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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Road to Oz
+
+Author: L. Frank Baum
+
+Illustrator: John R. Neill
+
+Release Date: August 15, 2008 [EBook #26624]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROAD TO OZ ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Joseph Cooper, Chuck Greif and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: BOOK END]
+
+[Illustration: BOOK COVER]
+
+[Illustration: THIS BOOK BELONGS
+
+TO]
+
+[Illustration: THE ROAD TO OZ]
+
+[Illustration: CALLING ON JACK PUMPKINHEAD See Chapter 16]
+
+
+
+
+THE ROAD TO OZ
+
+BY
+
+L. FRANK BAUM
+
+AUTHOR OF THE LAND OF OZ, OZMA OF OZ, DOROTHY
+AND THE WIZARD IN OZ, ETC.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+ILLUSTRATED BY
+
+JOHN R. NEILL
+
+CHICAGO
+
+THE REILLY & BRITTON CO.
+
+PUBLISHERS
+
+[Illustration: COPYRIGHT
+
+1909
+
+BY L FRANK BAUM
+
+ALL RIGHTS
+
+RESERVED]
+
+[Illustration: _L'istesso tempo_
+
+TO MY FIRST GRANDSON
+
+Joslyn Stanton Baum]
+
+To my readers: Well, my dears, here is what you have asked for: another
+"Oz Book" about Dorothy's strange adventures. Toto is in this story,
+because you wanted him to be there, and many other characters which you
+will recognize are in the story, too. Indeed, the wishes of my little
+correspondents have been considered as carefully as possible, and if the
+story is not exactly as you would have written it yourselves, you must
+remember that a story has to be a story before it can be written down,
+and the writer cannot change it much without spoiling it.
+
+In the preface to "Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz" I said I would like to
+write some stories that were not "Oz" stories, because I thought I had
+written about Oz long enough; but since that volume was published I have
+been fairly deluged with letters from children imploring me to "write
+more about Dorothy," and "more about Oz," and since I write only to
+please the children I shall try to respect their wishes.
+
+There are some new characters in this book that ought to win your love.
+I'm very fond of the shaggy man myself, and I think you will like him,
+too. As for Polychrome--the Rainbow's Daughter--and stupid little
+Button-Bright, they seem to have brought a new element of fun into these
+Oz stories, and I am glad I discovered them. Yet I am anxious to have
+you write and tell me how you like them.
+
+Since this book was written I have received some very remarkable news
+from The Land of Oz, which has greatly astonished me. I believe it will
+astonish you, too, my dears, when you hear it. But it is such a long and
+exciting story that it must be saved for another book--and perhaps that
+book will be the last story that will ever be told about the Land of Oz.
+
+L FRANK BAUM.
+
+_Coronado, 1909._
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF CHAPTERS
+
+
+1 THE WAY TO BUTTERFIELD
+
+2 DOROTHY MEETS BUTTON-BRIGHT
+
+3 A QUEER VILLAGE
+
+4 KING DOX
+
+5 THE RAINBOW'S DAUGHTER
+
+6 THE CITY OF BEASTS
+
+7 THE SHAGGY MAN'S TRANSFORMATION
+
+8 THE MUSICKER
+
+9 FACING THE SCOODLERS
+
+10 ESCAPING THE SOUP-KETTLE
+
+11 JOHNNY DOIT DOES IT
+
+12 THE DEADLY DESERT CROSSED
+
+13 THE TRUTH POND
+
+14 TIK-TOK AND BILLINA
+
+15 THE EMPEROR'S TIN CASTLE
+
+16 VISITING THE PUMPKIN FIELD
+
+17 THE ROYAL CHARIOT ARRIVES
+
+18 THE EMERALD CITY
+
+19 THE SHAGGY MAN'S WELCOME
+
+20 PRINCESS OZMA OF OZ
+
+21 DOROTHY RECEIVES THE GUESTS
+
+22 IMPORTANT ARRIVALS
+
+23 THE GRAND BANQUET
+
+24 THE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+The Way to Butterfield
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+"Please, miss," said the shaggy man, "can you tell me the road to
+Butterfield?"
+
+Dorothy looked him over. Yes, he was shaggy, all right; but there was a
+twinkle in his eye that seemed pleasant.
+
+"Oh, yes," she replied; "I can tell you. But it isn't this road at all."
+
+"No?"
+
+"You cross the ten-acre lot, follow the lane to the highway, go north to
+the five branches, and take--let me see--"
+
+"To be sure, miss; see as far as Butterfield, if you like," said the
+shaggy man.
+
+"You take the branch next the willow stump, I b'lieve; or else the
+branch by the gopher holes; or else----"
+
+"Won't any of 'em do, miss?"
+
+"'Course not, Shaggy Man. You must take the right road to get to
+Butterfield."
+
+"And is that the one by the gopher stump, or----"
+
+"Dear me!" cried Dorothy; "I shall have to show you the way; you're so
+stupid. Wait a minute till I run in the house and get my sunbonnet."
+
+The shaggy man waited. He had an oat-straw in his mouth, which he chewed
+slowly as if it tasted good; but it didn't. There was an apple-tree
+beside the house, and some apples had fallen to the ground. The shaggy
+man thought they would taste better than the oat-straw, so he walked
+over to get some. A little black dog with bright brown eyes dashed out
+of the farm-house and ran madly toward the shaggy man, who had already
+picked up three apples and put them in one of the big wide pockets of
+his shaggy coat. The little dog barked, and made a dive for the shaggy
+man's leg; but he grabbed the dog by the neck and put it in his big
+pocket along with the apples. He took more apples, afterward, for many
+were on the ground; and each one that he tossed into his pocket hit the
+little dog somewhere upon the head or back, and made him growl. The
+little dog's name was Toto, and he was sorry he had been put in the
+shaggy man's pocket.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Pretty soon Dorothy came out of the house with her sunbonnet, and she
+called out:
+
+"Come on, Shaggy Man, if you want me to show you the road to
+Butterfield." She climbed the fence into the ten-acre lot and he
+followed her, walking slowly and stumbling over the little hillocks in
+the pasture as if he was thinking of something else and did not notice
+them.
+
+"My, but you're clumsy!" said the little girl. "Are your feet tired?"
+
+"No, miss; it's my whiskers; they tire very easily this warm weather,"
+said he. "I wish it would snow; don't you?"
+
+"'Course not, Shaggy Man," replied Dorothy, giving him a severe look.
+"If it snowed in August it would spoil the corn and the oats and the
+wheat; and then Uncle Henry wouldn't have any crops; and that would make
+him poor; and----"
+
+"Never mind," said the shaggy man. "It won't snow, I guess. Is this the
+lane?"
+
+"Yes," replied Dorothy, climbing another fence; "I'll go as far as the
+highway with you."
+
+"Thankee, miss; you're very kind for your size, I'm sure," said he
+gratefully.
+
+"It isn't everyone who knows the road to Butterfield," Dorothy remarked
+as she tripped along the lane; "but I've driven there many a time with
+Uncle Henry, and so I b'lieve I could find it blindfolded."
+
+"Don't do that, miss," said the shaggy man, earnestly; "you might make a
+mistake."
+
+"I won't," she answered, laughing. "Here's the highway. Now, it's the
+second--no, the third turn to the left--or else it's the fourth. Let's
+see. The first one is by the elm tree; and the second is by the gopher
+holes; and then----"
+
+"Then what?" he inquired, putting his hands in his coat pockets. Toto
+grabbed a finger and bit it; the shaggy man took his hand out of that
+pocket quickly, and said "Oh!"
+
+Dorothy did not notice. She was shading her eyes from the sun with her
+arm, looking anxiously down the road.
+
+"Come on," she commanded. "It's only a little way farther, so I may as
+well show you."
+
+After a while they came to the place where five roads branched in
+different directions; Dorothy pointed to one, and said:
+
+"That's it, Shaggy Man."
+
+"I'm much obliged, miss," he said, and started along another road.
+
+"Not that one!" she cried; "you're going wrong."
+
+He stopped.
+
+"I thought you said that other was the road to Butterfield," said he,
+running his fingers through his shaggy whiskers in a puzzled way.
+
+"So it is."
+
+"But I don't want to go to Butterfield, miss."
+
+"You don't?"
+
+"Of course not. I wanted you to show me the road, so I shouldn't go
+there by mistake."
+
+"Oh! Where _do_ you want to go to, then?"
+
+"I'm not particular, miss."
+
+This answer astonished the little girl; and it made her provoked, too,
+to think she had taken all this trouble for nothing.
+
+"There are a good many roads here," observed the shaggy man, turning
+slowly around, like a human windmill.
+
+"Seems to me a person could go 'most anywhere, from this place."
+
+Dorothy turned around too, and gazed in surprise. There _were_ a good
+many roads; more than she had ever seen before. She tried to count them,
+knowing there ought to be five; but when she had counted seventeen she
+grew bewildered and stopped, for the roads were as many as the spokes of
+a wheel and ran in every direction from the place where they stood; so
+if she kept on counting she was likely to count some of the roads twice.
+
+"Dear me!" she exclaimed. "There used to be only five roads, highway and
+all. And now--why, where's the highway, Shaggy Man?"
+
+"Can't say, miss," he responded, sitting down upon the ground as if
+tired with standing. "Wasn't it here a minute ago?"
+
+"I thought so," she answered, greatly perplexed. "And I saw the gopher
+holes, too, and the dead stump; but they're not here now. These roads
+are all strange--and what a lot of them there are! Where do you suppose
+they all go to?"
+
+"Roads," observed the shaggy man, "don't go anywhere. They stay in one
+place, so folks can walk on them."
+
+He put his hand in his side-pocket and drew out an apple--quick, before
+Toto could bite him again. The little dog got his head out this time
+and said "Bow-wow!" so loudly that it made Dorothy jump.
+
+"O Toto!" she cried; "where did you come from?"
+
+"I brought him along," said the shaggy man.
+
+"What for?" she asked.
+
+"To guard these apples in my pocket, miss, so no one would steal them."
+
+With one hand the shaggy man held the apple, which he began eating,
+while with the other hand he pulled Toto out of his pocket and dropped
+him to the ground. Of course Toto made for Dorothy at once, barking
+joyfully at his release from the dark pocket. When the child had patted
+his head lovingly, he sat down before her, his red tongue hanging out
+one side of his mouth, and looked up into her face with his bright brown
+eyes, as if asking her what they should do next.
+
+Dorothy didn't know. She looked around her anxiously for some familiar
+landmark; but everything was strange. Between the branches of the many
+roads were green meadows and a few shrubs and trees, but she couldn't
+see anywhere the farm-house from which she had just come, or anything
+she had ever seen before--except the shaggy man and Toto.
+
+Besides this, she had turned around and around so many times, trying to
+find out where she was, that now she couldn't even tell which direction
+the farm-house ought to be in; and this began to worry her and make her
+feel anxious.
+
+"I'm 'fraid, Shaggy Man," she said, with a sigh, "that we're lost!"
+
+"That's nothing to be afraid of," he replied, throwing away the core of
+his apple and beginning to eat another one. "Each of these roads must
+lead somewhere, or it wouldn't be here. So what does it matter?"
+
+"I want to go home again," she said.
+
+"Well, why don't you?" said he.
+
+"I don't know which road to take."
+
+"That is too bad," he said, shaking his shaggy head gravely. "I wish I
+could help you; but I can't. I'm a stranger in these parts."
+
+"Seems as if I were, too," she said, sitting down beside him. "It's
+funny. A few minutes ago I was home, and I just came to show you the way
+to Butterfield----"
+
+"So I shouldn't make a mistake and go there----"
+
+"And now I'm lost myself and don't now how to get home!"
+
+"Have an apple," suggested the shaggy man, handing her one with pretty
+red cheeks.
+
+"I'm not hungry," said Dorothy, pushing it away.
+
+"But you may be, to-morrow; then you'll be sorry you didn't eat the
+apple," said he.
+
+"If I am, I'll eat the apple then," promised Dorothy.
+
+"Perhaps there won't be any apple then," he returned, beginning to eat
+the red-cheeked one himself. "Dogs sometimes can find their way home
+better than people," he went on; "perhaps your dog can lead you back to
+the farm."
+
+"Will you, Toto?" asked Dorothy.
+
+Toto wagged his tail vigorously.
+
+"All right," said the girl; "let's go home."
+
+Toto looked around a minute, and dashed up one of the roads.
+
+"Good-bye, Shaggy Man," called Dorothy, and ran after Toto. The little
+dog pranced briskly along for some distance; when he turned around and
+looked at his mistress questioningly.
+
+"Oh, don't 'spect _me_ to tell you anything; I don't know the way," she
+said. "You'll have to find it yourself."
+
+But Toto couldn't. He wagged his tail, and sneezed, and shook his ears,
+and trotted back where they had left the shaggy man. From here he
+started along another road; then came back and tried another; but each
+time he found the way strange and decided it would not take them to the
+farm house. Finally, when Dorothy had begun to tire with chasing after
+him, Toto sat down panting beside the shaggy man and gave up.
+
+Dorothy sat down, too, very thoughtful. The little girl had encountered
+some queer adventures since she came to live at the farm; but this was
+the queerest of them all. To get lost in fifteen minutes, so near to
+her home and in the unromantic State of Kansas, was an experience that
+fairly bewildered her.
+
+"Will your folks worry?" asked the shaggy man, his eyes twinkling in a
+pleasant way.
+
+"I s'pose so," answered Dorothy, with a sigh. "Uncle Henry says there's
+_always_ something happening to me; but I've always come home safe at
+the last. So perhaps he'll take comfort and think I'll come home safe
+this time."
+
+"I'm sure you will," said the shaggy man, smilingly nodding at her.
+"Good little girls never come to any harm, you know. For my part, I'm
+good, too; so nothing ever hurts me."
+
+Dorothy looked at him curiously. His clothes were shaggy, his boots were
+shaggy and full of holes, and his hair and whiskers were shaggy. But his
+smile was sweet and his eyes were kind.
+
+"Why didn't you want to go to Butterfield?" she asked.
+
+"Because a man lives there who owes me fifteen cents, and if I went to
+Butterfield and he saw me he'd want to pay me the money. I don't want
+money, my dear."
+
+"Why not?" she inquired.
+
+"Money," declared the shaggy man, "makes people proud and haughty; I
+don't want to be proud and haughty. All I want is to have people love
+me; and as long as I own the Love Magnet everyone I meet is sure to love
+me dearly."
+
+[Illustration: "THIS, MY DEAR, IS THE WONDERFUL LOVE MAGNET."]
+
+"The Love Magnet! Why, what's that?"
+
+"I'll show you, if you won't tell anyone," he answered, in a low,
+mysterious voice.
+
+"There isn't any one to tell, 'cept Toto," said the girl.
+
+The shaggy man searched in one pocket, carefully; and in another pocket;
+and in a third. At last he drew out a small parcel wrapped in crumpled
+paper and tied with a cotton string. He unwound the string, opened the
+parcel, and took out a bit of metal shaped like a horseshoe. It was dull
+and brown, and not very pretty.
+
+"This, my dear," said he, impressively, "is the wonderful Love Magnet.
+It was given me by an Eskimo in the Sandwich Islands--where there are no
+sandwiches at all--and as long as I carry it every living thing I meet
+will love me dearly."
+
+"Why didn't the Eskimo keep it?" she asked, looking at the Magnet with
+interest.
+
+"He got tired being loved and longed for some one to hate him. So he
+gave me the Magnet and the very next day a grizzly bear ate him."
+
+"Wasn't he sorry then?" she inquired.
+
+"He didn't say," replied the shaggy man, wrapping and tying the Love
+Magnet with great care and putting it away in another pocket. "But the
+bear didn't seem sorry a bit," he added.
+
+"Did you know the bear?" asked Dorothy.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Yes; we used to play ball together in the Caviar Islands. The bear
+loved me because I had the Love Magnet. I couldn't blame him for eating
+the Eskimo, because it was his nature to do so."
+
+"Once," said Dorothy, "I knew a Hungry Tiger who longed to eat fat
+babies, because it was his nature to; but he never ate any because he
+had a Conscience."
+
+"This bear," replied the shaggy man, with a sigh, "had no Conscience,
+you see."
+
+The shaggy man sat silent for several minutes, apparently considering
+the cases of the bear and the tiger, while Toto watched him with an air
+of great interest. The little dog was doubtless thinking of his ride in
+the shaggy man's pocket and planning to keep out of reach in the future.
+
+At last the shaggy man turned and inquired, "What's your name, little
+girl?"
+
+"My name's Dorothy," said she, jumping up again, "but what are we going
+to do? We can't stay here forever, you know."
+
+"Let's take the seventh road," he suggested. "Seven is a lucky number
+for little girls named Dorothy."
+
+"The seventh from where?"
+
+"From where you begin to count."
+
+So she counted seven roads, and the seventh looked just like all the
+others; but the shaggy man got up from the ground where he had been
+sitting and started down this road as if sure it was the best way to go;
+and Dorothy and Toto followed him.
+
+
+
+
+Dorothy Meets Button-bright
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The seventh road was a good road, and curved this way and that--winding
+through green meadows and fields covered with daisies and buttercups and
+past groups of shady trees. There were no houses of any sort to be seen,
+and for some distance they met with no living creature at all.
+
+Dorothy began to fear they were getting a good way from the
+_farm-house_, since here everything was strange to her; but it would do
+no good at all to go back where the other roads all met, because the
+next one they chose might lead her just as far from home.
+
+She kept on beside the shaggy man, who whistled cheerful tunes to
+beguile the journey, until by-and-by they followed a turn in the road
+and saw before them a big chestnut tree making a shady spot over the
+highway. In the shade sat a little boy dressed in sailor clothes, who
+was digging a hole in the earth with a bit of wood. He must have been
+digging some time, because the hole was already big enough to drop a
+foot-ball into.
+
+Dorothy and Toto and the shaggy man came to a halt before the little
+boy, who kept on digging in a sober and persistent fashion.
+
+"Who are you?" asked the girl.
+
+He looked up at her calmly. His face was round and chubby and his eyes
+were big, blue, and earnest.
+
+"I'm Button-Bright," said he.
+
+"But what's you real name?" she inquired.
+
+"Button-Bright."
+
+"That isn't a really-truly name!" she exclaimed.
+
+"Isn't it?" he asked, still digging.
+
+"'Course not. It's just a--a thing to call you by. You must have a
+name."
+
+"Must I?"
+
+"To be sure. What does your mamma call you?"
+
+He paused in his digging and tried to think.
+
+"Papa always said I was bright as a button; so mamma always called me
+Button-Bright," he said.
+
+"What is your papa's name?"
+
+"Just Papa."
+
+"What else?"
+
+"Don't know."
+
+"Never mind," said the shaggy man, smiling. "We'll call the boy
+Button-Bright, as his mamma does. That name is as good as any, and
+better than some."
+
+Dorothy watched the boy dig.
+
+"Where do you live?" she asked.
+
+"Don't know," was the reply.
+
+"How did you come here?"
+
+"Don't know," he said again.
+
+"Don't you know where you came from?"
+
+"No," said he.
+
+"Why, he must be lost," she said to the shaggy man. She turned to the
+boy once more.
+
+"What are you going to do?" she inquired.
+
+"Dig," said he.
+
+"But you can't dig forever; and what are you going to do then?" she
+persisted.
+
+"Don't know," said the boy.
+
+"But you _must_ know _something_," declared Dorothy, getting provoked.
+
+"Must I?" he asked, looking up in surprise.
+
+"Of course you must."
+
+"What must I know?"
+
+"What's going to become of you, for one thing," she answered.
+
+"Do _you_ know what's going to become of me?" he asked.
+
+"Not--not 'zactly," she admitted.
+
+"Do you know what's going to become of _you_?" he continued, earnestly.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"I can't say I do," replied Dorothy, remembering her present
+difficulties.
+
+The shaggy man laughed.
+
+"No one knows everything, Dorothy," he said.
+
+"But Button-Bright doesn't seem to know _anything_," she declared. "Do
+you, Button-Bright?"
+
+He shook his head, which had pretty curls all over it, and replied with
+perfect calmness:
+
+"Don't know."
+
+Never before had Dorothy met with any one who could give her so little
+information. The boy was evidently lost, and his people would be sure to
+worry about him. He seemed two or three years younger than Dorothy, and
+was prettily dressed, as if some one loved him dearly and took much
+pains to make him look well. How, then, did he come to be in this lonely
+road? she wondered.
+
+Near Button-Bright, on the ground, lay a sailor hat with a gilt anchor
+on the band. His sailor trousers were long and wide at the bottom, and
+the broad collar of his blouse had gold anchors sewed on its corners.
+The boy was still digging at his hole.
+
+"Have you ever been to sea?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"To see what?" answered Button-Bright.
+
+"I mean have you ever been where there's water?"
+
+"Yes," said Button-Bright; "there's a well in our back yard."
+
+"You don't understand," cried Dorothy. "I mean, have you ever been on a
+big ship floating on a big ocean?"
+
+"Don't know," said he.
+
+"Then why do you wear sailor clothes?"
+
+"Don't know," he answered, again.
+
+Dorothy was in despair.
+
+"You're just _awful_ stupid, Button-Bright," she said.
+
+"Am I?" he asked.
+
+"Yes, you are."
+
+"Why?" looking up at her with big eyes.
+
+She was going to say: "Don't know," but stopped herself in time.
+
+"That's for you to answer," she replied.
+
+"It's no use asking Button-Bright questions," said the shaggy man, who
+had been eating another apple; "but some one ought to take care of the
+poor little chap, don't you think? So he'd better come along with us."
+
+Toto had been looking with great curiosity into the hole which the boy
+was digging, and growing more and more excited every minute, perhaps
+thinking that Button-Bright was after some wild animal. The little dog
+began barking loudly and jumped into the hole himself, where he began to
+dig with his tiny paws, making the earth fly in all directions. It
+spattered over the boy. Dorothy seized him and raised him to his feet,
+brushing his clothes with her hand.
+
+"Stop that, Toto!" she called. "There aren't any mice or woodchucks in
+that hole, so don't be foolish."
+
+Toto stopped, sniffed at the hole suspiciously, and jumped out of it,
+wagging his tail as if he had done something important.
+
+"Well," said the shaggy man, "let's start on, or we won't get anywhere
+before night comes."
+
+"Where do you expect to get to?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"I'm like Button-Bright; I don't know," answered the shaggy man, with a
+laugh. "But I've learned from long experience that every road leads
+somewhere, or there wouldn't be any road; so it's likely that if we
+travel long enough, my dear, we will come to some place or another in
+the end. What place it will be we can't even guess at this moment, but
+we're sure to find out when we get there."
+
+"Why, yes," said Dorothy; "that seems reas'n'ble, Shaggy Man."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+A Queer Village
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Button-bright took the shaggy man's hand willingly; for the shaggy man
+had the Love Magnet, you know, which was the reason Button-Bright had
+loved him at once. They started on, with Dorothy on one side, and Toto
+on the other, the little party trudging along more cheerfully than you
+might have supposed. The girl was getting used to queer adventures,
+which interested her very much. Wherever Dorothy went Toto was sure to
+go, like Mary's little lamb. Button-Bright didn't seem a bit afraid or
+worried because he was lost, and the shaggy man had no home, perhaps,
+and was as happy in one place as in another.
+
+Before long they saw ahead of them a fine big arch spanning the road,
+and when they came nearer they found that the arch was beautifully
+carved and decorated with rich colors. A row of peacocks with spread
+tails ran along the top of it, and all the feathers were gorgeously
+painted. In the center was a large fox's head, and the fox wore a shrewd
+and knowing expression and had large spectacles over its eyes and a
+small golden crown with shiny points on top of its head.
+
+While the travellers were looking with curiosity at this beautiful arch
+there suddenly marched out of it a company of soldiers--only the
+soldiers were all foxes dressed in uniforms. They wore green jackets and
+yellow pantaloons, and their little round caps and their high boots were
+a bright red color. Also there was a big red bow tied about the middle
+of each long, bushy tail. Each soldier was armed with a wooden sword
+having an edge of sharp teeth set in a row, and the sight of these teeth
+at first caused Dorothy to shudder.
+
+A captain marched in front of the company of fox-soldiers, his uniform
+embroidered with gold braid to make it handsomer than the others.
+
+Almost before our friends realized it the soldiers had surrounded them
+on all sides, and the captain was calling out in a harsh voice:
+
+"Surrender! You are our prisoners."
+
+"What's a pris'ner?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"A prisoner is a captive," replied the fox-captain, strutting up and
+down with much dignity.
+
+"What's a captive?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"You're one," said the captain.
+
+That made the shaggy man laugh.
+
+"Good afternoon, captain," he said, bowing politely to all the foxes and
+very low to their commander. "I trust you are in good health, and that
+your families are all well?"
+
+The fox-captain looked at the shaggy man, and his sharp features grew
+pleasant and smiling.
+
+"We're pretty well, thank you, Shaggy Man," said he; and Dorothy knew
+that the Love Magnet was working and that all the foxes now loved the
+shaggy man because of it. But Toto didn't know this, for he began
+barking angrily and tried to bite the captain's hairy leg where it
+showed between his red boots and his yellow pantaloons.
+
+"Stop, Toto!" cried the little girl, seizing the dog in her arms. "These
+are our friends."
+
+"Why, so we are!" remarked the captain in tones of astonishment. "I
+thought at first we were enemies, but it seems you are friends, instead.
+You must come with me to see King Dox."
+
+"Who's he?" asked Button-Bright, with earnest eyes.
+
+"King Dox of Foxville; the great and wise sovereign who rules over our
+community."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"What's sov'rin, and what's c'u'nity?" inquired Button-Bright.
+
+"Don't ask so many questions, little boy."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Ah, why, indeed?" exclaimed the captain, looking at Button-Bright
+admiringly. "If you don't ask questions you will learn nothing. True
+enough. I was wrong. You're a very clever little boy, come to think of
+it--very clever indeed. But now, friends, please come with me, for it is
+my duty to escort you at once to the royal palace."
+
+The soldiers marched back through the arch again, and with them marched
+the shaggy man, Dorothy, Toto, and Button-Bright. Once through the
+opening they found a fine, big city spread out before them, all the
+houses of carved marble in beautiful colors. The decorations were mostly
+birds and other fowl, such as peacocks, pheasants, turkeys,
+prairie-chickens, ducks, and geese. Over each doorway was carved a head
+representing the fox who lived in that house, this effect being quite
+pretty and unusual.
