat iss ze Vorest Monzter made uff?" asked the shark.
"Er, I don't know. Whatever monsters are usually made of," answered thefemale owl. "Flesh and blood, I guess."
"Und he iss ass big ass chew zay he iss?" asked the shark.
"Probably bigger by now," put in Tweaty, realizing what was happening.
"Zen ve shall eat ziss Vorest Monzter!" said the shark. "Ve shall eathim 'til he iss only bones!"
Lisa was not entirely sure the Forest Monster had any bones, as shesuspected that spiders had exoskeletons instead, but she saw no reasonto bring this up at the moment. "Then you really don't need us. It isagainst the laws of the jungle to kill more than you can eat, and theForest Monster will easily tide you over for a good long time."
Ozma was not quite happy with the way things were turning out. She wasnot an advocate of killing at all. The thought of her willingly placingone of her subjects--even one so wicked as the Forest Monster--in mortaldanger was a hard pill for her to swallow. Still, this development hadapparently removed the threat to her own hide. "Then we shall be on ourway," she said. "I will wish you a good night."
The shark thanked her and, having no one left that he had to guard,settled down to sleep among his fellows.
"This is odd," said Ozma as the group continued on its way. "We set outto rid ourselves of the Forest Monster, and now I feel inclined to findhim so that we can warn him of his pending danger."
"You are kidding, aren't you?" asked Watts.
Ozma only looked solemnly at the ground and kept walking.