The Wizard carried a little black bag containing his
tools of wizardry, while Dorothy carried over her arm a
covered basket in which she had placed a dozen eggs,
with which to conquer the nomes if she had any trouble
with them.

Eggs may seem to you to be a queer weapon with which
to fight, but the little girl well knew their value.
The nomes are immortal; that is, they do not perish, as
mortals do, unless they happen to come in contact with
an egg. If an egg touches them -- either the outer
shell or the inside of the egg -- the nomes lose their
charm of perpetual life and thereafter are liable to
die through accident or old age, just as all humans
are.

For this reason the sight of an egg fills a nome with
terror and he will do anything to prevent an egg from
touching him, even for an instant. So, when Dorothy
took her basket of eggs with her, she knew that she was
more powerfully armed than if she had a regiment of
soldiers at her back.




Chapter Twenty-One

The Wizard Finds an Enchantment