+
+As our friends marched along, some of the foxes came out on the porches
+and balconies to get a view of the strangers. These foxes were all
+handsomely dressed, the girl-foxes and women-foxes wearing gowns of
+feathers woven together effectively and colored in bright hues which
+Dorothy thought were quite artistic and decidedly attractive.
+
+Button-Bright stared until his eyes were big and round, and he would
+have stumbled and fallen more than once had not the shaggy man grasped
+his hand tightly. They were all interested, and Toto was so excited he
+wanted to bark every minute and to chase and fight every fox he caught
+sight of; but Dorothy held his little wiggling body fast in her arms and
+commanded him to be good and behave himself. So he finally quieted down,
+like a wise doggy, deciding there were too many foxes in Foxville to
+fight at one time.
+
+By-and-bye they came to a big square, and in the center of the square
+stood the royal palace. Dorothy knew it at once because it had over its
+great door the carved head of a fox just like the one she had seen on
+the arch, and this fox was the only one who wore a golden crown.
+
+There were many fox-soldiers guarding the door, but they bowed to the
+captain and admitted him without question. The captain led them through
+many rooms, where richly dressed foxes were sitting on beautiful chairs
+or sipping tea, which was being passed around by fox-servants in white
+aprons. They came to a big doorway covered with heavy curtains of cloth
+of gold.
+
+Beside this doorway stood a huge drum. The fox-captain went to this drum
+and knocked his knees against it--first one knee and then the other--so
+that the drum said; "Boom-boom."
+
+"You must all do exactly what I do," ordered the captain; so the shaggy
+man pounded the drum with his knees, and so did Dorothy and so did
+Button-Bright. The boy wanted to keep on pounding it with his little fat
+knees, because he liked the sound of it; but the captain stopped him.
+Toto couldn't pound the drum with his knees and he didn't know enough to
+wag his tail against it, so Dorothy pounded the drum for him and that
+made him bark, and when the little dog barked the fox-captain scowled.
+
+The golden curtains drew back far enough to make an opening, through
+which marched the captain with the others.
+
+The broad, long room they entered was decorated in gold with
+stained-glass windows of splendid colors. In the center of the room,
+upon a richly carved golden throne, sat the fox-king, surrounded by a
+group of other foxes, all of whom wore great spectacles over their eyes,
+making them look solemn and important.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Dorothy knew the King at once, because she had seen his head carved on
+the arch and over the doorway of the palace. Having met with several
+other kings in her travels she knew what to do, and at once made a low
+bow before the throne. The shaggy man bowed, too, and Button-Bright
+bobbed his head and said "Hello."
+
+"Most wise and noble Potentate of Foxville," said the captain,
+addressing the King in a pompous voice, "I humbly beg to report that I
+found these strangers on the road leading to your Foxy Majesty's
+dominions, and have therefore brought them before you, as is my duty."
+
+"So--so," said the King, looking at them keenly. "What brought you here,
+strangers?"
+
+"Our legs, may it please your Royal Hairiness," replied the shaggy man.
+
+"What is your business here?" was the next question.
+
+"To get away as soon as possible," said the shaggy man.
+
+The King didn't know about the Magnet, of course; but it made him love
+the shaggy man at once.
+
+"Do just as you please about going away," he said; "but I'd like to
+_show you_ the sights of my city and to entertain your party while you
+are here. We feel highly honored to have little Dorothy with us, I
+assure you, and we appreciate her kindness in making us a visit. For
+whatever country Dorothy visits is sure to become famous."
+
+This speech greatly surprised the little girl, who asked:
+
+"How did your Majesty know my name?"
+
+"Why, everybody knows you, my dear," said the Fox-King. "Don't you
+realize that? You are quite an important personage since Princess Ozma
+of Oz made you her friend."
+
+"Do you know Ozma?" she asked, wondering.
+
+"I regret to say that I do not," he answered, sadly; "but I hope to
+meet her soon. You know the Princess Ozma is to celebrate her birthday
+on the twenty-first of this month."
+
+"Is she?" said Dorothy. "I didn't know that."
+
+"Yes; it is to be the most brilliant royal ceremony ever held in any
+city in Fairyland, and I hope you will try to get me an invitation."
+
+Dorothy thought a moment.
+
+"I'm sure Ozma would invite you if I asked her," she said; "but how
+could you get to the Land of Oz and the Emerald City? It's a good way
+from Kansas."
+
+"Kansas!" he exclaimed, surprised.
+
+"Why, yes; we are in Kansas now, aren't we?" she returned.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"What a queer notion!" cried the Fox-King, beginning to laugh. "Whatever
+made you think this is Kansas?"
+
+"I left Uncle Henry's farm only about two hours ago; that's the reason,"
+she said, rather perplexed.
+
+"But, tell me, my dear, did you ever see so wonderful a city as Foxville
+in Kansas?" he questioned.
+
+"No, your Majesty."
+
+"And haven't you traveled from Oz to Kansas in less than half a jiffy,
+by means of the Silver Shoes and the Magic Belt?"
+
+"Yes, your Majesty," she acknowledged.
+
+"Then why do you wonder that an hour or two could bring you to Foxville,
+which is nearer to Oz than it is to Kansas?"
+
+"Dear me!" exclaimed Dorothy; "is this another fairy adventure?"
+
+"It seems to be," said the Fox-King, smiling.
+
+Dorothy turned to the shaggy man, and her face was grave and
+reproachful.
+
+"Are you a magician? or a fairy in disguise?" she asked. "Did you
+enchant me when you asked the way to Butterfield?"
+
+The shaggy man shook his head.
+
+"Who ever heard of a shaggy fairy?" he replied. "No, Dorothy, my dear;
+I'm not to blame for this journey in any way, I assure you. There's
+been something strange about me ever since I owned the Love Magnet; but
+I don't know what it is any more than you do. I didn't try to get you
+away from home, at all. If you want to find your way back to the farm
+I'll go with you willingly, and do my best to help you."
+
+"Never mind," said the little girl, thoughtfully. "There isn't so much
+to see in Kansas as there is here, and I guess Aunt Em won't be _very_
+much worried; that is, if I don't stay away too long."
+
+[Illustration: HIS ROYAL FOXINESS]
+
+"That's right," declared the Fox-King, nodding approval. "Be contented
+with your lot, whatever it happens to be, if you are wise. Which reminds
+me that you have a new companion on this adventure--he looks very
+clever and bright."
+
+"He is," said Dorothy; and the shaggy man added:
+
+"That's his name, your Royal Foxiness--Button Bright."
+
+
+
+
+King Dox
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+It was amusing to note the expression on the face of King Dox as he
+looked the boy over, from his sailor hat to his stubby shoes; and it was
+equally diverting to watch Button-Bright stare at the King in return. No
+fox ever beheld a fresher, fairer child's face, and no child had ever
+before heard a fox talk, or met with one who dressed so handsomely and
+ruled so big a city. I am sorry to say that no one had ever told the
+little boy much about fairies of any kind; this being the case, it is
+easy to understand how much this strange experience startled and
+astonished him.
+
+"How do you like us?" asked the King.
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+"Of course you don't. It's too short an acquaintance," returned his
+Majesty. "What do you suppose my name is?"
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+"How should you? Well, I'll tell you. My private name is Dox, but a King
+can't be called by his private name; he has to take one that is
+official. Therefore my official name is King Renard the Fourth. Ren-ard
+with the accent on the 'Ren'."
+
+"What's 'ren'?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"How clever!" exclaimed the King, turning a pleased face toward his
+counselors. "This boy is indeed remarkably bright. 'What's 'ren''? he
+asks; and of course 'ren' is nothing at all, all by itself. Yes; he's
+very bright indeed."
+
+"That question is what your Majesty might call foxy," said one of the
+counselors, an old grey fox.
+
+"So it is," declared the King. Turning again to Button-Bright, he asked:
+
+"Having told you my name, what would you call me?"
+
+"King Dox," said the boy.
+
+"Why?"
+
+"'Cause 'ren''s nothing at all," was the reply.
+
+"Good! Very good indeed! You certainly have a brilliant mind. Do you
+know why two and two make four?"
+
+"No," said Button-Bright.
+
+"Clever! clever indeed. Of course you don't know. Nobody knows why; we
+only know it's so, and can't tell why it's so. Button-Bright, those
+curls and blue eyes do not go well with so much wisdom. They make you
+look too youthful, and hide your real cleverness. Therefore, I will do
+you a great favor. I will confer upon you the head of a fox, so that you
+may hereafter look as bright as you really are."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+As he spoke the King waved his paw toward the boy, and at once the
+pretty curls and fresh round face and big blue eyes were gone, while in
+their place a fox's head appeared upon Button-Bright's shoulders--a
+hairy head with a sharp nose, pointed ears, and keen little eyes.
+
+"Oh, don't do that!" cried Dorothy, shrinking back from her transformed
+companion with a shocked and dismayed face.
+
+"Too late, my dear; it's done. But you also shall have a fox's head if
+you can prove you're as clever as Button-Bright."
+
+"I don't want it; it's dreadful!" she exclaimed; and, hearing this
+verdict, Button-Bright began to boo-hoo just as if he were still a
+little boy.
+
+"How can you call that lovely head dreadful?" asked the King. "It's a
+much prettier face than he had before, to my notion, and my wife says
+I'm a good judge of beauty. Don't cry, little fox-boy. Laugh and be
+proud, because you are so highly favored. How do you like the new head,
+Button-Bright?"
+
+"D-d-don't n-n-n-know!" sobbed the child.
+
+"Please, _please_ change him back again, your Majesty!" begged Dorothy.
+
+King Renard IV shook his head.
+
+"I can't do that," he said; "I haven't the power, even if I wanted to.
+No, Button-Bright must wear his fox head, and he'll be sure to love it
+dearly as soon as he gets used to it."
+
+Both the shaggy man and Dorothy looked grave and anxious, for they were
+sorrowful that such a misfortune had overtaken their little companion.
+Toto barked at the fox-boy once or twice, not realizing it was his
+former friend who now wore the animal head; but Dorothy cuffed the dog
+and made him stop. As for the foxes, they all seemed to think
+Button-Bright's new head very becoming and that their King had conferred
+a great honor on this little stranger.
+
+It was funny to see the boy reach up to feel of his sharp nose and wide
+mouth, and wail afresh with grief. He wagged his ears in a comical
+manner and tears were in his little black eyes. But Dorothy couldn't
+laugh at her friend just yet, because she felt so sorry.
+
+Just then three little fox-princesses, daughters of the King, entered
+the room, and when they saw Button-Bright one exclaimed: "How lovely he
+is!" and the next one cried in delight: "How sweet he is!" and the third
+princess clapped her hands with pleasure and said, "How beautiful he
+is!"
+
+Button-Bright stopped crying and asked timidly:
+
+"Am I?"
+
+"In all the world there is not another face so pretty," declared the
+biggest fox-princess.
+
+"You must live with us always, and be our brother," said the next.
+
+"We shall all love you dearly," the third said.
+
+This praise did much to comfort the boy, and he looked around and tried
+to smile. It was a pitiful attempt, because the fox face was new and
+stiff, and Dorothy thought his expression more stupid than before the
+transformation.
+
+"I think we ought to be going now," said the shaggy man, uneasily, for
+he didn't know what the King might take into his head to do next.
+
+"Don't leave us yet, I beg of you," pleaded King Renard. "I intend to
+have several days of feasting and merrymaking, in honor of your visit."
+
+"Have it after we're gone, for we can't wait," said Dorothy, decidedly.
+But seeing this displeased the King, she added: "If I'm going to get
+Ozma to invite you to her party I'll have to find her as soon as
+poss'ble, you know."
+
+In spite of all the beauty of Foxville and the gorgeous dresses of its
+inhabitants, both the girl and the shaggy man felt they were not quite
+safe there, and would be glad to see the last of it.
+
+"But it is now evening," the King reminded them, "and you must stay with
+us until morning, anyhow. Therefore I invite you to be my guests at
+dinner, and to attend the theater afterward and sit in the royal box.
+To-morrow morning, if you really insist upon it, you may resume your
+journey."
+
+They consented to this, and some of the fox-servants led them to a suite
+of lovely rooms in the big palace.
+
+Button-Bright was afraid to be left alone, so Dorothy took him into her
+own room. While a maid-fox dressed the little girl's hair--which was a
+bit tangled--and put some bright, fresh ribbons in it, another maid-fox
+combed the hair on poor Button-Bright's face and head and brushed it
+carefully, tying a pink bow to each of his pointed ears. The maids
+wanted to dress the children in fine costumes of woven feathers, such as
+all the foxes wore; but neither of them consented to that.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"A sailor suit and a fox head do not go well together," said one of the
+maids; "for no fox was ever a sailor that I can remember."
+
+"I'm not a fox!" cried Button-Bright.
+
+"Alas, no," agreed the maid. "But you've got a lovely fox head on your
+skinny shoulders, and that's _almost_ as good as being a fox."
+
+The boy, reminded of his misfortune, began to cry again. Dorothy petted
+and comforted him and promised to find some way to restore him his own
+head.
+
+"If we can manage to get to Ozma," she said, "the Princess will change
+you back to yourself in half a second; so you just wear that fox head as
+comf't'bly as you can, dear, and don't worry about it at all. It isn't
+nearly as pretty as your own head, no matter what the foxes say; but you
+can get along with it for a little while longer, can't you?"
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright, doubtfully; but he didn't cry any more
+after that.
+
+Dorothy let the maids pin ribbons to her shoulders, after which they
+were ready for the King's dinner. When they met the shaggy man in the
+splendid drawing-room of the palace they found him just the same as
+before. He had refused to give up his shaggy clothes for new ones,
+because if he did that he would no longer be the shaggy man, he said,
+and he might have to get acquainted with himself all over again.
+
+He told Dorothy he had brushed his shaggy hair and whiskers; but she
+thought he must have brushed them the wrong way, for they were quite as
+shaggy as before.
+
+As for the company of foxes assembled to dine with the strangers, they
+were most beautifully costumed, and their rich dresses made Dorothy's
+simple gown and Button-Bright's sailor suit and the shaggy man's shaggy
+clothes look commonplace. But they treated their guests with great
+respect and the King's dinner was a very good dinner indeed.
+
+Foxes, as you know, are fond of chicken and other fowl; so they served
+chicken soup and roasted turkey and stewed duck and fried grouse and
+broiled quail and goose pie, and as the cooking was excellent the King's
+guests enjoyed the meal and ate heartily of the various dishes.
+
+The party went to the theater, where they saw a play acted by foxes
+dressed in costumes of brilliantly colored feathers. The play was about
+a fox-girl who was stolen by some wicked wolves and carried to their
+cave; and just as they were about to kill her and eat her a company of
+fox-soldiers marched up, saved the girl, and put all the wicked wolves
+to death.
+
+"How do you like it?" the King asked Dorothy.
+
+"Pretty well," she answered. "It reminds me of one of Mr. Aesop's
+fables."
+
+"Don't mention Aesop to me, I beg of you!" exclaimed King Dox. "I hate
+that man's name. He wrote a good deal about foxes, but always made them
+out cruel and wicked, whereas we are gentle and kind, as you may see."
+
+"But his fables showed you to be wise and clever, and more shrewd than
+other animals," said the shaggy man, thoughtfully.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"So we are. There is no question about our knowing more than men do,"
+replied the King, proudly. "But we employ our wisdom to do good, instead
+of harm; so that horrid Aesop did not know what he was talking about."
+
+They did not like to contradict him, because they felt he ought to know
+the nature of foxes better than men did; so they sat still and watched
+the play, and Button-Bright became so interested that for the time he
+forgot he wore a fox head.
+
+Afterward they went back to the palace and slept in soft beds stuffed
+with feathers; for the foxes raised many fowl for food, and used their
+feathers for clothing and to sleep upon.
+
+Dorothy wondered why the animals living in Foxville did not wear just
+their own hairy skins, as wild foxes do; when she mentioned it to King
+Dox he said they clothed themselves because they were civilized.
+
+"But you were born without clothes," she observed, "and you don't seem
+to me to need them."
+
+"So were human beings born without clothes," he replied; "and until they
+became civilized they wore only their natural skins. But to become
+civilized means to dress as elaborately and prettily as possible, and to
+make a show of your clothes so your neighbors will envy you, and for
+that reason both civilized foxes and civilized humans spend most of
+their time dressing themselves."
+
+"I don't," declared the shaggy man.
+
+"That is true," said the King, looking at him carefully: "but perhaps
+you are not civilized."
+
+After a sound sleep and a good night's rest they had their breakfast
+with the King and then bade his Majesty good-bye.
+
+"You've been kind to us--'cept poor Button-Bright," said Dorothy, "and
+we've had a nice time in Foxville."
+
+"Then," said King Dox, "perhaps you'll be good enough to get me an
+invitation to Princess Ozma's birthday celebration."
+
+"I'll try," she promised; "if I see her in time."
+
+"It's on the twenty-first, remember," he continued; "and if you'll just
+see that I'm invited I'll find a way to cross the Dreadful Desert into
+the marvelous Land of Oz. I've always wanted to visit the Emerald City,
+so I'm sure it was fortunate you arrived here just when you did, you
+being Princess Ozma's friend and able to assist me in getting the
+invitation."
+
+"If I see Ozma I'll ask her to invite you," she replied.
+
+The Fox-King had a delightful luncheon put up for them, which the shaggy
+man shoved in his pocket, and the fox-captain escorted them to an arch
+at the side of the village opposite the one by which they had entered.
+Here they found more soldiers guarding the road.
+
+"Are you afraid of enemies?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"No; because we are watchful and able to protect ourselves," answered
+the captain. "But this road leads to another village peopled by big,
+stupid beasts who might cause us trouble if they thought we were afraid
+of them."
+
+"What beasts are they?" asked the shaggy man.
+
+The captain hesitated to answer. Finally he said:
+
+"You will learn all about them when you arrive at their city. But do not
+be afraid of them. Button-Bright is so wonderfully clever and has now
+such an intelligent face that I'm sure he will manage to find a way to
+protect you."
+
+This made Dorothy and the shaggy man rather uneasy, for they had not so
+much confidence in the fox-boy's wisdom as the captain seemed to have.
+But as their escort would say no more about the beasts, they bade him
+good-bye and proceeded on their journey.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+The Rainbow's Daughter
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Toto, now allowed to run about as he pleased, was glad to be free again
+and able to bark at the birds and chase the butterflies. The country
+around them was charming, yet in the pretty fields of wild-flowers and
+groves of leafy trees were no houses whatever, or sign of any
+inhabitants. Birds flew through the air and cunning white rabbits darted
+amongst the tall grasses and green bushes; Dorothy noticed even the ants
+toiling busily along the roadway, bearing gigantic loads of clover seed;
+but of people there were none at all.
+
+They walked briskly on for an hour or two, for even little Button-Bright
+was a good walker and did not tire easily. At length as they turned a
+curve in the road they beheld just before them a curious sight.
+
+A little girl, radiant and beautiful, shapely as a fairy and exquisitely
+dressed, was dancing gracefully in the middle of the lonely road,
+whirling slowly this way and that, her dainty feet twinkling in
+sprightly fashion. She was clad in flowing, fluffy robes of soft
+material that reminded Dorothy of woven cobwebs, only it was colored in
+soft tintings of violet, rose, topaz, olive, azure, and white, mingled
+together most harmoniously in stripes which melted one into the other
+with soft blendings. Her hair was like spun gold and floated around her
+in a cloud, no strand being fastened or confined by either pin or
+ornament or ribbon.
+
+Filled with wonder and admiration our friends approached and stood
+watching this fascinating dance. The girl was no taller than Dorothy,
+although more slender; nor did she seem any older than our little
+heroine.
+
+Suddenly she paused and abandoned the dance, as if for the first time
+observing the presence of strangers. As she faced them, shy as a
+frightened fawn, poised upon one foot as if to fly the next instant,
+Dorothy was astonished to see tears flowing from her violet eyes and
+trickling down her lovely rose-hued cheeks. That the dainty maiden
+should dance and weep at the same time was indeed surprising; so Dorothy
+asked in a soft, sympathetic voice:
+
+[Illustration: POLYCHROME--THE RAINBOW'S DAUGHTER]
+
+"Are you unhappy, little girl?"
+
+"Very!" was the reply; "I am lost."
+
+"Why, so are we," said Dorothy, smiling; "but we don't cry about it."
+
+"Don't you? Why not?"
+
+"'Cause I've been lost before, and always got found again," answered
+Dorothy, simply.
+
+"But I've never been lost before," murmured the dainty maiden, "and I'm
+worried and afraid."
+
+"You were dancing," remarked Dorothy, in a puzzled tone of voice.
+
+"Oh, that was just to keep warm," explained the maiden, quickly. "It was
+not because I felt happy or gay, I assure you."
+
+Dorothy looked at her closely. Her gauzy flowing robes might not be very
+warm, yet the weather wasn't at all chilly, but rather mild and balmy,
+like a spring day.
+
+"Who are you, dear?" she asked, gently.
+
+"I'm Polychrome," was the reply.
+
+"Polly whom?"
+
+"Polychrome. I'm the Daughter of the Rainbow."
+
+"Oh!" said Dorothy, with a gasp; "I didn't know the Rainbow had
+children. But I _might_ have known it, before you spoke. You couldn't
+really be anything else."
+
+"Why not?" inquired Polychrome, as if surprised.
+
+"Because you're so lovely and sweet."
+
+The little maiden smiled through her tears, came up to Dorothy, and
+placed her slender fingers in the Kansas girl's chubby hand.
+
+"You'll be my friend--won't you?" she said, pleadingly.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Of course."
+
+"And what is your name?"
+
+"I'm Dorothy; and this is my friend Shaggy Man, who owns the Love
+Magnet; and this is Button-Bright--only you don't see him as he really
+is because the Fox-King carelessly changed his head into a fox head. But
+the real Button-Bright is good to look at, and I hope to get him changed
+back to himself, some time."
+
+The Rainbow's Daughter nodded cheerfully, no longer afraid of her new
+companions.
+
+"But who is this?" she asked, pointing to Toto, who was sitting before
+her wagging his tail in the most friendly manner and admiring the pretty
+maid with his bright eyes. "Is this, also, some enchanted person?"
+
+"Oh no, Polly--I may call you Polly, mayn't I? Your whole name's awful
+hard to say."
+
+"Call me Polly if you wish, Dorothy."
+
+"Well, Polly, Toto's just a dog; but he has more sense than
+Button-Bright, to tell the truth; and I'm very fond of him."
+
+"So am I," said Polychrome, bending gracefully to pat Toto's head.
+
+"But how did the Rainbow's Daughter ever get on this lonely road, and
+become lost?" asked the shaggy man, who had listened wonderingly to all
+this.
+
+"Why, my father stretched his rainbow over here this morning, so that
+one end of it touched this road," was the reply; "and I was dancing upon
+the pretty rays, as I love to do, and never noticed I was getting too
+far over the bend in the circle. Suddenly I began to slide, and I went
+faster and faster until at last I bumped on the ground, at the very end.
+Just then father lifted the rainbow again, without noticing me at all,
+and though I tried to seize the end of it and hold fast, it melted away
+entirely and I was left alone and helpless on the cold, hard earth!"
+
+"It doesn't seem cold to me, Polly," said Dorothy; "but perhaps you're
+not warmly dressed."
+
+"I'm so used to living nearer the sun," replied the Rainbow's Daughter,
+"that at first I feared I would freeze down here. But my dance has
+warmed me some, and now I wonder how I am ever to get home again."
+
+"Won't your father miss you, and look for you, and let down another
+rainbow for you?"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Perhaps so; but he's busy just now because it rains in so many parts of
+the world at this season, and he has to set his rainbow in a lot of
+different places. What would you advise me to do, Dorothy?"
+
+"Come with us," was the answer. "I'm going to try to find my way to the
+Emerald City, which is in the fairy Land of Oz. The Emerald City is
+ruled by a friend of mine, the Princess Ozma, and if we can manage to
+get there I'm sure she will know a way to send you home to your father
+again."
+
+"Do you really think so?" asked Polychrome, anxiously.
+
+"I'm pretty sure."
+
+"Then I'll go with you," said the little maid; "for travel will help
+keep me warm, and father can find me in one part of the world as well as
+another--if he gets time to look for me."
+
+"Come along, then," said the shaggy man, cheerfully; and they started on
+once more. Polly walked beside Dorothy a while, holding her new friend's
+hand as if she feared to let it go; but her nature seemed as light and
+buoyant as her fleecy robes, for suddenly she darted ahead and whirled
+round in a giddy dance. Then she tripped back to them with sparkling
+eyes and smiling cheeks, having regained her usual happy mood and
+forgotten all her worry about being lost.
+
+They found her a charming companion, and her dancing and laughter--for
+she laughed at times like the tinkling of a silver bell--did much to
+enliven their journey and keep them contented.
+
+
+
+
+The City of Beasts
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+When noon came they opened the Fox-King's basket of luncheon, and found
+a nice roasted turkey with cranberry sauce and some slices of bread and
+butter. As they sat on the grass by the roadside the shaggy man cut up
+the turkey with his pocket-knife and passed slices of it around.
+
+"Haven't you any dewdrops, or mist-cakes, or cloud-buns?" asked
+Polychrome, longingly.
+
+"'Course not," replied Dorothy. "We eat solid things, down here on the
+earth. But there's a bottle of cold tea. Try some, won't you?"
+
+The Rainbow's Daughter watched Button-Bright devour one leg of the
+turkey.
+
+"Is it good?" she asked.
+
+He nodded.
+
+"Do you think I could eat it?"
+
+"Not this," said Button-Bright.
+
+"But I mean another piece?"
+
+"Don't know," he replied.
+
+"Well, I'm going to try, for I'm very hungry," she decided, and took a
+thin slice of the white breast of turkey which the shaggy man cut for
+her, as well as a bit of bread and butter. When she tasted it Polychrome
+thought the turkey was good--better even than mist-cakes; but a little
+satisfied her hunger and she finished with a tiny sip of cold tea.
+
+"That's about as much as a fly would eat," said Dorothy, who was making
+a good meal herself. "But I know some people in Oz who eat nothing at
+all."
+
+"Who are they?" inquired the shaggy man.
