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.
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