"If you could see yourself you'd be terribly scared," added Polly.
The Queen scowled at them and flopped from her red side to her
yellow side.
"Take them away," she commanded the guard, "and at six o'clock run
them through the meat chopper and start the soup kettle boiling.
And put plenty of salt in the broth this time, or I'll punish
the cooks severely."
"Any onions, your Majesty?" asked one of the guard.
"Plenty of onions and garlic and a dash of red pepper. Now, go!"
The Scoodlers led the captives away and shut them up in one of the
houses, leaving only a single Scoodler to keep guard.
The place was a sort of store-house; containing bags of potatoes and
baskets of carrots, onions and turnips.
"These," said their guard, pointing to the vegetables, "we use to
flavor our soups with."
The prisoners were rather disheartened by this time, for they saw no
way to escape and did not know how soon it would be six o'clock and
time for the meatchopper to begin work. But the shaggy man was brave
and did not intend to submit to such a horrid fate without a struggle.
"I'm going to fight for our lives," he whispered to the children, "for
if I fail we will be no worse off than before, and to sit here
quietly until we are made into soup would be foolish and cowardly."
The Scoodler on guard stood near the doorway, turning first his white
side toward them and then his black side, as if he wanted to show to
all of his greedy four eyes the sight of so many fat prisoners.
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