+
+"One is a scarecrow who's stuffed with straw, and the other a woodman
+made out of tin. They haven't any appetites inside of 'em, you see; so
+they never eat anything at all."
+
+"Are they alive?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"Oh yes," replied Dorothy; "and they're very clever and very nice, too.
+If we get to Oz I'll introduce them to you."
+
+"Do you really expect to get to Oz?" inquired the shaggy man, taking a
+drink of cold tea.
+
+[Illustration: POLLY SIPPED A LITTLE COLD TEA]
+
+"I don't know just what to 'spect," answered the child, seriously;
+"but I've noticed if I happen to get lost I'm almost sure to come to the
+Land of Oz in the end, somehow 'r other; so I may get there this time.
+But I can't promise, you know; all I can do is wait and see."
+
+"Will the Scarecrow scare me?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"No; 'cause you're not a crow," she returned. "He has the loveliest
+smile you ever saw--only it's painted on and he can't help it."
+
+Luncheon being over they started again upon their journey, the shaggy
+man, Dorothy and Button-Bright walking soberly along, side by side, and
+the Rainbow's Daughter dancing merrily before them.
+
+Sometimes she darted along the road so swiftly that she was nearly out
+of sight, then she came tripping back to greet them with her silvery
+laughter. But once she came back more sedately, to say:
+
+"There's a city a little way off."
+
+"I 'spected that," returned Dorothy; "for the fox-people warned us there
+was one on this road. It's filled with stupid beasts of some sort, but
+we mustn't be afraid of 'em 'cause they won't hurt us."
+
+"All right," said Button-Bright; but Polychrome didn't know whether it
+was all right or not.
+
+"It's a big city," she said, "and the road runs straight through it."
+
+"Never mind," said the shaggy man; "as long as I carry the Love Magnet
+every living thing will love me, and you may be sure I shan't allow any
+of my friends to be harmed in any way."
+
+This comforted them somewhat, and they moved on again. Pretty soon they
+came to a sign-post that read:
+
+    "HAF A MYLE TO DUNKITON."
+
+"Oh," said the shaggy man, "if they're donkeys we've nothing to fear at
+all."
+
+"They may kick," said Dorothy, doubtfully.
+
+"Then we will cut some switches, and make them behave," he replied. At
+the first tree he cut himself a long, slender switch from one of the
+branches, and shorter switches for the others.
+
+"Don't be afraid to order the beasts around," he said; "they're used to
+it."
+
+Before long the road brought them to the gates of the city. There was a
+high wall all around, which had been whitewashed, and the gate just
+before our travelers was a mere opening in the wall, with no bars across
+it. No towers or steeples or domes showed above the enclosure, nor was
+any living thing to be seen as our friends drew near.
+
+Suddenly, as they were about to boldly enter through the opening, there
+arose a harsh clamor of sound that swelled and echoed on every side,
+until they were nearly deafened by the racket and had to put their
+fingers to their ears to keep the noise out.
+
+It was like the firing of many cannon, only there were no cannon-balls
+or other missiles to be seen; it was like the rolling of mighty thunder,
+only not a cloud was in the sky; it was like the roar of countless
+breakers on a rugged seashore, only there was no sea or other water
+anywhere about.
+
+They hesitated to advance; but, as the noise did no harm, they entered
+through the whitewashed wall and quickly discovered the cause of the
+turmoil. Inside were suspended many sheets of tin or thin iron, and
+against these metal sheets a row of donkeys were pounding their heels
+with vicious kicks.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The shaggy man ran up to the nearest donkey and gave the beast a sharp
+blow with his switch.
+
+"Stop that noise!" he shouted; and the donkey stopped kicking the metal
+sheet and turned its head to look with surprise at the shaggy man. He
+switched the next donkey, and made him stop, and then the next, so that
+gradually the rattling of heels ceased and the awful noise subsided. The
+donkeys stood in a group and eyed the strangers with fear and trembling.
+
+"What do you mean by making such a racket?" asked the shaggy man,
+sternly.
+
+"We were scaring away the foxes," said one of the donkeys, meekly.
+"Usually they run fast enough when they hear the noise, which makes them
+afraid."
+
+"There are no foxes here," said the shaggy man.
+
+"I beg to differ with you. There's one, anyhow," replied the donkey,
+sitting upright on its haunches and waving a hoof toward Button-Bright.
+"We saw him coming and thought the whole army of foxes was marching to
+attack us."
+
+"Button-Bright isn't a fox," explained the shaggy man. "He's only
+wearing a fox head for a time, until he can get his own head back."
+
+"Oh, I see," remarked the donkey, waving its left ear reflectively. "I'm
+sorry we made such a mistake, and had all our work and worry for
+nothing."
+
+The other donkeys by this time were sitting up and examining the
+strangers with big, glassy eyes. They made a queer picture, indeed; for
+they wore wide, white collars around their necks and the collars had
+many scallops and points. The gentlemen-donkeys wore high pointed caps
+set between their great ears, and the lady-donkeys wore sunbonnets with
+holes cut in the top for the ears to stick through. But they had no
+other clothing except their hairy skins, although many wore gold and
+silver bangles on their front wrists and bands of different metals on
+their rear ankles. When they were kicking they had braced themselves
+with their front legs, but now they all stood or sat upright on their
+hind legs and used their front ones as arms. Having no fingers or hands
+the beasts were rather clumsy, as you may guess; but Dorothy was
+surprised to observe how many things they could do with their stiff,
+heavy hoofs.
+
+Some of the donkeys were white, some were brown, or gray, or black, or
+spotted; but their hair was sleek and smooth and their broad collars and
+caps gave them a neat, if whimsical, appearance.
+
+"This is a nice way to welcome visitors, I must say!" remarked the
+shaggy man, in a reproachful tone.
+
+"Oh, we did not mean to be impolite," replied a grey donkey which had
+not spoken before. "But you were not expected, nor did you send in your
+visiting cards, as it is proper to do."
+
+"There is some truth in that," admitted the shaggy man; "but, now you
+are informed that we are important and distinguished travelers, I trust
+you will accord us proper consideration."
+
+These big words delighted the donkeys, and made them bow to the shaggy
+man with great respect. Said the grey one:
+
+"You shall be taken before his great and glorious Majesty King
+Kik-a-bray, who will greet you as becomes your exalted stations."
+
+"That's right," answered Dorothy. "Take us to some one who knows
+something."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Oh, we all know something, my child, or we shouldn't be donkeys,"
+asserted the grey one, with dignity. "The word 'donkey' means 'clever,'
+you know."
+
+"I didn't know it," she replied. "I thought it meant 'stupid'."
+
+"Not at all, my child. If you will look in the Encyclopedia Donkaniara
+you will find I'm correct. But come; I will myself lead you before our
+splendid, exalted, and most intellectual ruler."
+
+All donkeys love big words, so it is no wonder the grey one used so many
+of them.
+
+
+
+
+The Shaggy Man's Transformation
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+They found the houses of the town all low and square and built of
+bricks, neatly whitewashed inside and out. The houses were not set in
+rows, forming regular streets, but placed here and there in a haphazard
+manner which made it puzzling for a stranger to find his way.
+
+"Stupid people must have streets and numbered houses in their cities, to
+guide them where to go," observed the grey donkey, as he walked before
+the visitors on his hind legs, in an awkward but comical manner; "but
+clever donkeys know their way about without such absurd marks. Moreover,
+a mixed city is much prettier than one with straight streets."
+
+Dorothy did not agree with this, but she said nothing to contradict it.
+Presently she saw a sign on a house that read: "Madam de Fayke,
+Hoofist," and she asked their conductor:
+
+"What's a 'hoofist,' please?"
+
+"One who reads your fortune in your hoofs," replied the grey donkey.
+
+"Oh, I see," said the little girl. "You are quite civilized here."
+
+"Dunkiton," he replied, "is the center of the world's highest
+civilization."
+
+They came to a house where two youthful donkeys were whitewashing the
+wall, and Dorothy stopped a moment to watch them. They dipped the ends
+of their tails, which were much like paint-brushes, into a pail of
+whitewash, backed up against the house, and wagged their tails right and
+left until the whitewash was rubbed on the wall, after which they dipped
+these funny brushes in the pail again and repeated the performance.
+
+"That must be fun," said Button-Bright.
+
+"No; it's work," replied the old donkey; "but we make our youngsters do
+all the whitewashing, to keep them out of mischief."
+
+"Don't they go to school?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"All donkeys are born wise," was the reply, "so the only school we need
+is the school of experience. Books are only fit for those who know
+nothing, and so are obliged to learn things from other people."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"In other words, the more stupid one is the more he thinks he knows,"
+observed the shaggy man. The grey donkey paid no attention to this
+speech because he had just stopped before a house which had painted over
+the doorway a pair of hoofs, with a donkey tail between them and a rude
+crown and sceptre above.
+
+"I'll see if his magnificent Majesty King Kik-a-bray is at home," said
+he. He lifted his head and called "Whee-haw! whee-haw! whee-haw!" three
+times, in a shocking voice, turning about and kicking with his heels
+against the panel of the door. For a time there was no reply; then the
+door opened far enough to permit a donkey's head to stick out and look
+at them.
+
+It was a white head, with big, awful ears and round, solemn eyes.
+
+"Have the foxes gone?" it asked, in a trembling voice.
+
+"They haven't been here, most stupendous Majesty," replied the grey one.
+"The new arrivals prove to be travelers of distinction."
+
+"Oh," said the King, in a relieved tone of voice. "Let them come in."
+
+He opened the door wide, and the party marched into a big room, which,
+Dorothy thought, looked quite unlike a king's palace. There were mats of
+woven grasses on the floor and the place was clean and neat; but his
+Majesty had no other furniture at all--perhaps because he didn't need
+it. He squatted down in the center of the room and a little brown donkey
+ran and brought a big gold crown which it placed on the monarch's head,
+and a golden staff with a jeweled ball at the end of it, which the King
+held between his front hoofs as he sat upright.
+
+"Now, then," said his Majesty, waving his long ears gently to and fro,
+"tell me why you are here, and what you expect me to do for you." He
+eyed Button-Bright rather sharply, as if afraid of the little boy's
+queer head, though it was the shaggy man who undertook to reply.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Most noble and supreme ruler of Dunkiton," he said, trying not to laugh
+in the solemn King's face, "we are strangers traveling through your
+dominions, and have entered your magnificent city because the road led
+through it, and there was no way to go around. All we desire is to pay
+our respects to your Majesty--the cleverest king in all the world, I'm
+sure--and then to continue on our way."
+
+This polite speech pleased the King very much; indeed, it pleased him so
+much that it proved an unlucky speech for the shaggy man. Perhaps the
+Love Magnet helped to win his Majesty's affection as well as the
+flattery, but however this may be the white donkey looked kindly upon
+the speaker and said:
+
+"Only a donkey should be able to use such fine, big words, and you are
+too wise and admirable in all ways to be a mere man. Also I feel that I
+love you as well as I do my own favored people, so I will bestow upon
+you the greatest gift within my power--a donkey's head."
+
+As he spoke he waved his jeweled staff. Although the shaggy man cried
+out and tried to leap backward and escape, it proved of no use. Suddenly
+his own head was gone and a donkey head appeared in its place--a brown,
+shaggy head so absurd and droll that Dorothy and Polly both broke into
+merry laughter, and even Button-Bright's fox face wore a smile.
+
+"Dear me! dear me!" cried the shaggy man, feeling of his shaggy new head
+and his long ears. "What a misfortune--what a great misfortune! Give me
+back my own head, you stupid king--if you love me at all!"
+
+"Don't you like it?" asked the King, surprised.
+
+"Hee-haw! I hate it! Take it away--quick!" said the shaggy man.
+
+[Illustration: KING KICK-A-BRAY WORKS MAGIC ON THE SHAGGY MAN]
+
+"But I can't do that," was the reply. '"My magic works only one way. I
+can _do_ things, but I can't _un_ do them. You'll have to find the Truth
+Pond, and bathe in its water, in order to get back your own head. But
+I advise you not to do that. This head is much more beautiful than the
+old one."
+
+"That's a matter of taste," said Dorothy.
+
+"Where is the Truth Pond?" asked the shaggy man, earnestly.
+
+"Somewhere in the Land of Oz; but just the exact location of it I can
+not tell," was the answer.
+
+"Don't worry, Shaggy Man," said Dorothy, smiling because her friend
+wagged his new ears so comically. "If the Truth Pond is in Oz we'll be
+sure to find it when we get there."
+
+"Oh! Are you going to the Land of Oz?" asked King Kik-a-bray.
+
+"I don't know," she replied; "but we've been told we are nearer the Land
+of Oz than to Kansas, and if that's so the quickest way for me to get
+home is to find Ozma."
+
+"Haw-haw! Do you know the mighty Princess Ozma?" asked the King, his
+tone both surprised and eager.
+
+"'Course I do; she's my friend," said Dorothy.
+
+"Then perhaps you'll do me a favor," continued the white donkey, much
+excited.
+
+"What is it?" she asked.
+
+"Perhaps you can get me an invitation to Princess Ozma's birthday
+celebration, which will be the grandest royal function ever held in
+Fairyland. I'd love to go."
+
+"Hee-haw! You deserve punishment, rather than reward, for giving me this
+dreadful head," said the shaggy man, sorrowfully.
+
+"I wish you wouldn't say 'hee-haw' so much," Polychrome begged him; "it
+makes cold chills run down my back."
+
+"But I can't help it, my dear; my donkey head wants to bray
+continually," he replied. "Doesn't your fox head want to yelp every
+minute?" he asked Button-Bright.
+
+"Don't know," said the boy, still staring at the shaggy man's ears.
+These seemed to interest him greatly, and the sight also made him forget
+his own fox head, which was a comfort.
+
+"What do you think, Polly? shall I promise the donkey king an invitation
+to Ozma's party?" asked Dorothy of the Rainbow's Daughter, who was
+flitting about the room like a sunbeam because she could never keep
+still.
+
+"Do as you please, dear," answered Polychrome. "He might help to amuse
+the guests of the Princess."
+
+"Then, if you will give us some supper and a place to sleep to-night,
+and let us get started on our journey early tomorrow morning," said
+Dorothy to the King, "I'll ask Ozma to invite you--if I happen to get to
+Oz."
+
+"Good! Hee-haw! Excellent!" cried Kik-a-bray, much pleased. "You shall
+all have fine suppers and good beds. What food would you prefer, a bran
+mash or ripe oats in the shell?"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Neither one," replied Dorothy, promptly.
+
+"Perhaps plain hay, or some sweet juicy grass would suit you better,"
+suggested Kik-a-bray, musingly.
+
+"Is that all you have to eat?" asked the girl.
+
+"What more do you desire?"
+
+"Well, you see we're not donkeys," she explained, "and so we're used to
+other food. The foxes gave us a nice supper in Foxville."
+
+"We'd like some dewdrops and mist-cakes," said Polychrome.
+
+"I'd prefer apples and a ham sandwich," declared the shaggy man; "for
+although I've a donkey head I still have my own particular stomach."
+
+"I want pie," said Button-Bright.
+
+"I think some beefsteak and chocolate layer-cake would taste best," said
+Dorothy.
+
+"Hee-haw! I declare!" exclaimed the King. "It seems each one of you
+wants a different food. How queer all living creatures are, except
+donkeys!"
+
+"And donkeys like you are queerest of all," laughed Polychrome.
+
+"Well," decided the King, "I suppose my Magic Staff will produce the
+things you crave; if you are lacking in good taste it is not my fault."
+
+With this he waved his staff with the jeweled ball, and before them
+instantly appeared a tea-table, set with linen and pretty dishes, and on
+the table were the very things each had wished for. Dorothy's beefsteak
+was smoking hot, and the shaggy man's apples were plump and
+rosy-cheeked. The King had not thought to provide chairs, so they all
+stood in their places around the table and ate with good appetite, being
+hungry. The Rainbow's Daughter found three tiny dewdrops on a crystal
+plate, and Button-Bright had a big slice of apple-pie, which he devoured
+eagerly.
+
+Afterward the King called the brown donkey, which was his favorite
+servant, and bade it lead his guests to the vacant house where they
+were to pass the night. It had only one room and no furniture except
+beds of clean straw and a few mats of woven grasses; but our travelers
+were contented with these simple things because they realized it was the
+best the Donkey-King had to offer them. As soon as it was dark they lay
+down on the mats and slept comfortably until morning.
+
+At daybreak there was a dreadful noise throughout the city. Every donkey
+in the place brayed. When he heard this the shaggy man woke up and
+called out "Hee-haw!" as loud as he could.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Stop that!" said Button-Bright, in a cross voice. Both Dorothy and
+Polly looked at the shaggy man reproachfully.
+
+"I couldn't help it, my dears," he said, as if ashamed of his bray; "but
+I'll try not to do it again."
+
+Of course they forgave him, for as he still had the Love Magnet in his
+pocket they were all obliged to love him as much as ever.
+
+They did not see the King again, but Kik-a-bray remembered them; for a
+table appeared again in their room with the same food upon it as on the
+night before.
+
+"Don't want pie for breakfus'," said Button-Bright.
+
+"I'll give you some of my beefsteak," proposed Dorothy; "there's plenty
+for us all."
+
+That suited the boy better, but the shaggy man said he was content with
+his apples and sandwiches, although he ended the meal by eating
+Button-Bright's pie. Polly liked her dewdrops and mist-cakes better than
+any other food, so they all enjoyed an excellent breakfast. Toto had the
+scraps left from the beefsteak, and he stood up nicely on his hind legs
+while Dorothy fed them to him.
+
+Breakfast ended, they passed through the village to the side opposite
+that by which they had entered, the brown servant-donkey guiding them
+through the maze of scattered houses. There was the road again, leading
+far away into the unknown country beyond.
+
+"King Kik-a-bray says you must not forget his invitation," said the
+brown donkey, as they passed through the opening in the wall.
+
+"I shan't," promised Dorothy.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Perhaps no one ever beheld a more strangely assorted group than the one
+which now walked along the road, through pretty green fields and past
+groves of feathery pepper-trees and fragrant mimosa. Polychrome, her
+beautiful gauzy robes floating around her like a rainbow cloud, went
+first, dancing back and forth and darting now here to pluck a
+wild-flower or there to watch a beetle crawl across the path. Toto ran
+after her at times, barking joyously the while, only to become sober
+again and trot along at Dorothy's heels. The little Kansas girl walked
+holding Button-Bright's hand clasped in her own, and the wee boy with
+his fox head covered by the sailor hat presented an odd appearance.
+Strangest of all, perhaps, was the shaggy man, with his shaggy donkey
+head, who shuffled along in the rear with his hands thrust deep in his
+big pockets.
+
+None of the party was really unhappy. All were straying in an unknown
+land and had suffered more or less annoyance and discomfort; but they
+realized they were having a fairy adventure in a fairy country, and were
+much interested in finding out what would happen next.
+
+
+
+
+The Musicker
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+About the middle of the forenoon they began to go up a long hill.
+By-and-by this hill suddenly dropped down into a pretty valley, where
+the travelers saw to their surprise, a small house standing by the
+roadside.
+
+It was the first house they had seen, and they hastened into the valley
+to discover who lived there. No one was in sight as they approached, but
+when they began to get nearer the house they heard queer sounds coming
+from it. They could not make these out at first, but as they became
+louder our friends thought they heard a sort of music like that made by
+a wheezy hand-organ; the music fell upon their ears in this way:
+
+    _Tiddle-widdle-iddle, oom pom-pom!_
+      _Oom, pom-pom! oom, pom-pom!_
+    _Tiddle-tiddle-tiddle, oom pom-pom!_
+      _Oom, pom-pom--pah!_
+
+"What is it, a band or a mouth-organ?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+"Sounds to me like a played-out phonograph," said the shaggy man,
+lifting his enormous ears to listen.
+
+"Oh, there just _couldn't_ be a funnygraf in Fairyland!" cried Dorothy.
+
+"It's rather pretty, isn't it?" asked Polychrome, trying to dance to the
+strains.
+
+    _Tiddle-widdle-iddle, oom pom-pom,_
+      _Oom pom-pom; oom pom-pom!_
+
+came the music to their ears, more distinctly as they drew nearer the
+house. Presently they saw a little fat man sitting on a bench before the
+door. He wore a red, braided jacket that reached to his waist, a blue
+waistcoat, and white trousers with gold stripes down the sides. On his
+bald head was perched a little, round, red cap held in place by a rubber
+elastic underneath his chin. His face was round, his eyes a faded blue,
+and he wore white cotton gloves. The man leaned on a stout gold-headed
+cane, bending forward on his seat to watch his visitors approach.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Singularly enough, the musical sounds they had heard seemed to come from
+the inside of the fat man himself; for he was playing no instrument nor
+was any to be seen near him.
+
+They came up and stood in a row, staring at him, and he stared back
+while the queer sounds came from him as before:
+
+    _Tiddle-iddle-iddle, oom pom-pom,_
+      _Oom, pom-pom; oom pom-pom!_
+    _Tiddle-widdle-iddle, oom pom-pom,_
+      _Oom, pom-pom--pah!_
+
+"Why, he's a reg'lar musicker!" said Button-Bright.
+
+"What's a musicker?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"Him!" said the boy.
+
+Hearing this the fat man sat up a little stiffer than before, as if he
+had received a compliment, and still came the sounds:
+
+    _Tiddle-widdle-iddle, oom pom-pom,_
+          _Oom pom-pom, oom---- _
+
+"Stop it!" cried the shaggy man, earnestly. "Stop that dreadful noise!"
+
+The fat man looked at him sadly and began his reply. When he spoke the
+music changed and the words seemed to accompany the notes. He said--or
+rather sang:
+
+    _It isn't a noise that you hear,_
+    _But Music, harmonic and clear._
+      _My breath makes me play_
+      _Like an organ, all day--_
+    _That bass note is in my left ear._
+
+"How funny!" exclaimed Dorothy; "he says his breath makes the music."
+
+"That's all nonsense," declared the shaggy man; but now the music began
+again, and they all listened carefully.
+
+    _My lungs are full of reeds like those_
+    _In organs, therefore I suppose,_
+    _If I breathe in or out my nose,_
+      _The reeds are bound to play._
+
+    _So, as I breathe to live, you know,_
+    _I squeeze out music as I go;_
+    _I'm very sorry this is so---- _
+      _Forgive my piping, pray!_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Poor man," said Polychrome; "he can't help it. What a great misfortune
+it is!"
+
+"Yes," replied the shaggy man; "we are only obliged to hear this music a
+short time, until we leave him and go away; but the poor fellow must
+listen to himself as long as he lives, and that is enough to drive him
+crazy. Don't you think so?"
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright. Toto said "Bow-wow!" and the others
+laughed.
+
+"Perhaps that's why he lives all alone," suggested Dorothy.
+
+"Yes; if he had neighbors they might do him an injury," responded the
+shaggy man.
+
+All this while the little fat musicker was breathing the notes:
+
+    _Tiddle-tiddle-iddle, oom, pom-pom,_
+
+and they had to speak loud in order to hear themselves. The shaggy man
+said:
+
+"Who are you, sir?"
+
+The reply came in the shape of this sing-song:
+
+    _I'm Allegro da Capo, a very famous man;_
+    _Just find another, high or low, to match me if you can._
+        _Some people try, but can't, to play_
+        _And have to practice every day;_
+    _But I've been musical alway, since first my life began._
+
+"Why, I b'lieve he's proud of it," exclaimed Dorothy, "and seems to me
+I've heard worse music than he makes."
+
+"Where?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"I've forgotten, just now. But Mr. Da Capo is certainly a strange
+person--isn't he?--and p'r'aps he's the only one of his kind in all the
+world."
+
+This praise seemed to please the little fat musicker, for he swelled out
+his chest, looked important and sang as follows:
+
+    _I wear no band around me,_
+      _And yet I am a band!_
+    _I do not strain to make my strains_
+      _But, on the other hand,_
+    _My toot is always destitute_
+      _Of flats or other errors;_
+    _To see sharp and be natural are_
+      _For me but minor terrors._
+
+"I don't quite understand that," said Polychrome, with a puzzled look;
+"but perhaps it's because I'm accustomed only to the music of the
+spheres."
+
+"What's that?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"Oh, Polly means the atmosphere and hemisphere, I s'pose," explained
+Dorothy.
+
+"Oh," said Button-Bright.
+
+"Bow-wow!" said Toto.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+But the musicker was still breathing his constant
+
+    _Oom, pom-pom; oom, pom-pom---- _
+
+and it seemed to jar on the shaggy man's nerves.
+
+"Stop it, can't you?" he cried, angrily; "or breathe in a whisper; or
+put a clothes-pin on your nose. Do something, anyhow!"
+
+But the fat one, with a sad look, sang this answer:
+
+    _"Music hath charms, and it may_
+    _Soothe even the savage, they say;_
+        _So if savage you feel_
+        _Just list to my reel,_
+    _For sooth to say that's the real way."_
+
+The shaggy man had to laugh at this, and when he laughed he stretched
+his donkey mouth wide open. Said Dorothy:
+
+"I don't know how good his poetry is, but it seems to fit the notes, so
+that's all that can be 'xpected."
+
+"I like it," said Button-Bright, who was staring hard at the musicker,
+his little legs spread wide apart. To the surprise of his companions,
+the boy asked this long question:
+
+"If I swallowed a mouth-organ, what would I be?"
+
+"An organette," said the shaggy man. "But come, my dears; I think the
+best thing we can do is to continue on our journey before Button-Bright
+swallows anything. We must try to find that Land of Oz, you know."
+
+Hearing this speech the musicker sang, quickly:
+
+    _If you go to the hand of Oz_
+    _Please take me along, because_
+          _On Ozma's birthday_
+          _I'm anxious to play_
+    _The loveliest song ever was._
+
+"No, thank you," said Dorothy; "we prefer to travel alone. But if I see
+Ozma I'll tell her you want to come to her birthday party."
+
+"Let's be going," urged the shaggy man, anxiously.
+
+Polly was already dancing along the road, far in advance, and the
+others turned to follow her. Toto did not like the fat musicker and made
+a grab for his chubby leg. Dorothy quickly caught up the growling little
+dog and hurried after her companions, who were walking faster than usual
+in order to get out of hearing. They had to climb a hill, and until they
+got to the top they could not escape the musicker's monotonous piping:
+
+      _"Oom, pom-pom; oom, pom-pom;_
+    _Tiddle-iddle-widdle, oom, pom-pom;_
+      _Oom, pom-pom--pah!"_
+
+As they passed the brow of the hill, however, and descended on the other
+side, the sounds gradually died away, whereat they all felt much
+relieved.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"I'm glad I don't have to live with the organ-man; aren't you, Polly?"
