Produced by Warren Baldwin and Dennis Amundson.

The Road to Oz

  In which is related how Dorothy Gale of Kansas,
   The Shaggy Man, Button Bright, and Polychrome
         the Rainbow's Daughter met on an
           Enchanted Road and followed
              it all the way to the
                  Marvelous Land
                      of Oz.

by

L.  Frank Baum

"Royal Historian of Oz"

Contents

   --To My Readers--
   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 Dooit 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

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 of 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.

1.  The Way to Butterfield

"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.

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 in 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, 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 know 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."

"The Love Magnet!  Why, what's that?"

"I'll show you, if you won't tell any one," 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 of 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.

"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.

2.  Dorothy Meets Button-Bright

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
football 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 your 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 mama call you?"

He paused in his digging and tried to think.

"Papa always said I was bright as a button; so mama 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 mama 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.

"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 anyone 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 someone 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 someone 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 in 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."

3.  A Queer Village

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 travelers 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."

"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-by 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 corner 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.

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.

"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."

"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."

4.  King Dox

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."

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 merry-making 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.

"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.

"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.

5.  The Rainbow's Daughter

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 flowed 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:

"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.

"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?"

"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.

6.  The City Of Beasts

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 cloudbuns?" 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.

"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 musn'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 signpost 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.

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 the 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."

"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.

7.  The Shaggy Man's Transformation

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 for those who know
nothing, and so are obliged to learn things from other people."

"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.

"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 affections 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.

"But I can't do that," was the reply.  "My magic works only one way.  I
can DO things, but I can't UNdo 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 to-morrow 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?"

"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.

"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 coursed 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.

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.

8.  The Musicker

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
road-side.

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.

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!

"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 always, 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.

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 Land 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.

"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.

9.  Facing the Scoodlers

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 invis'ble," 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.

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.

"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.

"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.

10.  Escaping the Soup-Kettle

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.

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."

"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 meatchopper to begin work.  But the shaggy man was brave
and did not intend to submit to such a horrid fate without a struggle.

"I'm going to fight for our lives," he whispered to the children, "for
if I fail we will be no worse off than before, and to sit here quietly
until we are made into soup would be foolish and cowardly."

The Scoodler on guard stood near the doorway, turning first his white
side toward them and then his black side, as if he wanted to show to
all of his greedy four eyes the sight of so many fat prisoners.  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.

"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 of 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.

"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.

11.  Johnny Dooit Does It

"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 gray 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 the 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 musn'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?"

"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' squashy 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 as 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.

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.

"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.

"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.

12.  The Deadly Desert Crossed

"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 modeled 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 gray 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."

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.

"It 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-by 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.

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."

13.  The Truth Pond

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."

"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:

  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?"

"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.

"'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.

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.

14.  Tik-Tok and Billina

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.

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 got 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 ears 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 musn'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.