In spite of their savage dispositions the Roly-Rogues had as yet done no harm to any one but themselves, as they lived so high above the world that other people knew nothing of their existence. Nor did they themselves know, because of the clouds that floated between, of the valleys which lay below them.
But, as ill luck would have it, a few days after King Bud’s army had defeated the army of Ix, one of the Roly-Rogues, while fighting with another, rolled too near the edge of the plain whereon they dwelt, and bounded down the mountain-side that faced Noland. Wind had scattered the clouds, so his fellows immediately rolled themselves to the edge and watched the luckless Roly-Rogue fly down the mountain, bounce across the plain, and thence speed down the next mountain. By and by he became a dot to their eyes, and then a mere speck; but as the clouds had just rolled away for a few moments the Roly-Rogues could see, by straining their eyes, the city of Nole lying in the valley far below.
It seemed, from that distance, merely a toy city, but they knew it must be a big place to show so far away; and since they had no cities of their own, they became curious to visit the one they had just discovered.
The ruler of the Roly-Rogues, who was more quarrelsome than any of the rest, had a talk with his chief men about visiting the unknown city.
“We can roll down the mountain just as our brother did,” he argued.
“But how in the world could we ever get back again?” said one of the chiefs, sticking his head up to look with astonishment at the ruler.
“We don’t want to get back,” said the other, excitedly. “Some one has built many houses and palaces at the foot of the mountains, and we can live in those, if they are big enough and if there are enough of them.”
[Illustration: “ALL THE HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS OF ROLY-ROGUES THAT WERE IN EXISTENCE ASSEMBLED UPON THE EDGE OF THEIR PLAIN, AND, AT THE WORD OF THEIR RULER, HURLED THEMSELVES DOWN THE MOUNTAIN WITH TERRIBLE CRIES AND WENT BOUNDING AWAY TOWARD THE PEACEFUL CITY OF NOLE.”]
“Perhaps the people won’t let us,” suggested another chief, who was not in favor of the expedition.
“We will fight them and destroy them,” retorted the ruler, scowling at the chief as if he would make him ashamed of his cowardice.