+said Dorothy.
+
+"Yes, indeed," answered the Rainbow's Daughter.
+
+"He's nice," declared Button-Bright, soberly.
+
+"I hope your Princess Ozma won't invite him to her birthday
+celebration," remarked the shaggy man; "for the fellow's music would
+drive her guests all crazy. You've given me an idea, Button-Bright; I
+believe the musicker must have swallowed an accordeon in his youth."
+
+"What's 'cordeon?" asked the boy.
+
+"It's a kind of pleating," explained Dorothy, putting down the dog.
+
+"Bow-wow!" said Toto, and ran away at a mad gallop to chase a
+bumble-bee.
+
+
+
+
+Facing the Scoodlers
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The country wasn't so pretty now. Before the travelers appeared a rocky
+plain covered with hills on which grew nothing green. They were nearing
+some low mountains, too, and the road, which before had been smooth and
+pleasant to walk upon, grew rough and uneven.
+
+Button-Bright's little feet stumbled more than once, and Polychrome
+ceased her dancing because the walking was now so difficult that she had
+no trouble to keep warm.
+
+It had become afternoon, yet there wasn't a thing for their luncheon
+except two apples which the shaggy man had taken from the breakfast
+table. He divided these into four pieces and gave a portion to each of
+his companions. Dorothy and Button-Bright were glad to get theirs; but
+Polly was satisfied with a small bite, and Toto did not like apples.
+
+"Do you know," asked the Rainbow's Daughter, "if this is the right road
+to the Emerald City?"
+
+"No, I don't," replied Dorothy; "but it's the only road in this part of
+the country, so we may as well go to the end of it."
+
+"It looks now as if it might end pretty soon," remarked the shaggy man;
+"and what shall we do if it does?"
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+"If I had my Magic Belt," replied Dorothy, thoughtfully, "it could do us
+a lot of good just now."
+
+"What is your Magic Belt?" asked Polychrome.
+
+"It's a thing I captured from the Nome King one day, and it can do 'most
+any wonderful thing. But I left it with Ozma, you know; 'cause magic
+won't work in Kansas, but only in fairy countries."
+
+"Is this a fairy country?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"I should think you'd know," said the little girl, gravely. "If it
+wasn't a fairy country you couldn't have a fox head and the shaggy man
+couldn't have a donkey head, and the Rainbow's Daughter would be
+invis'ble."
+
+"What's that?" asked the boy.
+
+"You don't seem to know anything, Button-Bright. Invis'ble is a thing
+you can't see."
+
+"Then Toto's invisible," declared the boy, and Dorothy found he was
+right. Toto had disappeared from view, but they could hear him barking
+furiously among the heaps of grey rock ahead of them.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+They moved forward a little faster to see what the dog was barking at,
+and found perched upon a point of rock by the roadside a curious
+creature. It had the form of a man, middle-sized and rather slender and
+graceful; but as it sat silent and motionless upon the peak they could
+see that its face was black as ink, and it wore a black cloth costume
+made like a union suit and fitting tight to its skin. Its hands were
+black, too, and its toes curled down, like a bird's. The creature was
+black all over except its hair, which was fine, and yellow, banged in
+front across the black forehead and cut close at the sides. The eyes,
+which were fixed steadily upon the barking dog, were small and sparkling
+and looked like the eyes of a weasel.
+
+"What in the world do you s'pose that is?" asked Dorothy in a hushed
+voice, as the little group of travelers stood watching the strange
+creature.
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+The thing gave a jump and turned half around, sitting in the same place
+but with the other side of its body facing them. Instead of being black,
+it was now pure white, with a face like that of a clown in a circus and
+hair of a brilliant purple. The creature could bend either way, and its
+white toes now curled the same way the black ones on the other side had
+done.
+
+"It has a face both front and back," whispered Dorothy, wonderingly;
+"only there's no back at all, but two fronts."
+
+Having made the turn, the being sat motionless as before, while Toto
+barked louder at the white man than he had done at the black one.
+
+"Once," said the shaggy man, "I had a jumping-jack like that, with two
+faces."
+
+"Was it alive?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"No," replied the shaggy man; "it worked on strings, and was made of
+wood."
+
+"Wonder if this works with strings," said Dorothy; but Polychrome cried
+"Look!" for another creature just like the first had suddenly appeared
+sitting on another rock, its black side toward them. The two twisted
+their heads around and showed a black face on the white side of one and
+a white face on the black side of the other.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"How curious," said Polychrome; "and how loose their heads seem to be!
+Are they friendly to us, do you think?"
+
+"Can't tell, Polly," replied Dorothy. "Let's ask 'em."
+
+The creatures flopped first one way and then the other, showing black or
+white by turns; and now another joined them, appearing on another rock.
+Our friends had come to a little hollow in the hills, and the place
+where they now stood was surrounded by jagged peaks of rock, except
+where the road ran through.
+
+"Now there are four of them," said the shaggy man.
+
+"Five," declared Polychrome.
+
+"Six," said Dorothy.
+
+"Lots of 'em!" cried Button-Bright; and so there were--quite a row of
+the two-sided black and white creatures sitting on the rocks all around.
+
+Toto stopped barking and ran between Dorothy's feet, where he crouched
+down as if afraid. The creatures did not look pleasant or friendly, to
+be sure, and the shaggy man's donkey face became solemn, indeed.
+
+"Ask 'em who they are, and what they want," whispered Dorothy; so the
+shaggy man called out in a loud voice:
+
+"Who are you?"
+
+"Scoodlers!" they yelled in chorus, their voices sharp and shrill.
+
+"What do you want?" called the shaggy man.
+
+"You!" they yelled, pointing their thin fingers at the group; and they
+all flopped around, so they were white, and then all flopped back again,
+so they were black.
+
+"But what do you want us for?" asked the shaggy man, uneasily.
+
+"Soup!" they all shouted, as if with one voice.
+
+[Illustration: "YOU!" THEY YELLED]
+
+"Goodness me!" said Dorothy, trembling a little; "the Scoodlers must be
+reg'lar cannibals."
+
+"Don't want to be soup," protested Button-Bright, beginning to cry.
+
+"Hush, dear," said the little girl, trying to comfort him; "we don't any
+of us want to be soup. But don't worry; the shaggy man will take care of
+us."
+
+"Will he?" asked Polychrome, who did not like the Scoodlers at all, and
+kept close to Dorothy.
+
+"I'll try," promised the shaggy man; but he looked worried.
+
+Happening just then to feel the Love Magnet in his pocket, he said to
+the creatures, with more confidence:
+
+"Don't you love me?"
+
+"Yes!" they shouted, all together.
+
+"Then you mustn't harm me, or my friends," said the shaggy man, firmly.
+
+"We love you in soup!" they yelled, and in a flash turned their white
+sides to the front.
+
+"How dreadful!" said Dorothy. "This is a time, Shaggy Man, when you get
+loved too much."
+
+"Don't want to be soup!" wailed Button-Bright again; and Toto began to
+whine dismally, as if he didn't want to be soup, either.
+
+"The only thing to do," said the shaggy man to his friends, in a low
+tone, "is to get out of this pocket in the rocks as soon as we can, and
+leave the Scoodlers behind us. Follow me, my dears, and don't pay any
+attention to what they do or say."
+
+With this he began to march along the road to the opening in the rocks
+ahead, and the others kept close behind him. But the Scoodlers closed up
+in front, as if to bar their way, and so the shaggy man stooped down and
+picked up a loose stone, which he threw at the creatures to scare them
+from the path.
+
+At this the Scoodlers raised a howl. Two of them picked their heads from
+their shoulders and hurled them at the shaggy man with such force that
+he fell over in a heap, greatly astonished. The two now ran forward with
+swift leaps, caught up their heads, and put them on again, after which
+they sprang back to their positions on the rocks.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+Escaping the Soup-kettle
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The shaggy man got up and felt of himself to see if he was hurt; but he
+was not. One of the heads had struck his breast and the other his left
+shoulder; yet though they had knocked him down the heads were not hard
+enough to bruise him.
+
+"Come on," he said, firmly; "we've got to get out of here some way," and
+forward he started again.
+
+The Scoodlers began yelling and throwing their heads in great numbers at
+our frightened friends. The shaggy man was knocked over again, and so
+was Button-Bright, who kicked his heels against the ground and howled as
+loud as he could, although he was not hurt a bit. One head struck Toto,
+who first yelped and then grabbed the head by an ear and started running
+away with it.
+
+The Scoodlers who had thrown their heads began to scramble down and run
+to pick them up, with wonderful quickness; but the one whose head Toto
+had stolen found it hard to get it back again. The head couldn't see the
+body with either pair of its eyes, because the dog was in the way, so
+the headless Scoodler stumbled around over the rocks and tripped on them
+more than once in its effort to regain its top. Toto was trying to get
+outside the rocks and roll the head down the hill; but some of the other
+Scoodlers came to the rescue of their unfortunate comrade and pelted the
+dog with their own heads until he was obliged to drop his burden and
+hurry back to Dorothy.
+
+The little girl and the Rainbow's Daughter had both escaped the shower
+of heads, but they saw now that it would be useless to try to run away
+from the dreadful Scoodlers.
+
+"We may as well submit," declared the shaggy man, in a rueful voice, as
+he got upon his feet again. He turned toward their foes and asked:
+
+"What do you want us to do?"
+
+"Come!" they cried, in a triumphant chorus, and at once sprang from the
+rocks and surrounded their captives on all sides. One funny thing about
+the Scoodlers was they could walk in either direction, coming or going,
+without turning around; because they had two faces and, as Dorothy
+said, "two front sides," and their feet were shaped like the letter T
+upside down (_|_). They moved with great rapidity and there was
+something about their glittering eyes and contrasting colors and
+removable heads that inspired the poor prisoners with horror, and made
+them long to escape.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+But the creatures led their captives away from the rocks and the road,
+down the hill by a side path until they came before a low mountain of
+rock that looked like a huge bowl turned upside down. At the edge of
+this mountain was a deep gulf--so deep that when you looked into it
+there was nothing but blackness below. Across the gulf was a narrow
+bridge of rock, and at the other end of the bridge was an arched opening
+that led into the mountain.
+
+Over this bridge the Scoodlers led their prisoners, through the opening
+into the mountain, which they found to be an immense hollow dome lighted
+by several holes in the roof. All around the circular space were built
+rock houses, set close together, each with a door in the front wall.
+None of these houses was more than six feet wide, but the Scoodlers were
+thin people sidewise and did not need much room. So vast was the dome
+that there was a large space in the middle of the cave, in front of all
+these houses, where the creatures might congregate as in a great hall.
+
+It made Dorothy shudder to see a huge iron kettle suspended by a stout
+chain in the middle of the place, and underneath the kettle a great heap
+of kindling wood and shavings, ready to light.
+
+"What's that?" asked the shaggy man, drawing back as they approached
+this place, so that they were forced to push him forward.
+
+"The Soup Kettle!" yelled the Scoodlers; and then they shouted in the
+next breath:
+
+"We're hungry!"
+
+Button-Bright, holding Dorothy's hand in one chubby fist and Polly's
+hand in the other, was so affected by this shout that he began to cry
+again, repeating the protest:
+
+"Don't want to be soup, I don't!"
+
+"Never mind," said the shaggy man, consolingly; "I ought to make enough
+soup to feed them all, I'm so big; so I'll ask them to put me in the
+kettle first."
+
+"All right," said Button-Bright, more cheerfully.
+
+But the Scoodlers were not ready to make soup yet. They led the captives
+into a house at the farthest side of the cave--a house somewhat wider
+than the others.
+
+"Who lives here?" asked the Rainbow's Daughter. The Scoodlers nearest
+her replied:
+
+"The Queen."
+
+It made Dorothy hopeful to learn that a woman ruled over these fierce
+creatures, but a moment later they were ushered by two or three of the
+escort into a gloomy, bare room--and her hope died away.
+
+For the Queen of the Scoodlers proved to be much more dreadful in
+appearance than any of her people. One side of her was fiery red, with
+jet-black hair and green eyes and the other side of her was bright
+yellow, with crimson hair and black eyes. She wore a short skirt of red
+and yellow and her hair, instead of being banged, was a tangle of short
+curls upon which rested a circular crown of silver--much dented and
+twisted because the Queen had thrown her head at so many things so many
+times. Her form was lean and bony and both her faces were deeply
+wrinkled.
+
+"What have we here?" asked the Queen, sharply, as our friends were made
+to stand before her.
+
+"Soup!" cried the guard of Scoodlers, speaking together.
+
+"We're not!" said Dorothy, indignantly; "we're nothing of the sort."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Ah, but you will be soon," retorted the Queen, a grim smile making her
+look more dreadful than before.
+
+"Pardon me, most beautiful vision," said the shaggy man, bowing before
+the queen politely. "I must request your Serene Highness to let us go
+our way without being made into soup. For I own the Love Magnet, and
+whoever meets me must love me and all my friends."
+
+"True," replied the Queen. "We love you very much; so much that we
+intend to eat your broth with real pleasure. But tell me, do you think I
+am so beautiful?"
+
+"You won't be at all beautiful if you eat me," he said, shaking his head
+sadly. "Handsome is as handsome does, you know."
+
+The Queen turned to Button-Bright.
+
+"Do _you_ think I'm beautiful?" she asked.
+
+"No," said the boy; "you're ugly."
+
+"_I_ think you're a fright," said Dorothy.
+
+"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 meat-chopper 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."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+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. The captives
+sat in a sorrowful group at the other end of the room--except
+Polychrome, who danced back and forth in the little place to keep
+herself warm, for she felt the chill of the cave. Whenever she
+approached the shaggy man he would whisper something in her ear, and
+Polly would nod her pretty head as if she understood.
+
+The shaggy man told Dorothy and Button-Bright to stand before him while
+he emptied the potatoes out of one of the sacks. When this had been
+secretly done little Polychrome, dancing near to the guard, suddenly
+reached out her hand and slapped his face, the next instant whirling
+away from him quickly to rejoin her friends.
+
+The angry Scoodler at once picked off his head and hurled it at the
+Rainbow's Daughter; but the shaggy man was expecting that, and caught
+the head very neatly, putting it in the sack, which he tied at the
+mouth. The body of the guard, not having the eyes of its head to guide
+it, ran here and there in an aimless manner, and the shaggy man easily
+dodged it and opened the door. Fortunately there was no one in the big
+cave at that moment, so he told Dorothy and Polly to run as fast as they
+could for the entrance, and out across the narrow bridge.
+
+[Illustration: THE SHAGGY MAN CAUGHT THE HEADS AND TOSSED THEM INTO THE
+GULF BELOW]
+
+"I'll carry Button-Bright," he said, for he knew the little boy's legs
+were too short to run fast.
+
+Dorothy picked up Toto, and then seized Polly's hand and ran swiftly
+toward the entrance to the cave. The shaggy man perched Button-Bright on
+his shoulders and ran after them. They moved so quickly and their escape
+was so wholly unexpected that they had almost reached the bridge when
+one of the Scoodlers looked out of his house and saw them.
+
+The creature raised a shrill cry that brought all its fellows bounding
+out of the numerous doors, and at once they started in chase. Dorothy
+and Polly had reached the bridge and crossed it when the Scoodlers began
+throwing their heads. One of the queer missiles struck the shaggy man on
+his back and nearly knocked him over; but he was at the mouth of the
+cave now, so he set down Button-Bright and told the boy to run across
+the bridge to Dorothy.
+
+Then the shaggy man turned around and faced his enemies, standing just
+outside the opening, and as fast as they threw their heads at him he
+caught them and tossed them into the black gulf below. The headless
+bodies of the foremost Scoodlers kept the others from running close up,
+but they also threw their heads in an effort to stop the escaping
+prisoners. The shaggy man caught them all and sent them whirling down
+into the black gulf. Among them he noticed the crimson and yellow head
+of the Queen, and this he tossed after the others with right good will.
+
+Presently every Scoodler of the lot had thrown its head, and every head
+was down in the deep gulf, and now the helpless bodies of the creatures
+were mixed together in the cave and wriggling around in a vain attempt
+to discover what had become of their heads. The shaggy man laughed and
+walked across the bridge to rejoin his companions.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"It's lucky I learned to play base-ball when I was young," he remarked,
+"for I caught all those heads easily, and never missed one. But come
+along, little ones; the Scoodlers will never bother us or anyone else
+any more."
+
+Button-Bright was still frightened and kept insisting, "I don't want to
+be soup!" for the victory had been gained so suddenly that the boy could
+not realize they were free and safe. But the shaggy man assured him that
+all danger of their being made into soup was now past, as the Scoodlers
+would be unable to eat soup for some time to come.
+
+So now, anxious to get away from the horrid gloomy cave as soon as
+possible, they hastened up the hillside and regained the road just
+beyond the place where they had first met the Scoodlers; and you may be
+sure they were glad to find their feet on the old familiar path again.
+
+
+
+
+Johnny Dooit Does It
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+"It's getting awful rough walking," said Dorothy, as they trudged along.
+Button-Bright gave a deep sigh and said he was hungry. Indeed, all were
+hungry, and thirsty, too; for they had eaten nothing but the apples
+since breakfast; so their steps lagged and they grew silent and weary.
+At last they slowly passed over the crest of a barren hill and saw
+before them a line of green trees with a strip of grass at their feet.
+An agreeable fragrance was wafted toward them.
+
+Our travelers, hot and tired, ran forward on beholding this refreshing
+sight and were not long in coming to the trees. Here they found a spring
+of pure bubbling water, around which the grass was full of wild
+strawberry plants, their pretty red berries ripe and ready to eat. Some
+of the trees bore yellow oranges and some russet pears, so the hungry
+adventurers suddenly found themselves provided with plenty to eat and to
+drink.
+
+They lost no time in picking the biggest strawberries and ripest oranges
+and soon had feasted to their hearts' content. Walking beyond the line
+of trees they saw before them a fearful, dismal desert, everywhere grey
+sand. At the edge of this awful waste was a large white sign with black
+letters neatly painted upon it; and the letters made these words:
+
+     ALL PERSONS ARE WARNED NOT TO
+       VENTURE UPON THIS DESERT
+
+     For the Deadly Sands will Turn Any Living Flesh to Dust in an
+     Instant. Beyond This Barrier is the
+
+           LAND OF OZ
+
+     But no one can Reach that Beautiful Country because of these
+     Destroying Sands
+
+"Oh," said Dorothy, when the shaggy man had read this sign aloud; "I've
+seen this desert before, and it's true no one can live who tries to walk
+upon the sands."
+
+"Then we mustn't try it," answered the shaggy man, thoughtfully. "But as
+we can't go ahead and there's no use going back, what shall we do
+next?"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know, either," added Dorothy, despondently.
+
+"I wish father would come for me," sighed the pretty Rainbow's Daughter,
+"I would take you all to live upon the rainbow, where you could dance
+along its rays from morning till night, without a care or worry of any
+sort. But I suppose father's too busy just now to search the world for
+me."
+
+"Don't want to dance," said Button-Bright, sitting down wearily upon the
+soft grass.
+
+"It's very good of you, Polly," said Dorothy; "but there are other
+things that would suit me better than dancing on rainbows. I'm 'fraid
+they'd be kind of soft an' squnshy under foot, anyhow, although they're
+so pretty to look at."
+
+This didn't help to solve the problem, and they all fell silent and
+looked at one another questioningly.
+
+"Really, I don't know what to do," muttered the shaggy man, gazing hard
+at Toto; and the little dog wagged his tail and said "Bow-wow!" just as
+if he could not tell, either, what to do. Button-Bright got a stick and
+began to dig in the earth, and the others watched him for a while in
+deep thought. Finally the shaggy man said:
+
+"It's nearly evening, now; so we may well sleep in this pretty place and
+get rested; perhaps by morning we can decide what is best to be done."
+
+There was little chance to make beds for the children, but the leaves of
+the trees grew thickly and would serve to keep off the night dews, so
+the shaggy man piled soft grasses in the thickest shade and when it was
+dark they lay down and slept peacefully until morning.
+
+Long after the others were asleep, however, the shaggy man sat in the
+starlight by the spring, gazing thoughtfully into its bubbling waters.
+Suddenly he smiled and nodded to himself as if he had found a good
+thought, after which he, too, laid himself down under a tree and was
+soon lost in slumber. [Illustration]
+
+In the bright morning sunshine, as they ate of the strawberries and
+sweet juicy pears, Dorothy said:
+
+"Polly, can you do any magic?"
+
+"No, dear," answered Polychrome, shaking her dainty head.
+
+"You ought to know _some_ magic, being the Rainbow's Daughter,"
+continued Dorothy, earnestly.
+
+"But we who live on the rainbow among the fleecy clouds have no use for
+magic," replied Polychrome.
+
+"What I'd like," said Dorothy, "is to find some way to cross the desert
+to the Land of Oz and its Emerald City. I've crossed it already, you
+know, more than once. First a cyclone carried my house over, and some
+Silver Shoes brought me back again--in half a second. Then Ozma took me
+over on her Magic Carpet, and the Nome King's Magic Belt took me home
+that time. You see it was magic that did it every time 'cept the first,
+and we can't 'spect a cyclone to happen along and take us to the Emerald
+City now."
+
+"No, indeed," returned Polly, with a shudder; "I hate cyclones, anyway."
+
+"That's why I wanted to find out if you could do any magic," said the
+little Kansas girl. "I'm sure I can't; and I'm sure Button-Bright can't;
+and the only magic the shaggy man has is the Love Magnet, which won't
+help us much."
+
+"Don't be too sure of that, my dear," spoke the shaggy man, a smile on
+his donkey face. "I may not be able to do magic myself, but I can call
+to us a powerful friend who loves me because I own the Love Magnet, and
+this friend surely will be able to help us."
+
+"Who is your friend?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"Johnny Dooit."
+
+"What can Johnny do?"
+
+"Anything," answered the shaggy man, with confidence.
+
+"Ask him to come," she exclaimed, eagerly.
+
+The shaggy man took the Love Magnet from his pocket and unwrapped the
+paper that surrounded it. Holding the charm in the palm of his hand he
+looked at it steadily and said these words:
+
+    _"Dear Johnny Dooit, come to me._
+    _I need you bad as bad can be."_
+
+"Well, here I am," said a cheery little voice; "but you shouldn't say
+you need me bad, 'cause I'm always, _always_ good."
+
+At this they quickly whirled around to find a funny little man sitting
+on a big copper chest, puffing smoke from a long pipe. His hair was
+grey, his whiskers were grey; and these whiskers were so long that he
+had wound the ends of them around his waist and tied them in a hard knot
+underneath the leather apron that reached from his chin nearly to his
+feet, and which was soiled and scratched as if it had been used a long
+time. His nose was broad, and stuck up a little; but his eyes were
+twinkling and merry. The little man's hands and arms were as hard and
+tough as the leather in his apron, and Dorothy thought Johnny Dooit
+looked as if he had done a lot of hard work in his lifetime.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Good morning, Johnny," said the shaggy man. "Thank you for coming to me
+so quickly."
+
+"I never waste time," said the newcomer, promptly. "But what's happened
+to you? Where did you get that donkey head? Really, I wouldn't have
+known you at all, Shaggy Man, if I hadn't looked at your feet."
+
+The shaggy man introduced Johnny Dooit to Dorothy and Toto and
+Button-Bright and the Rainbow's Daughter, and told him the story of
+their adventures, adding that they were anxious now to reach the Emerald
+City in the Land of Oz, where Dorothy had friends who would take care of
+them and send them safe home again.
+
+"But," said he, "we find that we can't cross this desert, which turns
+all living flesh that touches it into dust; so I have asked you to come
+and help us."
+
+Johnny Dooit puffed his pipe and looked carefully at the dreadful desert
+in front of them--stretching so far away they could not see its end.
+
+"You must ride," he said, briskly.
+
+"What in?" asked the shaggy man.
+
+"In a sand-boat, which has runners like a sled and sails like a ship.
+The wind will blow you swiftly across the desert and the sand cannot
+touch your flesh to turn it into dust."
+
+"Good!" cried Dorothy, clapping her hands delightedly. "That was the way
+the Magic Carpet took us across. We didn't have to touch the horrid sand
+at all."
+
+"But where is the sand-boat?" asked the shaggy man, looking all around
+him.
+
+"I'll make you one," said Johnny Dooit.
+
+As he spoke he knocked the ashes from his pipe and put it in his pocket.
+Then he unlocked the copper chest and lifted the lid, and Dorothy saw
+it was full of shining tools of all sorts and shapes.
+
+Johnny Dooit moved quickly now--so quickly that they were astonished at
+the work he was able to accomplish. He had in his chest a tool for
+everything he wanted to do, and these must have been magic tools because
+they did their work so fast and so well.
+
+The man hummed a little song as he worked, and Dorothy tried to listen
+to it. She thought the words were something like these:
+
+    _The only way to do a thing
+    Is do it when you can,
+    And do it cheerfully, and sing
+    And work and think and plan.
+    The only real unhappy one
+    Is he who dares to shirk;
+    The only really happy one
+    Is he who cares to work._
+
+Whatever Johnny Dooit was singing he was certainly doing things, and
+they all stood by and watched him in amazement.
+
+He seized an axe and in a couple of chops felled a tree. Next he took a
+saw and in a few minutes sawed the tree-trunk into broad long boards. He
+then nailed the boards together into the shape of a boat, about twelve
+feet long and four feet wide. He cut from another tree a long, slender
+pole which, when trimmed of its branches and fastened upright in the
+center of the boat, served as a mast. From the chest he drew a coil of
+rope and a big bundle of canvas, and with these--still humming his
+song--he rigged up a sail, arranging it so it could be raised or lowered
+upon the mast.
+
+Dorothy fairly gasped with wonder to see the thing grow so speedily
+before her eyes, and both Button-Bright and Polly looked on with the
+same absorbed interest.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"It ought to be painted," said Johnny Dooit, tossing his tools back into
+the chest, "for that would make it look prettier. But 'though I can
+paint it for you in three seconds it would take an hour to dry, and
+that's a waste of time."
