LITMIR.BIZ

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      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 tonight, and let us get started on our journey early tomorrow morning,” said Dorothy to the King, “I’ll ask Ozma to invite you—if I happen to get to Oz.”

      “Good! Hee-haw! Excellent!” cried Kik-a-bray, much pleased. “You shall all have fine suppers and good beds. What food would you prefer, a bran mash or ripe oats in the shell?”

      “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

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