"It's gone!" cried Dorothy, in dismay.

"What's gone?" asked Billina.

"The key."

"It probably fell off when he made that low bow to you," returned the
hen. "Look around, and see if you cannot find it again."

Dorothy looked, and the hen helped her, and by and by the girl
discovered the clock-key, which had fallen into a crack of the rock.

At once she wound up Tiktok's voice, taking care to give the key as
many turns as it would go around. She found this quite a task, as you
may imagine if you have ever tried to wind a clock, but the machine
man's first words were to assure Dorothy that he would now run for at
least twenty-four hours.

"You did not wind me much, at first," he calmly said, "and I told
you that long sto-ry a-bout King Ev-ol-do; so it is no won-der that
I ran down."

She next rewound the action clock-work, and then Billina advised her to
carry the key to Tiktok in her pocket, so it would not get lost again.

"And now," said Dorothy, when all this was accomplished, "tell me what
you were going to say about the Wheelers."

"Why, they are noth-ing to be fright-en'd at," said the machine.
"They try to make folks be-lieve that they are ver-y ter-ri-ble, but