+
+"We don't care how it looks," said the shaggy man, "if only it will take
+us across the desert."
+
+"It will do that," declared Johnny Dooit. "All you need worry about is
+tipping over. Did you ever sail a ship?"
+
+"I've seen one sailed," said the shaggy man.
+
+"Good. Sail this boat the way you've seen a ship sailed, and you'll be
+across the sands before you know it."
+
+With this he slammed down the lid of the chest, and the noise made them
+all wink. While they were winking the workman disappeared, tools and
+all.
+
+
+
+
+The Deadly Desert Crossed
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+"Oh, that's too bad!" cried Dorothy; "I wanted to thank Johnny Dooit for
+all his kindness to us."
+
+"He hasn't time to listen to thanks," replied the shaggy man; "but I'm
+sure he knows we are grateful. I suppose he is already at work in some
+other part of the world."
+
+They now looked more carefully at the sand-boat, and saw that the bottom
+was modelled with two sharp runners which would glide through the sand.
+The front of the sand-boat was pointed like the bow of a ship, and there
+was a rudder at the stern to steer by.
+
+It had been built just at the edge of the desert, so that all its
+length lay upon the grey sand except the after part, which still rested
+on the strip of grass.
+
+"Get in, my dears," said the shaggy man; "I'm sure I can manage this
+boat as well as any sailor. All you need do is sit still in your
+places."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Dorothy got in, Toto in her arms, and sat on the bottom of the boat just
+in front of the mast. Button-Bright sat in front of Dorothy, while Polly
+leaned over the bow. The shaggy man knelt behind the mast. When all were
+ready he raised the sail half way. The wind caught it. At once the
+sand-boat started forward--slowly at first, then with added speed. The
+shaggy man pulled the sail way up, and they flew so fast over the
+Deadly Desert that every one held fast to the sides of the boat and
+scarcely dared to breathe.
+
+The sand lay in billows, and was in places very uneven, so that the boat
+rocked dangerously from side to side; but it never quite tipped over,
+and the speed was so great that the shaggy man himself became frightened
+and began to wonder how he could make the ship go slower.
+
+"If we're spilled in this sand, in the middle of the desert," Dorothy
+thought to herself, "we'll be nothing but dust in a few minutes, and
+that will be the end of us."
+
+But they were not spilled, and by-and-bye Polychrome, who was clinging
+to the bow and looking straight ahead, saw a dark line before them and
+wondered what it was. It grew plainer every second, until she discovered
+it to be a row of jagged rocks at the end of the desert, while high
+above these rocks she could see a tableland of green grass and beautiful
+trees.
+
+"Look out!" she screamed to the shaggy man. "Go slowly, or we shall
+smash into the rocks."
+
+He heard her, and tried to pull down the sail; but the wind would not
+let go of the broad canvas and the ropes had become tangled.
+
+Nearer and nearer they drew to the great rocks, and the shaggy man was
+in despair because he could do nothing to stop the wild rush of the
+sand-boat.
+
+[Illustration: "LOOK OUT!" SCREAMED POLYCHROME]
+
+They reached the edge of the desert and bumped squarely into the rocks.
+There was a crash as Dorothy, Button-Bright, Toto and Polly flew up in
+the air in a curve like a skyrocket's, one after another landing high
+upon the grass, where they rolled and tumbled for a time before they
+could stop themselves.
+
+The shaggy man flew after them, head first, and lighted in a heap beside
+Toto, who, being much excited at the time, seized one of the donkey ears
+between his teeth and shook and worried it as hard as he could, growling
+angrily. The shaggy man made the little dog let go, and sat up to look
+around him.
+
+Dorothy was feeling one of her front teeth, which was loosened by
+knocking against her knee as she fell. Polly was looking sorrowfully at
+a rent in her pretty gauze gown, and Button-Bright's fox head had stuck
+fast in a gopher hole and he was wiggling his little fat legs
+frantically in an effort to get free.
+
+Otherwise they were unhurt by the adventure; so the shaggy man stood up
+and pulled Button-Bright out of the hole and went to the edge of the
+desert to look at the sand-boat. It was a mere mass of splinters now,
+crushed out of shape against the rocks. The wind had torn away the sail
+and carried it to the top of a tall tree, where the fragments of it
+fluttered like a white flag.
+
+"Well," he said, cheerfully, "we're here; but where the here is I don't
+know."
+
+"It must be some part of the Land of Oz," observed Dorothy, coming to
+his side.
+
+"Must it?"
+
+"'Course it must. We're across the desert, aren't we? And somewhere in
+the middle of Oz is the Emerald City."
+
+"To be sure," said the shaggy man, nodding. "Let's go there."
+
+"But I don't see any people about, to show us the way," she continued.
+
+"Let's hunt for them," he suggested. "There must be people somewhere;
+but perhaps they did not expect us, and so are not at hand to give us a
+welcome."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+The Truth Pond
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+They now made a more careful examination of the country around them. All
+was fresh and beautiful after the sultriness of the desert, and the
+sunshine and sweet, crisp air were delightful to the wanderers. Little
+mounds of yellowish green were away at the right, while on the left
+waved a group of tall leafy trees bearing yellow blossoms that looked
+like tassels and pompoms. Among the grasses carpeting the ground were
+pretty buttercups and cowslips and marigolds. After looking at these a
+moment Dorothy said reflectively:
+
+"We must be in the Country of the Winkies, for the color of that country
+is yellow, and you will notice that 'most everything here is yellow that
+has any color at all."
+
+"But I thought this was the Land of Oz," replied the shaggy man, as if
+greatly disappointed.
+
+"So it is," she declared; "but there are four parts to the Land of Oz.
+The North Country is purple, and it's the Country of the Gillikins. The
+East country is blue, and that's the Country of the Munchkins. Down at
+the South is the red Country of the Quadlings, and here, in the West,
+the yellow Country of the Winkies. This is the part that is ruled by the
+Tin Woodman, you know."
+
+"Who's he?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"Why, he's the tin man I told you about. His name is Nick Chopper, and
+he has a lovely heart given him by the wonderful Wizard."
+
+"Where does _he_ live?" asked the boy.
+
+"The Wizard? Oh, he lives in the Emerald City, which is just in the
+middle of Oz, where the corners of the four countries meet."
+
+"Oh," said Button-Bright, puzzled by this explanation.
+
+"We must be some distance from the Emerald City," remarked the shaggy
+man.
+
+"That's true," she replied; "so we'd better start on and see if we can
+find any of the Winkies. They're nice people," she continued, as the
+little party began walking toward the group of trees, "and I came here
+once with my friends the Scarecrow, and the Tin Woodman, and the
+Cowardly Lion, to fight a wicked witch who had made all the Winkies her
+slaves."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Did you conquer her?" asked Polly.
+
+"Why, I melted her with a bucket of water, and that was the end of her,"
+replied Dorothy. "After that the people were free, you know, and they
+made Nick Chopper--that's the Tin Woodman--their Emp'ror."
+
+"What's that?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"Emp'ror? Oh, it's something like an alderman, I guess."
+
+"Oh," said the boy.
+
+"But I thought Princess Ozma ruled Oz," said the shaggy man.
+
+"So she does; she rules the Emerald City and all the four countries of
+Oz; but each country has another little ruler, not so big as Ozma. It's
+like the officers of an army, you see; the little rulers are all
+captains, and Ozma's the general."
+
+By this time they had reached the trees, which stood in a perfect circle
+and just far enough apart so that their thick branches touched--or
+"shook hands," as Button-Bright remarked. Under the shade of the trees
+they found, in the center of the circle, a crystal pool, its water as
+still as glass. It must have been deep, too, for when Polychrome bent
+over it she gave a little sigh of pleasure.
+
+"Why, it's a mirror!" she cried; for she could see all her pretty face
+and fluffy, rainbow-tinted gown reflected in the pool, as natural as
+life.
+
+Dorothy bent over, too, and began to arrange her hair, blown by the
+desert wind into straggling tangles. Button-Bright leaned over the edge
+next, and then began to cry, for the sight of his fox head frightened
+the poor little fellow.
+
+"I guess I won't look," remarked the shaggy man, sadly, for he didn't
+like his donkey head, either. While Polly and Dorothy tried to comfort
+Button-Bright, the shaggy man sat down near the edge of the pool, where
+his image could not be reflected, and stared at the water thoughtfully.
+As he did this he noticed a silver plate fastened to a rock just under
+the surface of the water, and on the silver plate was engraved these
+words:
+
+[Illustration: THE TRUTH POND]
+
+"Ah!" cried the shaggy man, springing to his feet with eager joy; "we've
+found it at last."
+
+"Found what?" asked Dorothy, running to him.
+
+"The Truth Pond. Now, at last, I may get rid of this frightful head; for
+we were told, you remember, that only the Truth Pond could restore to me
+my proper face."
+
+"Me, too!" shouted Button-Bright, trotting up to them.
+
+"Of course," said Dorothy. "It will cure you both of your bad heads, I
+guess. Isn't it lucky we found it?"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"It is, indeed," replied the shaggy man. "I hated dreadfully to go to
+Princess Ozma looking like this; and she's to have a birthday
+celebration, too."
+
+Just then a splash startled them, for Button-Bright, in his anxiety to
+see the pool that would "cure" him, had stepped too near the edge and
+tumbled heels over head into the water. Down he went, out of sight
+entirely, so that only his sailor hat floated on the top of the Truth
+Pond.
+
+He soon bobbed up, and the shaggy man seized him by his sailor collar
+and dragged him to the shore, dripping and gasping for breath. They all
+looked upon the boy wonderingly, for the fox head with its sharp nose
+and pointed ears was gone, and in its place appeared the chubby round
+face and blue eyes and pretty curls that had belonged to Button-Bright
+before King Dox of Foxville transformed him.
+
+"Oh, what a darling!" cried Polly, and would have hugged the little one
+had he not been so wet.
+
+Their joyful exclamations made the child rub the water out of his eyes
+and look at his friends questioningly.
+
+"You're all right now, dear," said Dorothy. "Come and look at yourself."
+She led him to the pool, and although there were still a few ripples on
+the surface of the water he could see his reflection plainly.
+
+"It's me!" he said, in a pleased yet awed whisper.
+
+[Illustration: THE SHAGGY MAN'S OWN HEAD RESTORED]
+
+"'Course it is," replied the girl; "and we're all as glad as you are,
+Button-Bright."
+
+"Well," announced the shaggy man, "it's my turn next." He took off his
+shaggy coat and laid it on the grass and dived head first into the Truth
+Pond.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+When he came up the donkey head had disappeared, and the shaggy man's
+own shaggy head was in its place, with the water dripping in little
+streams from his shaggy whiskers. He scrambled ashore and shook himself
+to get off some of the wet, and then leaned over the pool to look
+admiringly at his reflected face.
+
+"I may not be strictly beautiful, even now," he said to his companions,
+who watched him with smiling faces; "but I'm so much handsomer than any
+donkey that I feel as proud as I can be."
+
+"You're all right, Shaggy Man," declared Dorothy. "And Button-Bright is
+all right, too. So let's thank the Truth Pond for being so nice, and
+start on our journey to the Emerald City."
+
+"I hate to leave it," murmured the shaggy man, with a sigh. "A truth
+pond wouldn't be a bad thing to carry around with us." But he put on his
+coat and started with the others in search of some one to direct them on
+their way.
+
+
+
+
+Tik-Tok and Billina
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+They had not walked far across the flower-strewn meadows when they came
+upon a fine road leading toward the northwest and winding gracefully
+among the pretty yellow hills.
+
+"That way," said Dorothy, "must be the direction of the Emerald City.
+We'd better follow the road until we meet some one or come to a house."
+
+The sun soon dried Button-Bright's sailor suit and the shaggy man's
+shaggy clothes, and so pleased were they at regaining their own heads
+that they did not mind at all the brief discomfort of getting wet.
+
+"It's good to be able to whistle again," remarked the shaggy man, "for
+those donkey lips were so thick I could not whistle a note with them."
+He warbled a tune as merrily as any bird.
+
+"You'll look more natural at the birthday celebration, too," said
+Dorothy, happy in seeing her friends so happy.
+
+Polychrome was dancing ahead in her usual sprightly manner, whirling
+gaily along the smooth, level road, until she passed from sight around
+the curve of one of the mounds. Suddenly they heard her exclaim "Oh!"
+and she appeared again, running toward them at full speed.
+
+"What's the matter, Polly?" asked Dorothy, perplexed.
+
+There was no need for the Rainbow's Daughter to answer, for turning the
+bend in the road there came advancing slowly toward them a funny round
+man made of burnished copper, gleaming brightly in the sun. Perched on
+the copper man's shoulder sat a yellow hen, with fluffy feathers and a
+pearl necklace around her throat.
+
+"Oh, Tik-tok!" cried Dorothy, running forward. When she came to him the
+copper man lifted the little girl in his copper arms and kissed her
+cheek with his copper lips.
+
+"Oh, Billina!" cried Dorothy, in a glad voice, and the yellow hen flew
+to her arms, to be hugged and petted by turns.
+
+The others were curiously crowding around the group, and the girl said
+to them:
+
+"It's Tik-tok and Billina; and oh! I'm so glad to see them again."
+
+"Wel-come to Oz," said the copper man, in a monotonous voice.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Dorothy sat right down in the road, the yellow hen in her arms, and
+began to stroke Billina's back. Said the hen:
+
+"Dorothy, dear, I've some wonderful news to tell you."
+
+"Tell it quick, Billina!" said the girl.
+
+Just then Toto, who had been growling to himself in a cross way gave a
+sharp bark and flew at the yellow hen, who ruffled her feathers and let
+out such an angry screech that Dorothy was startled.
+
+"Stop, Toto! Stop that this minute!" she commanded. "Can't you see that
+Billina is my friend?" In spite of this warning had she not grabbed
+Toto quickly by the neck the little dog would have done the yellow hen a
+mischief, and even now he struggled madly to escape Dorothy's grasp. She
+slapped his cars once or twice and told him to behave, and the yellow
+hen flew to Tik-tok's shoulder again, where she was safe.
+
+"What a brute!" croaked Billina, glaring down at the little dog.
+
+"Toto isn't a brute," replied Dorothy; "but at home Uncle Henry has to
+whip him sometimes for chasing the chickens. Now, look here, Toto," she
+added, holding up her finger and speaking sternly to him, "you've got to
+understand that Billina is one of my dearest friends, and mustn't be
+hurt--now or ever."
+
+Toto wagged his tail as if he understood.
+
+"The miserable thing can't talk," said Billina, with a sneer.
+
+"Yes, he can," replied Dorothy; "he talks with his tail, and I know
+everything he says. If you could wag your tail, Billina, you wouldn't
+need words to talk with."
+
+"Nonsense!" said Billina.
+
+"It isn't nonsense at all. Just now Toto says he's sorry, and that he'll
+try to love you for my sake. Don't you, Toto?"
+
+"Bow-wow!" said Toto, wagging his tail again.
+
+"But I've such wonderful news for you; Dorothy," cried the yellow hen;
+"I've----"
+
+"Wait a minute, dear," interrupted the little girl; "I've got to
+introduce you all, first. That's manners, Billina. This," turning to her
+traveling companions, "is Mr. Tik-tok, who works by machinery, 'cause
+his thoughts wind up, and his talk winds up, and his action winds
+up--like a clock."
+
+"Do they all wind up together?" asked the shaggy man.
+
+"No; each one separate. But he works just lovely, and Tik-tok was a good
+friend to me once, and saved my life--and Billina's life, too."
+
+"Is he alive?" asked Button-Bright, looking hard at the copper man.
+
+"Oh, no, but his machinery makes him just as good as alive." She turned
+to the copper man and said politely: "Mr. Tik-tok, these are my new
+friends: the shaggy man, and Polly the Rainbow's Daughter, and
+Button-Bright, and Toto. Only Toto isn't a new friend, 'cause he's been
+to Oz before."
+
+The copper man bowed low, removing his copper hat as he did so.
+
+"I'm ve-ry pleased to meet Dor-o-thy's fr-r-r-r-r----"
+
+Here he stopped short.
+
+"Oh, I guess his speech needs winding!" said the little girl, running
+behind the copper man to get the key off a hook at his back. She wound
+him up at a place under his right arm and he went on to say:
+
+"Par-don me for run-ning down. I was a-bout to say I am pleased to meet
+Dor-o-thy's friends, who must be my friends." The words were somewhat
+jerky, but plain to understand.
+
+"And this is Billina," continued Dorothy, introducing the yellow hen,
+and they all bowed to her in turn.
+
+"I've such wonderful news," said the hen, turning her head so that one
+bright eye looked full at Dorothy.
+
+"What is it, dear?" asked the girl.
+
+"I've hatched out ten of the loveliest chicks you ever saw."
+
+"Oh, how nice! And where are they, Billina?"
+
+"I left them at home. But they're beauties, I assure you, and all
+wonderfully clever. I've named them Dorothy."
+
+"Which one?" asked the girl.
+
+"All of them," replied Billina.
+
+"That's funny. Why did you name them all with the same name?"
+
+"It was so hard to tell them apart," explained the hen. "Now, when I
+call 'Dorothy,' they all come running to me in a bunch; it's much
+easier, after all, than having a separate name for each."
+
+"I'm just dying to see 'em, Billina," said Dorothy, eagerly. "But tell
+me, my friends, how did you happen to be here, in the Country of the
+Winkies, the first of all to meet us?"
+
+"I'll tell you," answered Tik-tok, in his monotonous voice, all the
+sounds of his words being on one level--"Prin-cess Oz-ma saw you in her
+mag-ic pic-ture, and knew you were com-ing here; so she sent Bil-lin-a
+and me to wel-come you, as she could not come her-self; so
+that--fiz-i-dig-le cum-so-lut-ing hy-ber-gobble in-tu-zib-ick----"
+
+"Good gracious! Whatever's the matter now?" cried Dorothy, as the copper
+man continued to babble these unmeaning words, which no one could
+understand at all because they had no sense.
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright, who was half scared. Polly whirled
+away to a distance and turned to look at the copper man in a fright.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"His thoughts have run down, this time," remarked Billina composedly, as
+she sat on Tik-tok's shoulder and pruned her sleek feathers. "When he
+can't think he can't talk properly, any more than you can. You'll have
+to wind up his thoughts, Dorothy, or else I'll have to finish his story
+myself."
+
+Dorothy ran around and got the key again and wound up Tik-tok under his
+left arm, after which he could speak plainly again.
+
+"Par-don me," he said, "but when my thoughts run down my speech has no
+mean-ing, for words are formed on-ly by thought. I was a-bout to say
+that Oz-ma sent us to wel-come you and in-vite you to come straight to
+the Em-er-ald Ci-ty. She was too bus-y to come her-self, for she is
+pre-par-ing for her birth-day cel-e-bra-tion, which is to be a grand
+af-fair."
+
+"I've heard of it," said Dorothy, "and I'm glad we've come in time to
+attend. Is it far from here to the Emerald City?"
+
+"Not ve-ry far," answered Tik-tok, "and we have plen-ty of time.
+To-night we will stop at the pal-ace of the Tin Wood-man, and to-mor-row
+night we will ar-rive at the Em-er-ald Ci-ty."
+
+"Goody!" cried Dorothy. "I'd like to see dear Nick Chopper again. How's
+his heart?"
+
+"It's fine," said Billina; "the Tin Woodman says it gets softer and
+kindlier every day. He's waiting at his castle to welcome you, Dorothy;
+but he couldn't come with us because he 'is getting polished as bright
+as possible for Ozma's party."
+
+"Well, then," said Dorothy, "let's start on, and we can talk more as we
+go."
+
+They proceeded on their journey in a friendly group, for Polychrome had
+discovered that the copper man was harmless and was no longer afraid of
+him. Button-Bright was also reassured, and took quite a fancy to
+Tik-tok. He wanted the clockwork man to open himself, so that he might
+see the wheels go round; but that was a thing Tik-tok could not do.
+Button-Bright then wanted to wind up the copper man, and Dorothy
+promised he should do so as soon as any part of the machinery ran down.
+This pleased Button-Bright, who held fast to one of Tik-tok's copper
+hands as he trudged along the road, while Dorothy walked on the other
+side of her old friend and Billina perched by turns upon his shoulder or
+his copper hat. Polly once more joyously danced ahead and Toto ran after
+her, barking with glee. The shaggy man was left to walk behind; but he
+didn't seem to mind that a bit, and whistled merrily or looked curiously
+upon the pretty scenes they passed.
+
+At last they came to a hilltop from which the tin castle of Nick Chopper
+could plainly be seen, its towers glistening magnificently under the
+rays of the declining sun.
+
+"How pretty!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I've never seen the Emp'ror's new
+house before."
+
+"He built it because the old castle was damp, and likely to rust his tin
+body," said Billina. "All those towers and steeples and domes and gables
+took a lot of tin, as you can see."
+
+"Is it a toy?" asked Button-Bright, softly.
+
+"No, dear," answered Dorothy; "it's better than that. It's the fairy
+dwelling of a fairy prince."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+The Emperor's Tin Castle
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The grounds around Nick Chopper's new house were laid out in pretty
+flower-beds, with fountains of crystal water and statues of tin
+representing the Emperor's personal friends. Dorothy was astonished and
+delighted to find a tin statue of herself standing on a tin pedestal at
+a bend in the avenue leading up to the entrance. It was life-size and
+showed her in her sunbonnet with her basket on her arm, just as she had
+first appeared in the Land of Oz.
+
+"Oh, Toto--you're there too!" she exclaimed; and sure enough there was
+the tin figure of Toto lying at the tin Dorothy's feet.
+
+Also Dorothy saw figures of the Scarecrow, and the Wizard, and Ozma, and
+of many others, including Tik-tok. They reached the grand tin entrance
+to the tin castle, and the Tin Woodman himself came running out of the
+door to embrace little Dorothy and give her a glad welcome. He welcomed
+her friends as well, and the Rainbow's Daughter he declared to be the
+loveliest vision his tin eyes had ever beheld. He patted Button-Bright's
+curly head tenderly, for he was fond of children, and turned to the
+shaggy man and shook both his hands at the same time.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Nick Chopper, the Emperor of the Winkies, who was also known throughout
+the Land of Oz as the Tin Woodman, was certainly a remarkable person. He
+was neatly made, all of tin, nicely soldered at the joints, and his
+various limbs were cleverly hinged to his body so that he could use them
+nearly as well as if they had been common flesh. Once, he told the
+shaggy man, he had been made all of flesh and bones, as others people
+are, and then he chopped wood in the forests to earn his living. But the
+axe slipped so often and cut off parts of him--which he had replaced
+with tin--that finally there was no flesh left, nothing but tin; so he
+became a real tin woodman. The wonderful Wizard of Oz had given him an
+excellent heart to replace his old one, and he didn't at all mind being
+tin. Every one loved him, he loved every one; and he was therefore as
+happy as the day was long.
+
+The Emperor was proud of his new tin castle, and showed his visitors
+through all the rooms. Every bit of the furniture was made of brightly
+polished tin--the tables, chairs, beds, and all--even the floors and
+walls were of tin.
+
+"I suppose," said he, "that there are no cleverer tinsmiths in all the
+world than the Winkies. It would be hard to match this castle in Kansas;
+wouldn't it, little Dorothy?"
+
+"Very hard," replied the child, gravely.
+
+"It must have cost a lot of money," remarked the shaggy man.
+
+"Money! Money in Oz!" cried the Tin Woodman. "What a queer idea! Did you
+suppose we are so vulgar as to use money here?"
+
+"Why not?" asked the shaggy man.
+
+"If we used money to buy things with, instead of love and kindness and
+the desire to please one another, then we should be no better than the
+rest of the world," declared the Tin Woodman. "Fortunately money is not
+known in the Land of Oz at all. We have no rich, and no poor; for what
+one wishes the others all try to give him, in order to make him happy,
+and no one in all Oz cares to have more than he can use."
+
+"Good!" cried the shaggy man, greatly pleased to hear this. "I also
+despise money--a man in Butterfield owes me fifteen cents, and I will
+not take it from him. The Land of Oz is surely the most favored land in
+all the world, and its people the happiest. I should like to live here
+always."
+
+The Tin Woodman listened with respectful attention. Already he loved the
+shaggy man, although he did not yet know of the Love Magnet. So he said:
+
+"If you can prove to the Princess Ozma that you are honest and true and
+worthy of our friendship, you may indeed live here all your days, and be
+as happy as we are."
+
+"I'll try to prove that," said the shaggy man, earnestly.
+
+"And now," continued the Emperor, "you must all go to your rooms and
+prepare for dinner, which will presently be served in the grand tin
+dining-hall. I am sorry, Shaggy Man, that I can not offer you a change
+of clothing; but I dress only in tin, myself, and I suppose that would
+not suit you."
+
+"I care little about dress," said the shaggy man, indifferently.
+
+"So I should imagine," replied the Emperor, with true politeness.
+
+They were shown to their rooms and permitted to make such toilets as
+they could, and soon they assembled again in the grand tin dining-hall,
+even Toto being present. For the Emperor was fond of Dorothy's little
+dog, and the girl explained to her friends that in Oz all animals were
+treated with as much consideration as the people--"if they behave
+themselves," she added.
+
+Toto behaved himself, and sat in a tin high-chair beside Dorothy and ate
+his dinner from a tin platter.
+
+Indeed, they all ate from tin dishes, but these were of pretty shapes
+and brightly polished; Dorothy thought they were just as good as silver.
+
+Button-Bright looked curiously at the man who had "no appetite inside
+him," for the Tin Woodman, although he had prepared so fine a feast for
+his guests, ate not a mouthful himself, sitting patiently in his place
+to see that all built so they could eat were well and plentifully
+served.
+
+[Illustration: POLYCHROME DANCED GRACEFULLY TO THE MUSIC]
+
+What pleased Button-Bright most about the dinner was the tin orchestra
+that played sweet music while the company ate. The players were not
+tin, being just ordinary Winkies; but the instruments they played upon
+were all tin--tin trumpets, tin fiddles, tin drums and cymbals and
+flutes and horns and all. They played so nicely the "Shining Emperor
+Waltz," composed expressly in honor of the Tin Woodman by Mr. H. M.
+Wogglebug, T. E., that Polly could not resist dancing to it. After she
+had tasted a few dewdrops, freshly gathered for her, she danced
+gracefully to the music while the others finished their repast; and when
+she whirled until her fleecy draperies of rainbow hues enveloped her
+like a cloud, the Tin Woodman was so delighted that he clapped his tin
+hands until the noise of them drowned the sound of the cymbals.
+
+Altogether it was a merry meal, although Polychrome ate little and the
+host nothing at all.
+
+"I'm sorry the Rainbow's Daughter missed her mist-cakes," said the Tin
+Woodman to Dorothy; "but by a mistake Miss Polly's mist-cakes were
+mislaid and not missed until now. I'll try to have some for her
+breakfast."
+
+They spent the evening telling stories, and the next morning left the
+splendid tin castle and set out upon the road to the Emerald City. The
+Tin Woodman went with them, of course, having by this time been so
+brightly polished that he sparkled like silver. His axe, which he always
+carried with him, had a steel blade that was tin plated and a handle
+covered with tin plate beautifully engraved and set with diamonds.
+
+The Winkies assembled before the castle gates and cheered their Emperor
+as he marched away, and it was easy to see that they all loved him
+dearly.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+Visiting the Pumpkin-Field
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Dorothy let Button-Bright wind up the clock-work in the copper man this
+morning--his thinking machine first, then his speech, and finally his
+action; so he would doubtless run perfectly until they had reached the
+Emerald City. The copper man and the tin man were good friends, and not
+so much alike as you might think. For one was alive and the other moved
+by means of machinery; one was tall and angular and the other short and
+round. You could love the Tin Woodman because he had a fine nature,
+kindly and simple; but the machine man you could only admire without
+loving, since to love such a thing as he was as impossible as to love a
+sewing-machine or an automobile. Yet Tik-tok was popular with the people
+of Oz because he was so trustworthy, reliable and true; he was sure to
+do exactly what he was wound up to do, at all times and in all
+circumstances. Perhaps it is better to be a machine that does its duty
+than a flesh-and-blood person who will not, for a dead truth is better
+than a live falsehood.
+
+About noon the travelers reached a large field of pumpkins--a vegetable
+quite appropriate to the yellow country of the Winkies--and some of the
+pumpkins which grew there were of remarkable size. Just before they
+entered upon this field they saw three little mounds that looked like
+graves, with a pretty headstone to each one of them.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"What is this?" asked Dorothy, in wonder.
+
+"It's Jack Pumpkinhead's private graveyard," replied the Tin Woodman.
+
+"But I thought nobody ever died in Oz," she said.
+
+"Nor do they; although if one is bad, he may be condemned and killed by
+the good citizens," he answered.
+
+Dorothy ran over to the little graves and read the words engraved upon
+the tombstones. The first one said:
+
+     Here Lies the Mortal Part of
+          JACK PUMPKINHEAD
+      Which Spoiled April 9th.
+
+She then went to the next stone, which read:
+
+     Here Lies the Mortal Part of
+          JACK PUMPKINHEAD
+     Which Spoiled October 2nd.
+
+On the third stone were carved these words:
+
+     Here Lies the Mortal Part of
+          JACK PUMPKINHEAD
+     Which Spoiled January 24th.
+
+"Poor Jack!" sighed Dorothy. "I'm sorry he had to die in three parts,
+for I hoped to see him again."
+
+"So you shall," declared the Tin Woodman, "since he is still alive. Come
+with me to his house, for Jack is now a farmer and lives in this very
+pumpkin field."
+
+They walked over to a monstrous big, hollow pumpkin which had a door and
+windows cut through the rind. There was a stovepipe running through the
+stem, and six steps had been built leading up to the front door.
+
+They walked up to this door and looked in. Seated on a bench was a man
+clothed in a spotted shirt, a red vest, and faded blue trousers, whose
+body was merely sticks of wood, jointed clumsily together. On his neck
+was set a round, yellow pumpkin, with a face carved on it such as a boy
+often carves on a jack-lantern.
+
+This queer man was engaged in snapping slippery pumpkin-seeds with his
+wooden fingers, trying to hit a target on the other side of the room
+with them. He did not know he had visitors until Dorothy exclaimed:
+
+"Why, it's Jack Pumpkinhead himself!"
+
+He turned and saw them, and at once came forward to greet the little
+Kansas girl and Nick Chopper, and to be introduced to their new friends.
+
+Button-Bright was at first rather shy with the quaint Pumpkinhead, but
+Jack's face was so jolly and smiling--being carved that way--that the
+boy soon grew to like him.
+
+"I thought, a while ago, that you were buried in three parts," said
+Dorothy; "but now I see you're just the same as ever."
+
+"Not quite the same, my dear, for my mouth is a little more one-sided
+than it used to be; but pretty nearly the same. I've a new head, and
+this is the fourth one I've owned since Ozma first made me and brought
+me to life by sprinkling me with the Magic Powder."
+
+"What became of the other heads, Jack?"
+
+"They spoiled and I buried them, for they were not even fit for pies.
+Each time Ozma has carved me a new head just like the old one, and as my
+body is by far the largest part of me I am still Jack Pumpkinhead, no
+matter how often I change my upper end. Once we had a dreadful time to
+find another pumpkin, as they were out of season, and so I was obliged
+to wear my old head a little longer than was strictly healthy. But after
+this sad experience I resolved to raise pumpkins myself, so as never to
+be caught again without one handy; and now I have this fine field that
+you see before you. Some grow pretty big--too big to be used for
+heads--so I dug out this one and use it for a house."
+
+"Isn't it damp?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"Not very. There isn't much left but the shell, you see, and it will
+last a long time yet."
+
+"I think you are brighter than you used to be, Jack," said the Tin
+Woodman. "Your last head was a stupid one."
+
+"The seeds in this one are better," was the reply.
+
+"Are you going to Ozma's party?" asked Dorothy.
+
+"Yes," said he; "I wouldn't miss it for anything. Ozma's my parent, you
+know, because she built my body and carved my pumpkin head. I'll follow
+you to the Emerald City to-morrow, where we shall meet again. I can't go
+to-day, because I have to plant fresh pumpkin-seeds and water the young
+vines. But give my love to Ozma, and tell her I'll be there in time for
+the jubilation."
+
+"We will," she promised; and then they all left him and resumed their
+journey.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+The Royal Chariot Arrives
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The neat yellow houses of the Winkies were now to be seen standing here
+and there along the roadway, giving the country a more cheerful and
+civilized look. They were farm-houses, though, and set far apart; for in
+the Land of Oz there were no towns or villages except the magnificent
+Emerald City in its center.
+
+Hedges of evergreen or of yellow roses bordered the broad highway and
+the farms showed the care of their industrious inhabitants. The nearer
+the travelers came to the great city the more prosperous the country
+became, and they crossed many bridges over the sparkling streams and
+rivulets that watered the lands.
+
+As they walked leisurely along the shaggy man said to the Tin Woodman:
+
+"What sort of a Magic Powder was it, that made your friend the
+Pumpkinhead live?"
+
+"It was called the Powder of Life," was the answer; "and it was invented
+by a crooked Sorcerer who lived in the mountains of the North Country. A
+Witch named Mombi got some of this powder from the crooked Sorcerer and
+took it home with her. Ozma lived with the Witch then, for it was before
+she became our Princess, while Mombi had transformed her into the shape
+of a boy. Well, while Mombi was gone to the crooked Sorcerer's, the boy
+made this pumpkin-headed man to amuse himself, and also with the hope of
+frightening the Witch with it when she returned. But Mombi was not
+scared, and she sprinkled the Pumpkinhead with her Magic Powder of Life,
+to see if the Powder would work. Ozma was watching, and saw the
+Pumpkinhead come to life; so that night she took the pepper-box
+containing the Powder and ran away with it and with Jack, in search of
+adventures."
+
+"Next day they found a wooden Saw-Horse standing by the roadside, and
+sprinkled it with the Powder. It came to life at once, and Jack
+Pumpkinhead rode the Saw-Horse to the Emerald City."
+
+"What became of the Saw-Horse, afterward?" asked the shaggy man, much
+interested in this story.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Oh, it's alive yet, and you will probably meet it presently in the
+Emerald City. Afterward Ozma used the last of the Powder to bring the
+Flying Gump to life; but as soon as it had carried her away from her
+enemies the Gump was taken apart, so it doesn't exist any more."
+
+"It's too bad the Powder of Life was all used up," remarked the shaggy
+man; "it would be a handy thing to have around."
+
+"I am not so sure of that, sir," answered the Tin Woodman. "A while ago
+the crooked Sorcerer who invented the magic Powder fell down a precipice
+and was killed. All his possessions went to a relative--an old woman
+named Dyna, who lives in the Emerald City. She went to the mountains
+where the Sorcerer had lived and brought away everything she thought of
+value. Among them was a small bottle of the Powder of Life; but of
+course Dyna didn't know it was a magic Powder, at all. It happened she
+had once had a big blue bear for a pet; but the bear choked to death on
+a fishbone one day, and she loved it so dearly that Dyna made a rug of
+its skin, leaving the head and four paws on the hide. She kept the rug
+on the floor of her front parlor."
+
+"I've seen rugs like that," said the shaggy man, nodding, "but never one
+made from a blue bear."
+
+"Well," continued the Tin Woodman, "the old woman had an idea that the
+Powder in the bottle must be moth-powder, because it smelled something
+like moth-powder; so one day she sprinkled it on her bear rug to keep
+the moths out of it. She said, looking lovingly at the skin: 'I wish my
+dear bear were alive again!' To her horror the bear rug at once came to
+life, having been sprinkled with the Magic Powder; and now this live
+bear rug is a great trial to her, and makes her a lot of trouble."
+
+"Why?" asked the shaggy man.
+
+"Well, it stands up on its four feet and walks all around, and gets in
+the way; and that spoils it for a rug. It can't speak, although it is
+alive; for, while its head might say words, it has no breath in a solid
+body to push the words out of its mouth. It's a very slimpsy affair
+altogether, that bear rug, and the old woman is sorry it came to life.
+Every day she has to scold it, and make it lie down flat on the parlor
+floor to be walked upon; but sometimes when she goes to market the rug
+will hump up its back skin, and stand on its four feet, and trot along
+after her."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"I should think Dyna would like that," said Dorothy.
+
+"Well, she doesn't; because every one knows it isn't a real bear, but
+just a hollow skin, and so of no actual use in the world except for a
+rug," answered the Tin Woodman. "Therefore I believe it is a good thing
+that all the magic Powder of Life is now used up, as it cannot cause
+any more trouble."
+
+"Perhaps you're right," said the shaggy man, thoughtfully.
+
+At noon they stopped at a farm-house, where it delighted the farmer and
+his wife to be able to give them a good luncheon. The farm people knew
+Dorothy, having seen her when she was in the country before, and they
+treated the little girl with as much respect as they did the Emperor,
+because she was a friend of the powerful Princess Ozma.
+
+They had not proceeded far after leaving this farm-house before coming
+to a high bridge over a broad river. This river, the Tin Woodman
+informed them, was the boundary between the Country of the Winkies and
+the territory of the Emerald City. The city itself was still a long way
+off, but all around it was a green meadow, as pretty as a well-kept
+lawn, and in this were neither houses nor farms to spoil the beauty of
+the scene.
+
+From the top of the high bridge they could see far away the magnificent
+spires and splendid domes of the superb city, sparkling like brilliant
+jewels as they towered above the emerald walls. The shaggy man drew a
+deep breath of awe and amazement, for never had he dreamed that such a
+grand and beautiful place could exist--even in the fairyland of Oz.
+
+Polly was so pleased that her violet eyes sparkled like amethysts, and
+she danced away from her companions across the bridge and into a group
+of feathery trees lining both the roadsides. These trees she stopped to
+look at with pleasure and surprise, for their leaves were shaped like
+ostrich plumes, their feather edges beautifully curled; and all the
+plumes were tinted in the same dainty rainbow hues that appeared in
+Polychrome's own pretty gauze gown.
+
+"Father ought to see these trees," she murmured; "they are almost as
+lovely as his own rainbows."
+
+Then she gave a start of terror, for beneath the trees came stalking two
+great beasts, either one big enough to crush the little Daughter of the
+Rainbow with one blow of his paws, or to eat her up with one snap of his
+enormous jaws. One was a tawny lion, as tall as a horse, nearly; the
+other a striped tiger almost the same size.
+
+Polly was too frightened to scream or to stir; she stood still with a
+wildly beating heart until Dorothy rushed past her and with a glad cry
+threw her arms around the huge lion's neck, hugging and kissing the
+beast with evident joy.
+
+"Oh, I'm _so_ glad to see you again!" cried the little Kansas girl. "And
+the Hungry Tiger, too! How fine you're both looking. Are you well and
+happy?"
+
+[Illustration: DOROTHY THREW HER ARMS AROUND THE LION'S NECK]
+
+"We certainly are, Dorothy," answered the Lion, in a deep voice that
+sounded pleasant and kind; "and we are greatly pleased that you have
+come to Ozma's party. It's going to be a grand affair, I promise you."
+
+"There will be lots of fat babies at the celebration, I hear," remarked
+the Hungry Tiger, yawning so that his mouth opened dreadfully wide and
+showed all his big, sharp teeth; "but of course I can't eat any of 'em."
+
+"Is your Conscience still in good order?" asked Dorothy, anxiously.
+
+"Yes; it rules me like a tyrant," answered the Tiger, sorrowfully. "I
+can imagine nothing more unpleasant than to own a Conscience," and he
+winked slyly at his friend the Lion.
+
+"You're fooling me!" said Dorothy, with a laugh. "I don't b'lieve you'd
+eat a baby if you lost your Conscience. Come here, Polly," she called,
+"and be introduced to my friends."
+
+Polly advanced rather shyly.
+
+"You have some queer friends, Dorothy," she said.
+
+"The queerness doesn't matter, so long as they're friends," was the
+answer. "This is the Cowardly Lion, who isn't a coward at all, but just
+thinks he is. The Wizard gave him some courage once, and he has part of
+it left."
+
+The Lion bowed with great dignity to Polly.
+
+"You are very lovely, my dear," said he. "I hope we shall be friends
+when we are better acquainted."
+
+"And this is the Hungry Tiger," continued Dorothy. "He says he longs to
+eat fat babies; but the truth is he is never hungry at all, 'cause he
+gets plenty to eat; and I don't s'pose he'd hurt anybody even if he was
+hungry."
+
+"Hush, Dorothy," whispered the Tiger; "you'll ruin my reputation if you
+are not more discreet. It isn't what we are, but what folks think we
+are, that counts in this world. And come to think of it Miss Polly would
+make a fine variegated breakfast, I'm sure."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+The Emerald City
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The others now came up, and the Tin Woodman greeted the Lion and the
+Tiger cordially. Button-Bright yelled with fear when Dorothy first took
+his hand and led him toward the great beasts; but the girl insisted they
+were kind and good, and so the boy mustered up courage enough to pat
+their heads; after they had spoken to him gently and he had looked into
+their intelligent eyes his fear vanished entirely and he was so
+delighted with the animals that he wanted to keep close to them and
+stroke their soft fur every minute.
+
+As for the shaggy man, he might have been afraid if he had met the
+beasts alone, or in any other country; but so many were the marvels in
+the Land of Oz that he was no longer easily surprised, and Dorothy's
+friendship for the Lion and Tiger was enough to assure him they were
+safe companions. Toto barked at the Cowardly Lion in joyous greeting,
+for he knew the beast of old and loved him, and it was funny to see how
+gently the Lion raised his huge paw to pat Toto's head. The little dog
+smelled of the Tiger's nose and the Tiger politely shook paws with him;
+so they were quite likely to become firm friends.
+
+Tik-tok and Billina knew the beasts well, so merely bade them good day
+and asked after their healths and inquired about the Princess Ozma.
+
+Now it was seen that the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger were drawing
+behind them a splendid golden chariot, to which they were harnessed by
+golden cords. The body of the chariot was decorated on the outside with
+designs in clusters of sparkling emeralds, while inside it was lined
+with a green and gold satin, and the cushions of the seats were of green
+plush embroidered in gold with a crown, underneath which was a monogram.
+
+"Why, it's Ozma's own royal chariot!" exclaimed Dorothy.
+
+"Yes," said the Cowardly Lion; "Ozma sent us to meet you here, for she
+feared you would be weary with your long walk and she wished you to
+enter the City in a style becoming your exalted rank."
+
+"What!" cried Polly, looking at Dorothy curiously. "Do you belong to the
+nobility?"
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Just in Oz I do," said the child, "'cause Ozma made me a Princess, you
+know. But when I'm home in Kansas I'm only a country girl, and have to
+help with the churning and wipe the dishes while Aunt Em washes 'em. Do
+you have to help wash dishes on the rainbow, Polly?"
+
+"No, dear," answered Polychrome, smiling.
+
+"Well, I don't have to work any in Oz, either," said Dorothy. "It's kind
+of fun to be a Princess once in a while; don't you think so?"
+
+"Dorothy and Polychrome and Button-Bright are all to ride in the
+chariot," said the Lion. "So get in, my dears, and be careful not to mar
+the gold or put your dusty feet on the embroidery."
+
+Button-Bright was delighted to ride behind such a superb team, and he
+told Dorothy it made him feel like an actor in a circus. As the strides
+of the animals brought them nearer to the Emerald City every one bowed
+respectfully to the children, as well as to the Tin Woodman, Tik-tok,
+and the shaggy man, who were following behind.
+
+The Yellow Hen had perched upon the back of the chariot, where she could
+tell Dorothy more about her wonderful chickens as they rode. And so the
+grand chariot came finally to the high wall surrounding the City, and
+paused before the magnificent jewel-studded gates.
+
+These were opened by a cheerful looking little man who wore green
+spectacles over his eyes. Dorothy introduced him to her friends as the
+Guardian of the Gates, and they noticed a big bunch of keys suspended on
+the golden chain that hung around his neck. The chariot passed through
+the outer gates into a fine arched chamber built in the thick wall, and
+through the inner gates into the streets of the Emerald City.
+
+Polychrome exclaimed in rapture at the wondrous beauty that met her eyes
+on every side as they rode through this stately and imposing City, the
+equal of which has never been discovered, even in Fairyland.
+Button-Bright could only say "My!" so amazing was the sight; but his
+eyes were wide open and he tried to look in every direction at the same
+time, so as not to miss anything.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The shaggy man was fairly astounded at what he saw, for the graceful and
+handsome buildings were covered with plates of gold and set with
+emeralds so splendid and valuable that in any other part of the world
+any one of them would have been worth a fortune to its owner. The
+sidewalks were superb marble slabs polished as smooth as glass, and the
+curbs that separated the walks from the broad street were also set thick
+with clustered emeralds. There were many people on these walks--men,
+women, and children--all dressed in handsome garments of silk or satin
+or velvet, with beautiful jewels. Better even than this: all seemed
+happy and contented, for their faces were smiling and free from care,
+and music and laughter might be heard on every side.
+
+"Don't they work, at all?" asked the shaggy man.
+
+"To be sure they work," replied the Tin Woodman; "this fair city could
+not be built or cared for without labor, nor could the fruit and
+vegetables and other food be provided for the inhabitants to eat. But no
+one works more than half his time, and the people of Oz enjoy their
+labors as much as they do their play."
+
+"It's wonderful!" declared the shaggy man. "I do hope Ozma will let me
+live here."
+
+The chariot, winding through many charming streets, paused before a
+building so vast and noble and elegant that even Button-Bright guessed
+at once that it was the Royal Palace. Its gardens and ample grounds were
+surrounded by a separate wall, not so high or thick as the wall around
+the City, but more daintily designed and built all of green marble. The
+gates flew open as the chariot appeared before them, and the Cowardly
+Lion and Hungry Tiger trotted up a jeweled driveway to the front door of
+the palace and stopped short.
+
+"Here we are!" said Dorothy, gaily, and helped Button-Bright from the
+chariot. Polychrome leaped out lightly after them, and they were greeted
+by a crowd of gorgeously dressed servants who bowed low as the visitors
+mounted the marble steps. At their head was a pretty little maid with
+dark hair and eyes, dressed all in green embroidered with silver.
+Dorothy ran up to her with evident pleasure, and exclaimed:
+
+"O Jellia Jamb! I'm so glad to see you again. Where's Ozma?"
+
+"In her room, your Highness," replied the little maid demurely, for this
+was Ozma's favorite attendant. "She wishes you to come to her as soon as
+you have rested and changed your dress, Princess Dorothy. And you and
+your friends are to dine with her this evening."
+
+"When is her birthday, Jellia?" asked the girl.
+
+"Day after to-morrow, your Highness."
+
+"And where's the Scarecrow?"
+
+"He's gone into the Munchkin country to get some fresh straw to stuff
+himself with, in honor of Ozma's celebration," replied the maid. "He
+returns to the Emerald City to-morrow, he said."
+
+By this time Tik-tok, the Tin Woodman, and the shaggy man had arrived
+and the chariot had gone around to the back of the palace, Billina going
+with the Lion and Tiger to see her chickens after her absence from them.
+But Toto stayed close beside Dorothy.
+
+[Illustration: "O, JELLIA JAMB! I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU"]
+
+"Come in, please," said Jellia Jamb; "it shall be our pleasant duty to
+escort all of you to the rooms prepared for your use."
+
+The shaggy man hesitated. Dorothy had never known him to be ashamed of
+his shaggy looks before, but now that he was surrounded by so much
+magnificence and splendor the shaggy man felt sadly out of place.
+
+Dorothy assured him that all her friends were welcome at Ozma's palace,
+so he carefully dusted his shaggy shoes with his shaggy handkerchief and
+entered the grand hall after the others.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Tik-tok lived at the Royal Palace and the Tin Woodman always had the
+same room whenever he visited Ozma, so these two went at once to remove
+the dust of the journey from their shining bodies. Dorothy also had a
+pretty suite of rooms which she always occupied when in the Emerald
+City; but several servants walked ahead politely to show the way,
+although she was quite sure she could find the rooms herself. She took
+Button-Bright with her, because he seemed too small to be left alone in
+such a big palace; but Jellia Jamb herself ushered the beautiful
+Daughter of the Rainbow to her apartments, because it was easy to see
+that Polychrome was used to splendid palaces and was therefore entitled
+to especial attention.
+
+
+
+
+The Shaggy Man's Welcome
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The shaggy man stood in the great hall, his shaggy hat in his hands,
+wondering what would become of him. He had never been a guest in a fine
+palace before; perhaps he had never been a guest anywhere. In the big,
+cold, outside world people did not invite shaggy men to their homes, and
+this shaggy man of ours had slept more in hay-lofts and stables than in
+comfortable rooms. When the others left the great hall he eyed the
+splendidly dressed servants of the Princess Ozma as if he expected to be
+ordered out; but one of them bowed before him as respectfully as if he
+had been a prince, and said:
+
+"Permit me, sir, to conduct you to your apartments."
+
+The shaggy man drew a long breath and took courage.
+
+"Very well," he answered; "I'm ready."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Through the big hall they went, up the grand staircase carpeted thick
+with velvet, and so along a wide corridor to a carved doorway. Here the
+servant paused, and opening the door said with polite deference:
+
+"Be good enough to enter, sir, and make yourself at home in the rooms
+our Royal Ozma has ordered prepared for you. Whatever you see is for you
+to use and enjoy, as if your own. The Princess dines at seven, and I
+shall be here in time to lead you to the drawing-room, where you will be
+privileged to meet the lovely Ruler of Oz. Is there any command, in the
+meantime, with which you desire to honor me?"
+
+"No," said the shaggy man; "but I'm much obliged."
+
+He entered the room and shut the door, and for a time stood in
+bewilderment, admiring the grandeur before him.
+
+He had been given one of the handsomest apartments in the most
+magnificent palace in the world, and you can not wonder that his good
+fortune astonished and awed him until he grew used to his surroundings.
+
+The furniture was upholstered in cloth of gold, with the royal crown
+embroidered upon it in scarlet. The rug upon the marble floor was so
+thick and soft that he could not hear the sound of his own footsteps,
+and upon the walls were splendid tapestries woven with scenes from the
+Land of Oz. Books and ornaments were scattered about in profusion, and
+the shaggy man thought he had never seen so many pretty things in one
+place before. In one corner played a tinkling fountain of perfumed
+water, and in another was a table bearing a golden tray loaded with
+freshly gathered fruit, including several of the red-cheeked apples that
+the shaggy man loved.
+
+At the farther end of this charming room was an open doorway, and he
+crossed over to find himself in a bedroom containing more comforts than
+the shaggy man had ever before imagined. The bedstead was of gold and
+set with many brilliant diamonds, and the coverlet had designs of
+pearls and rubies sewed upon it. At one side of the bedroom was a dainty
+dressing-room, with closets containing a large assortment of fresh
+clothing; and beyond this was the bath--a large room having a marble
+pool big enough to swim in, with white marble steps leading down to the
+water. Around the edge of the pool were set rows of fine emeralds as
+large as door-knobs, while the water of the bath was clear as crystal.
+
+[Illustration: THE SHAGGY MAN ADMIRES HIS NEW CLOTHES]
+
+For a time the shaggy man gazed upon all this luxury with silent
+amazement. Then he decided, being wise in his way, to take advantage of
+his good fortune. He removed his shaggy boots and his shaggy clothing,
+and bathed in the pool with rare enjoyment. After he had dried himself
+with the soft towels he went into the dressing-room and took fresh linen
+from the drawers and put it on, finding that everything fitted him
+exactly. He examined the contents of the closets and selected an elegant
+suit of clothing. Strangely enough, everything about it was shaggy,
+although so new and beautiful, and he sighed with contentment to realize
+that he could now be finely dressed and still be the Shaggy Man. His
+coat was of rose-colored velvet, trimmed with shags and bobtails, with
+buttons of blood-red rubies and golden shags around the edges. His vest
+was a shaggy satin of a delicate cream color, and his knee-breeches of
+rose velvet trimmed like the coat. Shaggy creamy stockings of silk, and
+shaggy slippers of rose leather with ruby buckles, completed his
+costume, and when he was thus attired the shaggy man looked at himself
+in a long mirror with great admiration. On a table he found a
+mother-of-pearl chest decorated with delicate silver vines and flowers
+of clustered rubies, and on the cover was a silver plate engraved with
+these words:
+
+     THE SHAGGY MAN:
+   HIS BOX OF ORNAMENTS
+
+The chest was not locked, so he opened it and was almost dazzled by the
+brilliance of the rich jewels it contained. After admiring the pretty
+things, he took out a fine golden watch with a big chain, several
+handsome finger-rings, and an ornament of rubies to pin upon the breast
+of his shaggy shirt-bosom. Having carefully brushed his hair and
+whiskers all the wrong way, to make them look as shaggy as possible, the
+shaggy man breathed a deep sigh of joy and decided he was ready to meet
+the Royal Princess as soon as she sent for him. While he waited he
+returned to the beautiful sitting room and ate several of the
+red-cheeked apples to pass away the time.
+
+Meanwhile Dorothy had dressed herself in a pretty gown of soft grey
+embroidered with silver, and put a blue-and-gold suit of satin upon
+little Button-Bright, who looked as sweet as a cherub in it. Followed
+by the boy and Toto--the dog with a new green ribbon around his
+neck--she hastened down to the splendid drawing-room of the palace,
+where, seated upon an exquisite throne of carved malachite and nestled
+amongst its green satin cushions was the lovely Princess Ozma, waiting
+eagerly to welcome her friend.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+Princess Ozma of Oz
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+The royal historians of Oz, who are fine writers and know any number of
+big words, have often tried to describe the rare beauty of Ozma and
+failed because the words were not good enough. So of course I can not
+hope to tell you how great was the charm of this little Princess, or how
+her loveliness put to shame all the sparkling jewels and magnificent
+luxury that surrounded her in this her royal palace. Whatever else was
+beautiful or dainty or delightful of itself faded to dullness when
+contrasted with Ozma's bewitching face, and it has often been said by
+those who know that no other ruler in all the world can ever hope to
+equal the gracious charm of her manner.
+
+Everything about Ozma attracted one, and she inspired love and the
+sweetest affection rather than awe or ordinary admiration. Dorothy threw
+her arms around her little friend and hugged and kissed her rapturously,
+and Toto barked joyfully and Button-Bright smiled a happy smile and
+consented to sit on the soft cushions close beside the Princess.
+
+"Why didn't you send me word you were going to have a birthday party?"
+asked the little Kansas girl, when the first greetings were over.
+
+"Didn't I?" asked Ozma, her pretty eyes dancing with merriment.
+
+"Did you?" replied Dorothy, trying to think.
+
+"Who do you imagine, dear, mixed up those roads, so as to start you
+wandering in the direction of Oz?" inquired the Princess.
+
+"Oh! I never 'spected _you_ of that," cried Dorothy.
+
+"I've watched you in my Magic Picture all the way here," declared Ozma,
+"and twice I thought I should have to use the Magic Belt to save you and
+transport you to the Emerald City. Once was when the Scoodlers caught
+you, and again when you reached the Deadly Desert. But the shaggy man
+was able to help you out both times, so I did not interfere."
+
+"Do you know who Button-Bright is?" asked Dorothy.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"No; I never saw him until you found him in the road, and then only in
+my Magic Picture."
+
+"And did you send Polly to us?"
+
+"No, dear; the Rainbow's Daughter slid from her father's pretty arch
+just in time to meet you."
+
+"Well," said Dorothy, "I've promised King Dox of Foxville and King
+Kik-a-bray of Dunkiton that I'd ask you to invite them to your party."
+
+"I have already done that," returned Ozma, "because I thought it would
+please you to favor them."
+
+"Did you 'vite the Musicker?" asked Button-Bright.
+
+"No; because he would be too noisy, and might interfere with the comfort
+of others. When music is not very good, and is indulged in all the
+time, it is better that the performer should be alone," said the
+Princess.
+
+"I like the Musicker's music," declared the boy, gravely.
+
+"But I don't," said Dorothy.
+
+"Well, there will be plenty of music at my celebration," promised Ozma;
+"so I've an idea Button-Bright won't miss the Musicker at all."
+
+Just then Polychrome danced in, and Ozma rose to greet the Rainbow's
+Daughter in her sweetest and most cordial manner.
+
+Dorothy thought she had never seen two prettier creatures together than
+these lovely maidens; but Polly knew at once her own dainty beauty could
+not match that of Ozma, yet was not a bit jealous because this was so.
+
+The Wizard of Oz was announced, and a dried-up, little, old man, clothed
+all in black, entered the drawing-room. His face was cheery and his eyes
+twinkling with humor, so Polly and Button-Bright were not at all afraid
+of the wonderful personage whose fame as a humbug magician had spread
+throughout the world. After greeting Dorothy with much affection, he
+stood modestly behind Ozma's throne and listened to the lively prattle
+of the young people.
+
+Now the shaggy man appeared, and so startling was his appearance, all
+clad in shaggy new raiment, that Dorothy cried "Oh!" and clasped her
+hands impulsively as she examined her friend with pleased eyes.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"He's still shaggy, all right," remarked Button-Bright; and Ozma nodded
+brightly because she had meant the shaggy man to remain shaggy when she
+provided his new clothes for him.
+
+Dorothy led him toward the throne, as he was shy in such fine company,
+and presented him gracefully to the Princess, saying:
+
+"This, your Highness, is my friend, the shaggy man, who owns the Love
+Magnet."
+
+"You are welcome to Oz," said the girl Ruler, in gracious accents. "But
+tell me, sir, where did you get the Love Magnet which you say you own?"
+
+The shaggy man grew red and looked downcast, as he answered in a low
+voice:
+
+"I stole it, your Majesty."
+
+"Oh, Shaggy Man!" cried Dorothy. "How dreadful! And you told me the
+Eskimo gave you the Love Magnet."
+
+He shuffled first on one foot and then on the other, much embarrassed.
+
+"I told you a falsehood, Dorothy," he said; "but now, having bathed in
+the Truth Pond, I must tell nothing but the truth."
+
+"Why did you steal it?" asked Ozma, gently.
+
+"Because no one loved me, or cared for me," said the shaggy man, "and I
+wanted to be loved a great deal. It was owned by a girl in Butterfield
+who was loved too much, so that the young men quarreled over her, which
+made her unhappy. After I had stolen the Magnet from her, only one young
+man continued to love the girl, and she married him and regained her
+happiness."
+
+"Are you sorry you stole it?" asked the Princess.
+
+"No, your Highness; I'm glad," he answered; "for it has pleased me to be
+loved, and if Dorothy had not cared for me I could not have accompanied
+her to this beautiful Land of Oz, or met its kind-hearted Ruler. Now
+that I'm here, I hope to remain, and to become one of your Majesty's
+most faithful subjects."
+
+[Illustration: IN THE ROYAL PALACE OF OZ]
+
+"But in Oz we are loved for ourselves alone, and for our kindness to one
+another, and for our good deeds," she said.
+
+"I'll give up the Love Magnet," said the shaggy man, eagerly; "Dorothy
+shall have it."
+
+"But every one loves Dorothy already," declared the Wizard.
+
+"Then Button-Bright shall have it."
+
+"Don't want it," said the boy, promptly.
+
+"Then I'll give it to the Wizard, for I'm sure the lovely Princess Ozma
+does not need it."
+
+"All my people love the Wizard, too," announced the Princess, laughing;
+"so we will hang the Love Magnet over the gates of the Emerald City,
+that whoever shall enter or leave the gates may be loved and loving."
+
+"That is a good idea," said the shaggy man; "I agree to it most
+willingly."
+
+Those assembled now went in to dinner, which you may imagine was a grand
+affair; and afterward Ozma asked the Wizard to give them an exhibition
+of his magic.
+
+The Wizard took eight tiny white piglets from an inside pocket and set
+them on the table. One was dressed like a clown, and performed funny
+antics, and the others leaped over the spoons and dishes and ran around
+the table like racehorses, and turned hand-springs and were so
+sprightly and amusing that they kept the company in one roar of merry
+laughter. The Wizard had trained these pets to do many curious things,
+and they were so little and so cunning and soft that Polychrome loved to
+pick them up as they passed near her place and fondle them as if they
+were kittens.
+
+It was late when the entertainment ended, and they separated to go to
+their rooms.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"To-morrow," said Ozma, "my invited guests will arrive, and you will
+find among them some interesting and curious people, I promise you. The
+next day will be my birthday, and the festivities will be held on the
+broad green just outside the gates of the City, where all my people can
+assemble without being crowded."
+
+"I hope the Scarecrow won't be late," said Dorothy, anxiously.
+
+"Oh, he is sure to return to-morrow," answered Ozma. "He wanted new
+straw to stuff himself with, so he went to the Munchkin Country, where
+straw is plentiful."
+
+With this the Princess bade her guests good night and went to her own
+room.
+
+
+
+
+Dorothy Receives the Guests
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+Next morning Dorothy's breakfast was served in her own pretty sitting
+room, and she sent to invite Polly and the shaggy man to join her and
+Button-Bright at the meal. They came gladly, and Toto also had breakfast
+with them, so that the little party that had traveled together to Oz was
+once more reunited.
+
+No sooner had they finished eating than they heard the distant blast of
+many trumpets, and the sound of a brass band playing martial music; so
+they all went out upon the balcony. This was at the front of the palace
+and overlooked the streets of the City, being higher than the wall that
+shut in the palace grounds. They saw approaching down the street a band
+of musicians, playing as hard and loud as they could, while the people
+of the Emerald City crowded the sidewalks and cheered so lustily that
+they almost drowned the noise of the drums and horns.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Dorothy looked to see what they were cheering at, and discovered that
+behind the band was the famous Scarecrow, riding proudly upon the back
+of a wooden Saw-Horse which pranced along the street almost as
+gracefully as if it had been made of flesh. Its hoofs, or rather the
+ends of its wooden legs, were shod with plates of solid gold, and the
+saddle strapped to the wooden body was richly embroidered and glittered
+with jewels.
+
+As he reached the palace the Scarecrow looked up and saw Dorothy, and at
+once waved his peaked hat at her in greeting. He rode up to the front
+door and dismounted, and the band stopped playing and went away and the
+crowds of people returned to their dwellings.
+
+By the time Dorothy and her friends had re-entered her room the
+Scarecrow was there, and he gave the girl a hearty embrace and shook the
+hands of the others with his own squashy hands, which were white gloves
+filled with straw.
+
+The shaggy man, Button-Bright, and Polychrome stared hard at this
+celebrated person, who was acknowledged to be the most popular and most
+beloved man in all the Land of Oz.
+
+"Why, your face has been newly painted!" exclaimed Dorothy, when the
+first greetings were over.
+
+"I had it touched up a bit by the Munchkin farmer who first made me,"
+answered the Scarecrow, pleasantly. "My complexion had become a bit grey
+and faded, you know, and the paint had peeled off one end of my mouth,
+so I couldn't talk quite straight. Now I feel like myself again, and I
+may say without immodesty that my body is stuffed with the loveliest
+oat-straw in all Oz." He pushed against his chest. "Hear me crunkle?" he
+asked.
+
+"Yes," said Dorothy; "you sound fine."
+
+Button-Bright was wonderfully attracted by the straw man, and so was
+Polly. The shaggy man treated him with great respect, because he was so
+queerly made.
+
+Jellia Jamb now came to say that Ozma wanted Princess Dorothy to receive
+the invited guests in the Throne-Room, as they arrived. The Ruler was
+herself busy ordering the preparations for the morrow's festivities, so
+she wished her friend to act in her place.
+
+Dorothy willingly agreed, being the only other Princess in the Emerald
+City; so she went to the great Throne-Room and sat in Ozma's seat,
+placing Polly on one side of her and Button-Bright on the other. The
+Scarecrow stood at the left of the throne and the Tin Woodman at the
+right, while the Wonderful Wizard and the shaggy man stood behind.
+
+The Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger came in, with bright new bows of
+ribbon on their collars and tails. After greeting Dorothy affectionately
+the huge beasts lay down at the foot of the throne.
+
+While they waited, the Scarecrow, who was near the little boy, asked:
+
+"Why are you called Button-Bright?"
+
+"Don't know," was the answer.
+
+"Oh yes, you do, dear," said Dorothy. "Tell the Scarecrow how you got
+your name."
+
+"Papa always said I was bright as a button, so mamma always called me
+Button-Bright," announced the boy.
+
+"Where is your mamma?" asked the Scarecrow.
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+"Where is your home?" asked the Scarecrow.
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+"Don't you want to find your mamma again?" asked the Scarecrow.
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright, calmly.
+
+The Scarecrow looked thoughtful.
+
+"Your papa may have been right," he observed; "but there are many kinds
+of buttons, you see. There are silver and gold buttons, which are highly
+polished and glitter brightly. There are pearl and rubber buttons, and
+other kinds, with surfaces more or less bright. But there is still
+another sort of button which is covered with dull cloth, and that must
+be the sort your papa meant when he said you were bright as a button.
+Don't you think so?"
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+Jack Pumpkinhead arrived, wearing a pair of new white kid gloves; and he
+brought a birthday present for Ozma consisting of a necklace of
+pumpkin-seeds. In each seed was set a sparkling carolite, which is
+considered the rarest and most beautiful gem that exists. The necklace
+was in a plush case and Jellia Jamb put it on a table with the Princess
+Ozma's other presents.
+
+Next came a tall, beautiful woman clothed in a splendid trailing gown,
+trimmed with exquisite lace as fine as cobweb. This was the important
+Sorceress known as Glinda the Good, who had been of great assistance to
+both Ozma and Dorothy. There was no humbug about her magic, you may be
+sure, and Glinda was as kind as she was powerful. She greeted Dorothy
+most lovingly, and kissed Button-Bright and Polly, and smiled upon the
+shaggy man, after which Jellia Jamb led the Sorceress to one of the most
+magnificent rooms of the royal palace and appointed fifty servants to
+wait upon her.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The next arrival was Mr. H. M. Woggle-Bug, T. E.; the "H. M." meaning
+Highly Magnified and the "T. E." meaning Thoroughly Educated. The
+Woggle-Bug was head professor at the Royal College of Oz, and he had
+composed a fine Ode in honor of Ozma's birthday. This he wanted to read
+to them; but the Scarecrow wouldn't let him.
+
+Soon they heard a clucking sound and a chorus of "cheep! cheep!" and a
+servant threw open the door to allow Billina and her ten fluffy chicks
+to enter the Throne-Room. As the Yellow Hen marched proudly at the head
+of her family, Dorothy cried, "Oh, you lovely things!" and ran down from
+her seat to pet the little yellow downy balls. Billina wore a pearl
+necklace, and around the neck of each chicken was a tiny gold chain
+holding a locket with the letter "D" engraved upon the outside.
+
+"Open the lockets, Dorothy," said Billina. The girl obeyed and found a
+picture of herself in each locket. "They were named after you, my dear,"
+continued the Yellow Hen, "so I wanted all my chickens to wear your
+picture. Cluck--cluck! come here, Dorothy--this minute!" she cried, for
+the chickens were scattered and wandering all around the big room.
+
+They obeyed the call at once, and came running as fast as they could,
+fluttering their fluffy wings in a laughable way.
+
+It was lucky that Billina gathered the little ones under her soft breast
+just then, for Tik-tok came in and tramped up to the throne on his flat
+copper feet.
+
+"I am all wound up and work-ing fine-ly," said the clockwork man to
+Dorothy.
+
+"I can hear him tick," declared Button-Bright.
+
+"You are quite the polished gentleman," said the Tin Woodman. "Stand up
+here beside the shaggy man, Tik-tok, and help receive the company."
+
+Dorothy placed soft cushions in a corner for Billina and her chicks, and
+had just returned to the Throne and seated herself when the playing of
+the royal band outside the palace announced the approach of
+distinguished guests.
+
+And my, how they did stare when the High Chamberlain threw open the
+doors and the visitors entered the Throne-Room!
+
+First walked a gingerbread man, neatly formed and baked to a lovely
+brown tint. He wore a silk hat and carried a candy cane prettily striped
+with red and yellow. His shirt-front and cuffs were white frosting, and
+the buttons on his coat were licorice drops.
+
+Behind the gingerbread man came a child with flaxen hair and merry blue
+eyes, dressed in white pajamas, with sandals on the soles of its pretty
+bare feet. The child looked around smiling and thrust its hands into the
+pockets of the pajamas. Close after it came a big rubber bear, walking
+erect on its hind feet. The bear had twinkling black eyes and its body
+looked as if it had been pumped full of air.
+
+Following these curious visitors were two tall, thin men and two short,
+fat men, all four dressed in gorgeous uniforms.
+
+[Illustration: KING DOUGH, THE HEAD BOOLEYWAG, AND PARA BRUIN]
+
+Ozma's High Chamberlain now hurried forward to announce the names of the
+new arrivals, calling out in a loud voice:
+
+"His Gracious and Most Edible Majesty, King Dough the First, Ruler of
+the Two Kingdoms of Hiland and Loland. Also the Head Booleywag of his
+Majesty, known as Chick the Cherub, and their faithful friend Para
+Bruin, the rubber bear."
+
+These great personages bowed low as their names were called, and Dorothy
+hastened to introduce them to the assembled company. They were the first
+foreign arrivals, and the friends of Princess Ozma were polite to them
+and tried to make them feel that they were welcome.
+
+Chick the Cherub shook hands with every one, including Billina, and was
+so joyous and frank and full of good spirits that John Dough's Head
+Booleywag at once became a prime favorite.
+
+"Is it a boy or a girl?" whispered Dorothy.
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+"Goodness me! what a queer lot of people you are," exclaimed the rubber
+bear, looking at the assembled company.
+
+"So're you," said Button-Bright, gravely. "Is King Dough good to eat?"
+
+"He's too good to eat," laughed Chick the Cherub.
+
+"I hope none of you are fond of gingerbread," said the King, rather
+anxiously.
+
+"We should never think of eating our visitors, if we were," declared the
+Scarecrow; "so please do not worry, for you will be perfectly safe while
+you remain in Oz."
+
+"Why do they call you Chick?" the Yellow Hen asked the child.
+
+"Because I'm an Incubator Baby, and never had any parents," replied the
+Head Booleywag.
+
+"My chicks have a parent, and I'm it," said Billina.
+
+"I'm glad of that," answered the Cherub, "because they'll have more fun
+worrying you than if they were brought up in an Incubator. The Incubator
+never worries, you know."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+King John Dough had brought for Ozma's birthday present a lovely
+gingerbread crown, with rows of small pearls around it and a fine big
+pearl in each of its five points. After this had been received by
+Dorothy with proper thanks and placed on the table with the other
+presents, the visitors from Hiland and Loland were escorted to their
+rooms by the High Chamberlain.
+
+They had no sooner departed than the band before the palace began to
+play again, announcing more arrivals, and as these were doubtless from
+foreign parts the High Chamberlain hurried back to receive them in his
+most official manner.
+
+
+
+
+Important Arrivals
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+First entered a band of Ryls from the Happy Valley, all merry little
+sprites like fairy elves. A dozen crooked Knooks followed from the great
+Forest of Burzee. They had long whiskers and pointed caps and curling
+toes, yet were no taller than Button-Bright's shoulder. With this group
+came a man so easy to recognize and so important and dearly beloved
+throughout the known world, that all present rose to their feet and
+bowed their heads in respectful homage, even before the High Chamberlain
+knelt to announce his name.
+
+"The most Mighty and Loyal Friend of Children, His Supreme
+Highness--Santa Claus!" said the Chamberlain, in an awed voice.
+
+"Well, well, well! Glad to see you--glad to meet you all!" cried Santa
+Claus, briskly, as he trotted up the long room.
+
+He was round as an apple, with a fresh rosy face, laughing eyes, and a
+bushy beard as white as snow. A red cloak trimmed with beautiful ermine
+hung from his shoulders and upon his back was a basket filled with
+pretty presents for the Princess Ozma.
+
+"Hello, Dorothy; still having adventures?" he asked in his jolly way, as
+he took the girl's hand in both his own.
+
+"How did you know my name, Santa?" she replied, feeling more shy in the
+presence of this immortal saint than she ever had before in her young
+life.
+
+"Why, don't I see you every Christmas Eve, when you're asleep?" he
+rejoined, pinching her blushing cheek.
+
+"Oh; do you?"
+
+"And here's Button-Bright, I declare!" cried Santa Claus, holding up the
+boy to kiss him. "What a long way from home you are; dear me!"
+
+"Do you know Button-Bright, too?" questioned Dorothy, eagerly.
+
+"Indeed I do. I've visited his home several Christmas Eves."
+
+"And do you know his father?" asked the girl.
+
+[Illustration: MERRY RYLS AND CROOKED KNOOKS]
+
+"Certainly, my dear. Who else do you suppose brings him his Christmas
+neckties and stockings?" with a sly wink at the Wizard.
+
+"Then where does he live? We're just crazy to know, 'cause
+Button-Bright's lost," she said.
+
+Santa laughed and laid his finger aside of his nose as if thinking what
+to reply. He leaned over and whispered something in the Wizard's ear, at
+which the Wizard smiled and nodded as if he understood.
+
+Now Santa Claus spied Polychrome, and trotted over to where she stood.
+
+"Seems to me the Rainbow's Daughter is farther from home than any of
+you," he observed, looking at the pretty maiden admiringly. "I'll have
+to tell your father where you are, Polly, and send him to get you."
+
+"Please do, dear Santa Claus," implored the little maid, beseechingly.
+
+"But just now we must all have a jolly good time at Ozma's party," said
+the old gentlemen, turning to put his presents on the table with the
+others already there. "It isn't often I find time to leave my castle, as
+you know; but Ozma invited me and I just couldn't help coming to
+celebrate the happy occasion."
+
+"I'm so glad!" exclaimed Dorothy.
+
+"These are my Ryls," pointing to the little sprites squatting around
+him. "Their business is to paint the colors of the flowers when they
+bud and bloom; but I brought the merry fellows along to see Oz, and
+they've left their paint-pots behind them. Also I brought these crooked
+Knooks, whom I love. My dears, the Knooks are much nicer than they look,
+for their duty is to water and care for the young trees of the forest,
+and they do their work faithfully and well. It's hard work, though, and
+it makes my Knooks crooked and gnarled, like the trees themselves; but
+their hearts are big and kind, as are the hearts of all who do good in
+our beautiful world."
+
+"I've read of the Ryls and Knooks," said Dorothy, looking upon these
+little workers with interest.
+
+Santa Claus turned to talk with the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman, and
+he also said a kind word to the shaggy man, and afterward went away to
+ride the Saw-horse around the Emerald City. "For," said he, "I must see
+all the grand sights while I am here and have the chance, and Ozma has
+promised to let me ride the Saw-Horse because I'm getting fat and short
+of breath."
+
+"Where are your reindeer?" asked Polychrome.
+
+"I left them at home, for it is too warm for them in this sunny
+country," he answered. "They're used to winter weather when they
+travel."
+
+In a flash he was gone, and the Ryls and Knooks with him; but they could
+all hear the golden hoofs of the Saw-Horse ringing on the marble
+pavement outside, as he pranced away with his noble rider.
+
+Presently the band played again, and the High Chamberlain announced:
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Her Gracious Majesty, the Queen of Merryland."
+
+They looked earnestly to discover whom this queen might be, and saw
+advancing up the room an exquisite wax doll, dressed in dainty fluffs
+and ruffles and spangled gown. She was almost as big as Button-Bright,
+and her cheeks and mouth and eyebrow were prettily painted in delicate
+colors. Her blue eyes stared a bit, being of glass, yet the expression
+upon her Majesty's face was quite pleasant and decidedly winning. With
+the Queen of Merryland were four wooden soldiers, two stalking ahead of
+her with much dignity and two following behind, like a royal bodyguard.
+The soldiers were painted in bright colors and carried wooden guns, and
+after them came a fat little man who attracted attention at once,
+although he seemed modest and retiring. For he was made of candy, and
+carried a tin sugar-sifter filled with powdered sugar, with which he
+dusted himself frequently so that he wouldn't stick to things if he
+touched them. The High Chamberlain had called him "The Candy Man of
+Merryland," and Dorothy saw that one of his thumbs looked as if it had
+been bitten off by some who was fond of candy and couldn't resist the
+temptation.
+
+The wax doll Queen spoke prettily to Dorothy and the others, and sent
+her loving greetings to Ozma before she retired to the rooms prepared
+for her. She had brought a birthday present wrapped in tissue paper and
+tied with pink and blue ribbons, and one of the wooden soldiers placed
+it on the table with the other gifts. But the Candy Man did not go to
+his room, because he said he preferred to stay and talk with the
+Scarecrow and Tik-tok and the Wizard and Tin Woodman, whom he declared
+the queerest people he had ever met. Button-Bright was glad the Candy
+Man stayed in the Throne-room, because the boy thought this guest
+smelled deliciously of wintergreen and maple sugar.
+
+The Braided Man now entered the room, having been fortunate enough to
+receive an invitation to the Princess Ozma's party. He was from a cave
+halfway between the Invisible Valley and the Country of the Gargoyles,
+and his hair and whiskers were so long that he was obliged to plait them
+into many braids that hung to his feet, and every braid was tied with a
+bow of colored ribbon.
+
+"I've brought Princess Ozma a box of flutters for her birthday," said
+the Braided Man, earnestly; "and I hope she will like them, for they are
+the finest quality I have ever made."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"I'm sure she will be greatly pleased," said Dorothy, who remembered
+the Braided Man well; and the Wizard introduced the guest to the rest of
+the company and made him sit down in a chair and keep quiet, for, if
+allowed, he would talk continually about his flutters.
+
+The band then played a welcome to another set of guests, and into the
+Throne-Room swept the handsome and stately Queen of Ev. Beside her was
+young King Evardo, and following them came the entire royal family of
+five Princesses and four Princes of Ev. The Kingdom of Ev lay just
+across the Deadly Desert to the North of Oz, and once Ozma and her
+people had rescued the Queen of Ev and her ten children from the Nome
+King, who had enslaved them. Dorothy had been present on this adventure,
+so she greeted the royal family cordially; and all the visitors were
+delighted to meet the little Kansas girl again. They knew Tik-tok and
+Billina, too, and the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, as well as the Lion and
+Tiger; so there was a joyful reunion, as you may imagine, and it was
+fully an hour before the Queen and her train retired to their rooms.
+Perhaps they would not have gone then had not the band begun to play to
+announce new arrivals; but before they left the great Throne-Room King
+Evardo added to Ozma's birthday presents a diadem of diamonds set in
+radium.
+
+The next comer proved to be King Renard of Foxville; or King Dox, as he
+preferred to be called. He was magnificently dressed in a new feather
+costume and wore white kid mittens over his paws and a flower in his
+button-hole and had his hair parted in the middle.
+
+King Dox thanked Dorothy fervently for getting him the invitation to
+come to Oz, which he had all his life longed to visit. He strutted
+around rather absurdly as he was introduced to all the famous people
+assembled in the Throne-Room, and when he learned that Dorothy was a
+Princess of Oz the Fox King insisted on kneeling at her feet and
+afterward retired backward--a dangerous thing to do, as he might have
+stubbed his paw and tumbled over.
+
+No sooner was he gone than the blasts of bugles and clatter of drums and
+cymbals announced important visitors, and the High Chamberlain assumed
+his most dignified tone as he threw open the door and said proudly:
+
+"Her Sublime and Resplendent Majesty, Queen Zixi of Ix! His Serene and
+Tremendous Majesty, King Bud of Noland. Her Royal Highness, the Princess
+Fluff."
+
+[Illustration: HER MAJESTY, QUEEN ZIXI OF IX]
+
+That three such high and mighty royal personages should arrive at once
+was enough to make Dorothy and her companions grow solemn and assume
+their best company manners; but when the exquisite beauty of Queen Zixi
+met their eyes they thought they had never beheld anything so charming.
+Dorothy decided that Zixi must be about sixteen years old, but the
+Wizard whispered to her that this wonderful queen had lived thousands
+of years, but knew the secret of remaining always fresh and beautiful.
+
+King Bud of Noland and his dainty fair-haired sister, the Princess
+Fluff, were friends of Zixi, as their kingdoms were adjoining, so they
+had traveled together from their far-off domains to do honor to Ozma of
+Oz on the occasion of her birthday. They brought many splendid gifts; so
+the table was now fairly loaded down with presents.
+
+Dorothy and Polly loved the Princess Fluff the moment they saw her, and
+little King Bud was so frank and boyish that Button-Bright accepted him
+as a chum at once and did not want him to go away. But it was after noon
+now, and the royal guests must prepare their toilets for the grand
+banquet at which they were to assemble that evening to meet the reigning
+Princess of this Fairyland; so Queen Zixi was shown to her room by a
+troop of maidens led by Jellia Jamb, and Bud and Fluff presently
+withdrew to their own apartments.
+
+"My! what a big party Ozma is going to have," exclaimed Dorothy. "I
+guess the palace will be chock full, Button-Bright; don't you think so?"
+
+"Don't know," said the boy.
+
+"But we must go to our rooms, pretty soon, to dress for the banquet,"
+continued the girl.
+
+"I don't have to dress," said the Candy Man from Merryland. "All I need
+do is to dust myself with fresh sugar."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"Tik-tok and I always wear the same suits of clothes," said the Tin
+Woodman; "and so does our friend the Scarecrow."
+
+"My feathers are good enough for any occasion," cried Billina, from her
+corner.
+
+"Then I shall leave you four to welcome any new guests that come," said
+Dorothy; "for Button-Bright and I must look our very best at Ozma's
+banquet."
+
+"Who is still to come?" asked the Scarecrow.
+
+"Well, there's King Kika-bray of Dunkiton, and Johnny Dooit, and the
+Good Witch of the North. But Johnny Dooit may not get here until late,
+he's so very busy."
+
+"We will receive them and give them a proper welcome," promised the
+Scarecrow. "So run along, little Dorothy, and get yourself dressed."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+The Grand Banquet
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+I wish I could tell you how fine the company was that assembled that
+evening at Ozma's royal banquet. A long table was spread in the center
+of the great dining-hall of the palace and the splendor of the
+decorations and the blaze of lights and jewels was acknowledged to be
+the most magnificent sight that any of the guests had ever seen.
+
+The jolliest person present, as well as the most important, was of
+course, old Santa Claus; so he was given the seat of honor at one end of
+the table while at the other end sat Princess Ozma, the hostess.
+
+John Dough, Queen Zixi, King Bud, the Queen of Ev and her son Evardo,
+and the Queen of Merryland had golden thrones to sit in, while the
+others were supplied with beautiful chairs.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+At the upper end of the banquet room was a separate table provided for
+the animals. Toto sat at one end of this table, with a bib tied around
+his neck and a silver platter to eat from. At the other end was placed a
+small stand, with a low rail around the edge of it, for Billina and her
+chicks. The rail kept the ten little Dorothys from falling off the
+stand, while the Yellow Hen could easily reach over and take her food
+from her tray upon the table. At other places sat the Hungry Tiger, the
+Cowardly Lion, the Saw-Horse, the Rubber Bear, the Fox King and the
+Donkey King; they made quite a company of animals.
+
+At the lower end of the great room was another table, at which sat the
+Ryls and Knooks who had come with Santa Claus, the wooden soldiers who
+had come with the Queen of Merryland, and the Hilanders and Lolanders
+who had come with John Dough. Here were also seated the officers of the
+royal palace and of Ozma's army.
+
+The splendid costumes of those at the three tables made a gorgeous and
+glittering display that no one present was ever likely to forget;
+perhaps there has never been in any part of the world at any time
+another assemblage of such wonderful people as that which gathered this
+evening to honor the birthday of the Ruler of Oz.
+
+When all the members of the company were in their places an orchestra of
+five hundred pieces, in a balcony overlooking the banquet room, began to
+play sweet and delightful music. Then a door draped with royal green
+opened, and in came the fair and girlish Princess Ozma, who now greeted
+her guests in person for the first time.
+
+As she stood by her throne at the head of the banquet table every eye
+was turned eagerly upon the lovely Princess, who was as dignified as she
+was bewitching, and who smiled upon all her old and new friends in a
+way that touched their hearts and brought an answering smile to every
+face.
+
+Each guest had been served with a crystal goblet filled with lacasa,
+which is a sort of nectar famous in Oz and nicer to drink than
+soda-water or lemonade. Santa now made a pretty speech in verse,
+congratulating Ozma on having a birthday, and asking every one present
+to drink to the health and happiness of their dearly beloved hostess.
+This was done with great enthusiasm by those who were made so they could
+drink at all, and those who could not drink politely touched the rims of
+their goblets to their lips. All seated themselves at the tables and the
+servants of the Princess began serving the feast.
+
+I am quite sure that only in Fairyland could such a delicious repast be
+prepared. The dishes were of precious metals set with brilliant jewels
+and the good things to eat which were placed upon them were countless in
+number and of exquisite flavor. Several present, such as the Candy Man,
+the Rubber Bear, Tik-tok, and the Scarecrow, were not made so they could
+eat, and the Queen of Merryland contented herself with a small dish of
+sawdust; but these enjoyed the pomp and glitter of the gorgeous scene as
+much as did those who feasted.
+
+[Illustration: DRINKING THE HEALTH OF PRINCESS OZMA OF OZ]
+
+The Woggle-Bug read his "Ode to Ozma," which was written in very good
+rhythm and was well received by the company. The Wizard added to the
+entertainment by making a big pie appear before Dorothy, and when the
+little girl cut the pie the nine tiny piglets leaped out of it and
+danced around the table, while the orchestra played a merry tune. This
+amused the company very much, but they were even more pleased when
+Polychrome, whose hunger had been easily satisfied, rose from the table
+and performed her graceful and bewildering Rainbow Dance for them. When
+it was ended the people clapped their hands and the animals clapped
+their paws, while Billina cackled and the Donkey King brayed approval.
+
+Johnny Dooit was present, and of course he proved he could do wonders in
+the way of eating, as well as in everything else that he undertook to
+do; the Tin Woodman sang a love song, every one joining in the chorus;
+and the wooden soldiers from Merryland gave an exhibition of a lightning
+drill with their wooden muskets; the Ryls and Knooks danced the Fairy
+Circle; and the Rubber Bear bounced himself all around the room. There
+was laughter and merriment on every side, and everybody was having a
+royal good time. Button-Bright was so excited and interested that he
+paid little attention to his fine dinner and a great deal of attention
+to his queer companions; and perhaps he was wise to do this, because he
+could eat at any other time.
+
+The feasting and merrymaking continued until late in the evening, when
+they separated to meet again the next morning and take part in the
+birthday celebration, to which this royal banquet was merely the
+introduction.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+The Birthday Celebration
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+A clear, perfect day, with a gentle breeze and a sunny sky, greeted
+Princess Ozma as she wakened next morning, the anniversary of her birth.
+While it was yet early all the city was astir and crowds of people came
+from all parts of the Land of Oz to witness the festivities in honor of
+their girl Ruler's birthday.
+
+The noted visitors from foreign countries, who had all been transported
+to the Emerald City by means of the Magic Belt, were as much a show to
+the Ozites as were their own familiar celebrities, and the streets
+leading from the royal palace to the jeweled gates were thronged with
+men, women, and children to see the procession as it passed out to the
+green fields where the ceremonies were to take place.
+
+And what a great procession it was!
+
+First came a thousand young girls--the prettiest in the land--dressed in
+white muslin, with green sashes and hair ribbons, bearing great baskets
+of red roses. As they walked they scattered these flowers upon the
+marble pavements, so that the way was carpeted thick with roses for the
+procession to walk upon.
+
+Then came the Rulers of the four Kingdoms of Oz; the Emperor of the
+Winkies, the Monarch of the Munchkins, the King of the Quadlings and the
+Sovereign of the Gillikins, each wearing a long chain of emeralds around
+his neck to show that he was a vassal of the Ruler of the Emerald City.
+
+Next marched the Emerald City Cornet Band, clothed in green-and-gold
+uniforms and playing the "Ozma Two-Step." The Royal Army of Oz followed,
+consisting of twenty-seven officers, from the Captain-General down to
+the Lieutenants. There were no privates in Ozma's Army because soldiers
+were not needed to fight battles, but only to look important, and an
+officer always looks more imposing than a private.
+
+While the people cheered and waved their hats and handkerchiefs, there
+came walking the Royal Princess Ozma, looking so pretty and sweet that
+it is no wonder her people love her so dearly. She had decided she
+would not ride in her chariot that day, as she preferred to walk in the
+procession with her favored subjects and her guests. Just in front of
+her trotted the living Blue Bear Rug owned by old Dyna, which wobbled
+clumsily on its four feet because there was nothing but the skin to
+support them, with a stuffed head at one end and a stubby tail at the
+other. But whenever Ozma paused in her walk the Bear Rug would flop down
+flat upon the ground for the princess to stand upon until she resumed
+her progress.
+
+Following the Princess stalked her two enormous beasts, the Cowardly
+Lion and the Hungry Tiger, and even if the Army had not been there these
+two would have been powerful enough to guard their mistress from any
+harm.
+
+Next marched the invited guests, who were loudly cheered by the people
+of Oz along the road, and were therefore obliged to bow to right and
+left almost every step of the way. First was Santa Claus, who, because
+he was fat and not used to walking, rode the wonderful Saw-Horse. The
+merry old gentleman had a basket of small toys with him, and he tossed
+the toys one by one to the children as he passed by. His Ryls and Knooks
+marched close behind him.
+
+Queen Zixi of Ix came after; then John Dough and the Cherub, with the
+rubber bear named Para Bruin strutting between them on its hind legs;
+then the Queen of Merryland, escorted by her wooden soldiers; then King
+Bud of Noland and his sister, the Princess Fluff; then the Queen of Ev
+and her ten royal children; then the Braided Man and the Candy Man, side
+by side; then King Dox of Foxville and King Kik-a-bray of Dunkiton, who
+by this time had become good friends; and finally Johnny Dooit, in his
+leather apron, smoking his long pipe.
+
+[Illustration:]
+
+These wonderful personages were not more heartily cheered by the people
+than were those who followed after them in the procession. Dorothy was a
+general favorite, and she walked arm in arm with the Scarecrow, who was
+beloved by all. Then came Polychrome and Button-Bright, and the people
+loved the Rainbow's pretty Daughter and the beautiful blue-eyed boy as
+soon as they saw them. The shaggy man in his shaggy new suit attracted
+much attention because he was such a novelty. With regular steps tramped
+the machine-man Tik-tok, and there was more cheering when the Wizard of
+Oz followed in the procession. The Woggle-Bug and Jack Pumpkinhead were
+next, and behind them Glinda the Sorceress and the Good Witch of the
+North. Finally came Billina, with her brood of chickens to whom she
+clucked anxiously to keep them together and to hasten them along so they
+would not delay the procession.
+
+Another band followed, this time the Tin Band of the Emperor of the
+Winkies, playing a beautiful march called, "There's No Plate like Tin."
+Then came the servants of the Royal Palace, in a long line, and behind
+them all the people joined the procession and marched away through the
+emerald gates and out upon the broad green.
+
+Here had been erected a splendid pavilion, with a grandstand big enough
+to seat all the royal party and those who had taken part in the
+procession. Over the pavilion, which was of green silk and cloth of
+gold, countless banners waved in the breeze. Just in front of this, and
+connected with it by a runway, had been built a broad platform, so that
+all the spectators could see plainly the entertainment provided for
+them.
+
+The Wizard now became Master of Ceremonies, as Ozma had placed the
+conduct of the performance in his hands. After the people had all
+congregated about the platform and the royal party and the visitors were
+seated in the grandstand, the Wizard skillfully performed some feats of
+juggling glass balls and lighted candles. He tossed a dozen or so of
+them high in the air and caught them one by one as they came down,
+without missing any.
+
+Then he introduced the Scarecrow, who did a sword-swallowing act that
+aroused much interest. After this the Tin Woodman gave an exhibition of
+Swinging the Axe, which he made to whirl around him so rapidly that the
+eye could scarcely follow the motion of the gleaming blade. Glinda the
+Sorceress then stepped upon the platform, and by her magic made a big
+tree grow in the middle of the space, made blossoms appear upon the
+tree, and made the blossoms become delicious fruit called tamornas; and
+so great was the quantity of fruit thus produced that when the servants
+climbed the tree and tossed it down to the crowd, there was enough to
+satisfy every person present.
+
+Para Bruin, the rubber bear, climbed to a limb of the big tree, rolled
+himself into a ball, and dropped to the platform, whence he bounded up
+again to the limb. He repeated this bouncing act several times, to the
+great delight of all the children present. After he had finished, and
+bowed, and returned to his seat, Glinda waved her wand and the tree
+disappeared; but its fruit still remained to be eaten.
+
+The Good Witch of the North amused the people by transforming ten stones
+into ten birds, the ten birds into ten lambs, and the ten lambs into ten
+little girls, who gave a pretty dance and were then transformed into ten
+stones again, just as they were in the beginning.
+
+Johnny Dooit next came on the platform with his tool-chest, and in a few
+minutes built a great flying machine; then put his chest in the machine
+and the whole thing flew away together--Johnny and all--after he had bid
+good-bye to those present and thanked the Princess for her hospitality.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The Wizard then announced the last act of all, which was considered
+really wonderful. He had invented a machine to blow huge soap-bubbles,
+as big as balloons, and this machine was hidden under the platform so
+that only the rim of the big clay pipe to produce the bubbles showed
+above the flooring. The tank of soap-suds, and the air-pumps to inflate
+the bubbles, were out of sight beneath, so that when the bubbles began
+to grow upon the floor of the platform it really seemed like magic to
+the people of Oz, who knew nothing about even the common soap-bubbles
+that our children blow with a penny clay pipe and a basin of
+soap-and-water.
+
+The Wizard had invented another thing. Usually soap-bubbles are frail
+and burst easily, lasting only a few moments as they float in the air;
+but the Wizard added a sort of glue to his soapsuds, which made his
+bubbles tough; and, as the glue dried rapidly when exposed to the air,
+the Wizard's bubbles were strong enough to float for hours without
+breaking.
+
+He began by blowing--by means of his machinery and air-pumps--several
+large bubbles which he allowed to float upward into the sky, where the
+sunshine fell upon them and gave them iridescent hues that were most
+beautiful. This aroused much wonder and delight, because it was a new
+amusement to every one present--except perhaps Dorothy and
+Button-Bright, and even they had never seen such big, strong bubbles
+before.
+
+[Illustration: THE WIZARD BLEW A BUBBLE AROUND SANTA CLAUS]
+
+The Wizard then blew a bunch of small bubbles and afterward blew a big
+bubble around them so they were left in the center of it; then he
+allowed the whole mass of pretty globes to float into the air and
+disappear in the far distant sky.
+
+"That is really fine!" declared Santa Claus, who loved toys and pretty
+things. "I think, Mr. Wizard, I shall have you blow a bubble around me;
+then I can float away home and see the country spread out beneath me as
+I travel. There isn't a spot on earth that I haven't visited, but I
+usually go in the night-time, riding behind my swift reindeer. Here is a
+good chance to observe the country by daylight, while I am riding slowly
+and at my ease."
+
+"Do you think you will be able to guide the bubble?" asked the Wizard.
+
+"Oh yes; I know enough magic to do that," replied Santa Claus. "You blow
+the bubble, with me inside of it, and I'll be sure to get home in
+safety."
+
+"Please send me home in a bubble, too!" begged the Queen of Merryland.
+
+"Very well, madam; you shall try the journey first," politely answered
+old Santa.
+
+The pretty wax doll bade good-bye to the Princess Ozma and the others,
+and stood on the platform while the Wizard blew a big soap-bubble around
+her. When completed he allowed the bubble to float slowly upward, and
+there could be seen the little Queen of Merryland standing in the
+middle of it and blowing kisses from her fingers to those below. The
+bubble took a southerly direction, quickly floating out of sight.
+
+"That's a very nice way to travel," said Princess Fluff. "I'd like to go
+home in a bubble, too."
+
+So the Wizard blew a big bubble around Princess Fluff, and another
+around King Bud, her brother, and a third one around Queen Zixi; and
+soon these three bubbles had mounted into the sky and were floating off
+in a group in the direction of the kingdom of Noland.
+
+The success of these ventures induced the other guests from foreign
+lands to undertake bubble journeys, also; so the Wizard put them one by
+one inside his bubbles, and Santa Claus directed the way they should go,
+because he knew exactly where everybody lived.
+
+Finally Button-Bright said:
+
+"I want to go home, too."
+
+"Why, so you shall!" cried Santa; "for I'm sure your father and mother
+will be glad to see you again. Mr. Wizard, please blow a big, fine
+bubble for Button-Bright to ride in, and I'll agree to send him home to
+his family as safe as safe can be."
+
+"I'm sorry," said Dorothy with a sigh, for she was fond of her little
+comrade; "but p'raps it's best for Button-Bright to get home; 'cause
+his folks must be worrying just dreadful."
+
+She kissed the boy, and Ozma kissed him, too, and all the others waved
+their hands and said good-bye and wished him a pleasant journey.
+
+"Are you glad to leave us, dear?" asked Dorothy, a little wistfully.
+
+"Don't know," said Button-Bright.
+
+He sat down cross-legged on the platform, with his sailor hat tipped
+back on his head, and the Wizard blew a beautiful bubble all around him.
+
+A minute later it had mounted into the sky, sailing toward the west, and
+the last they saw of Button-Bright he was still sitting in the middle of
+the shining globe and waving his sailor-hat at those below.
+
+"Will you ride in a bubble, or shall I send you and Toto home by means
+of the Magic Belt?" the Princess asked Dorothy.
+
+"Guess I'll use the Belt," replied the little girl. "I'm sort of 'fraid
+of those bubbles."
+
+"Bow-wow!" said Toto, approvingly. He loved to bark at the bubbles as
+they sailed away, but he didn't care to ride in one.
+
+Santa Claus decided to go next. He thanked Ozma for her hospitality and
+wished her many happy returns of the day. Then the Wizard blew a bubble
+around his chubby little body and smaller bubbles around each of his
+Ryls and Knooks.
+
+As the kind and generous friend of children mounted into the air the
+people all cheered at the top of their voices, for they loved Santa
+Claus dearly; and the little man heard them through the walls of the
+bubble and waved his hands in return as he smiled down upon them. The
+band played bravely while every one watched the bubble until it was
+completely out of sight.
+
+"How 'bout you, Polly?" Dorothy asked her friend. "Are you 'fraid of
+bubbles, too?"
+
+"No," answered Polychrome, smiling; "but Santa Claus promised to speak
+to my father as he passed through the sky. So perhaps I shall get home
+an easier way."
+
+Indeed, the little maid had scarcely made this speech when a sudden
+radiance filled the air, and while the people looked on in wonder the
+end of a gorgeous rainbow slowly settled down upon the platform.
+
+With a glad cry the Rainbow's Daughter sprang from her seat and danced
+along the curve of the bow, mounting gradually upward, while the folds
+of her gauzy gown whirled and floated around her like a cloud and
+blended with the colors of the rainbow itself.
+
+[Illustration: "GOOD-BYE, OZMA! GOOD-BYE, DOROTHY!"]
+
+"Good-bye, Ozma! Good-bye, Dorothy!" cried a voice they knew belonged
+to Polychrome; but now the little maiden's form had melted wholly into
+the rainbow, and their eyes could no longer see her.
+
+Suddenly the end of the rainbow lifted and its colors slowly faded like
+mist before a breeze. Dorothy sighed deeply and turned to Ozma.
+
+"I'm sorry to lose Polly," she said; "but I guess she's better off with
+her father; 'cause even the Land of Oz couldn't be like home to a cloud
+fairy."
+
+"No, indeed," replied the Princess; "but it has been delightful for us
+to know Polychrome for a little while, and--who knows?--perhaps we may
+meet the Rainbow's daughter again, some day."
+
+The entertainment being now ended, all left the pavilion and formed
+their gay procession back to the Emerald City again. Of Dorothy's recent
+traveling companions only Toto and the shaggy man remained, and Ozma had
+decided to allow the latter to live in Oz for a time, at least. If he
+proved honest and true she promised to let him live there always, and
+the shaggy man was anxious to earn this reward.
+
+They had a nice quiet dinner together and passed a pleasant evening with
+the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Tik-tok, and the Yellow Hen for company.
+
+When Dorothy bade them good-night she kissed them all good-bye at the
+same time. For Ozma had agreed that while Dorothy slept she and Toto
+should be transported by means of the Magic Belt to her own little bed
+in the Kansas farmhouse and the little girl laughed as she thought how
+astonished Uncle Henry and Aunt Em would be when she came down to
+breakfast with them next morning.
+
+Quite content to have had so pleasant an adventure, and a little tired
+by all the day's busy scenes, Dorothy clasped Toto in her arms and lay
+down upon the pretty white bed in her room in Ozma's royal palace.
+
+Presently she was sound asleep.
+
+[Illustration: THE END]
+
+
+THE TWINKLE TALES
+
+By Laura Bancroft
+
+_Each volume, 5 x 7 inches, with 16 full pages in colors, and other
+illustrations by_ Maginel Wright Enright
+
+
+PRINCE MUD TURTLE
+
+In this story Twinkle, a little girl, captures a mud turtle who turns
+out to be a fairy prince.
+
+
+MR. WOODCHUCK
+
+Twinkle is taken underground to visit Mr. Woodchuck's family and
+neighbors, and discovers what they think of traps and people who set
+them.
+
+
+BANDIT JIM CROW
+
+Jim Crow, Twinkle's pet, escapes and becomes a robber among the birds.
+He gets his punishment from them.
+
+
+TWINKLE'S ENCHANTMENT
+
+Twinkle becomes enchanted and meets a dancing bear, Prince Grasshopper,
+and others.
+
+
+SUGAR LOAF MOUNTAIN
+
+On entering a hole in the mountain Twinkle and Chubbins find themselves
+in a land where all the people are made of candy.
+
+
+PRAIRIE DOG TOWN
+
+Twinkle and Chubbins are made small by a magician and are escorted
+through Prairie Dog Town by its Mayor.
+
+
+_Each volume with different cover design, cloth, stamped in colors, 50
+cents_
+
+POLICEMAN BLUEJAY
+
+By LAURA BANCROFT
+
+_With many beautiful pictures in color and line by_ Maginel Wright
+Enright
+
+In this delightful fairy tale and nature story combined, Twinkle and
+Chubbins, two children, after having been transformed into little birds
+with human heads, become friends with a number of birds and learn many
+curious and true things about them.
+
+_Size 9-3/4 x 7 inches. Eight full-page colored illustrations and dozens
+of headings, tail pieces and decorations. Cloth back, with decorated
+paper sides. Price $1.00._
+
+
+BOOKS BY L. FRANK BAUM
+
+
+ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN R. NEILL
+
+_UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME_
+
+_Each book, handsomely bound in artistic pictorial cover. $1.25 per
+volume._
+
+
+THE LAND OF OZ
+
+An account of the adventures of the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, Jack
+Pumpkinhead, the Animated Saw-Horse, the Highly Magnified Woggle-Bug,
+the Gump and many other delightful characters.
+
+Nearly 150 black-and-white illustrations and sixteen full-page pictures
+in colors.
+
+
+OZMA OF OZ
+
+The story tells "more about Dorothy," as well as those famous
+characters, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, and
+something of several new creations equally delightful, including Tik-tok
+the machine man, the Yellow Hen, the Nome King and the Hungry Tiger.
+
+Forty-one full-page colored pictures; twenty-two half pages in color and
+fifty black-and-white text pictures; special end sheets, title page,
+copyright page, book plate, etc, etc.
+
+
+DOROTHY AND THE WIZARD OF OZ
+
+In this book Dorothy, with Zeb, a little boy friend, and Jim, the Cab
+Horse, are swallowed up in an earthquake and reach a strange vegetable
+land, whence they escape to the Land of Oz, and meet all their old
+friends. Among the new characters are Eureka, Dorothy's pink kitten, and
+the Nine Tiny Piglets.
+
+Gorgeously illustrated with sixteen full color pages and numerous
+black-and-white pictures, besides head and tail pieces, ornaments, etc.
+
+
+JOHN DOUGH AND THE CHERUB
+
+A whimsical tale portraying the exciting adventures of the Gingerbread
+Man and his comrade Chick the Cherub in the "Palace of Romance," the
+"Land of the Mifkets," "Highland and Lowland," and other places.
+
+Forty full-page colored pictures; twenty colored pictorial chapter
+headings; 100 black-and-white text pictures, special end sheets, title
+page, etc.
+
+[Illustration: ENDPIECE]
+
+[Illustration: ENDPIECE]
+
+[Illustration: BACK COVER]
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Road to Oz, by L. Frank Baum
+
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