"Well, is 'hee-haw' all you are able to say?"inquired the Sawhorse, as he examined Hank withhis knot eyes and slowly wagged the branch thatserved him for a tail.

They were in a beautiful stable in the rear ofOzma's palace, where the wooden Sawhorse--verymuch alive--lived in a gold-paneled stall, andwhere there were rooms for the Cowardly Lion andthe Hungry Tiger, which were filled with softcushions for them to lie upon and golden troughsfor them to eat from.

Beside the stall of the Sawhorse had been placedanother for Hank, the mule. This was not quite sobeautiful as the other, for the Sawhorse wasOzma's favorite steed; but Hank had a supply ofcushions for a bed (which the Sawhorse did notneed because he never slept) and all this luxurywas so strange to the little mule that he couldonly stand still and regard his surroundings andhis queer companions with wonder and amazement.

The Cowardly Lion, looking very dignified, wasstretched out upon the marble floor of the stable,eyeing Hank with a calm and critical gaze, whilenear by crouched the huge Hungry Tiger, who seemedequally interested in the new animal that had justarrived. The Sawhorse, standing stiffly beforeHank, repeated his question

"Is 'hee-haw' all you are able to say?"

Hank moved his ears in an embarrassed manner.

"I have never said anything else, until now," hereplied; and then he began to tremble with frightto hear himself talk.

"I can well understand that," remarked the Lion,wagging his great head with a swaying motion."Strange things happen in this Land of Oz, as theydo everywhere else. I believe you came here fromthe cold, civilized, outside world, did you not?"

"I did," replied Hank. "One minute I was outsideof Oz--and the next minute I was inside! That wasenough to give me a nervous shock, as you mayguess; but to find myself able to talk, as Betsydoes, is a marvel that staggers me."

"That is because you are in the Land of Oz,"said the Sawhorse. "All animals talk, in thisfavored country, and you must admit it is moresociable than to bray your dreadful 'hee-haw,'which nobody can understand."

"Mules understand it very well," declared Hank.

"Oh, indeed! Then there must be other mules inyour outside world," said the Tiger, yawningsleepily.

"There are a great many in America," said Hank."Are you the only Tiger in Oz?"

"No," acknowledged the Tiger, "I have manyrelatives living in the Jungle Country; but I amthe only Tiger living in the Emerald City."

"There are other Lions, too," said the Sawhorse;"but I am the only horse, of any description, inthis favored Land."

"That is why this Land is favored," said theTiger. "You must understand, friend Hank, that theSawhorse puts on airs because he is shod withplates of gold, and because our beloved Ruler,Ozma of Oz, likes to ride upon his back."

"Betsy rides upon my back," declared Hankproudly.

"Who is Betsy?"

"The dearest, sweetest girl in all the world!"

The Sawhorse gave an angry snort and stamped hisgolden feet. The Tiger crouched and growled.Slowly the great Lion rose to his feet, his manebristling.

"Friend Hank," said he, "either you are mistakenin judgment or you are willfully trying to deceiveus. The dearest, sweetest girl in the world is ourDorothy, and I will fight anyone--animal or human--who dares to deny it!"

"So will I!" snarled the Tiger, showing tworows of enormous white teeth.

"You are all wrong!" asserted the Sawhorse in avoice of scorn. "No girl living can compare withmy mistress, Ozma of Oz!"

Hank slowly turned around until his heels weretoward the others. Then he said stubbornly:

"I am not mistaken in my statement, nor will Iadmit there can be a sweeter girl alive than BetsyBobbin. If you want to fight, come on--I'm readyfor you!"

While they hesitated, eyeing Hank's heelsdoubtfully, a merry peal of laughter startled theanimals and turning their heads they beheld threelovely girls standing just within the richlycarved entrance to the stable. In the center wasOzma, her arms encircling the waists of Dorothyand Betsy, who stood on either side of her. Ozmawas nearly half a head taller than the two othergirls, who were almost of one size. Unobserved,they had listened to the talk of the animals,which was a very strange experience indeed tolittle Betsy Bobbin.

"You foolish beasts!" exclaimed the Ruler of Oz,in a gentle but chiding voice. "Why should youfight to defend us, who are all three lovingfriends and in no sense rivals? Answer me!" shecontinued, as they bowed their heads sheepishly.

"I have the right to express my opinion, yourHighness," pleaded the Lion.

"And so have the others," replied Ozma. "I amglad you and the Hungry Tiger love Dorothy best,for she was your first friend and companion. AlsoI am pleased that my Sawhorse loves me best, fortogether we have endured both joy and sorrow. Hankhas proved his faith and loyalty by defending hisown little mistress; and so you are all right inone way, but wrong in another. Our Land of Oz is aLand of Love, and here friendship outranks everyother quality. Unless you can all be friends, youcannot retain our love."

They accepted this rebuke very meekly.

"All right," said the Sawhorse, quitecheerfully; "shake hoofs, friend Mule."

Hank touched his hoof to that of the woodenhorse.

"Let us be friends and rub noses," said theTiger. So Hank modestly rubbed noses with the bigbeast.

The Lion merely nodded and said, as he crouchedbefore the mule:

"Any friend of a friend of our beloved Ruler isa friend of the Cowardly Lion. That seems to coveryour case. If ever you need help or advice, friendHank, call on me.

"Why, this is as it should be," said Ozma,highly pleased to see them so fully reconciled.Then she turned to her companions: "Come, mydears, let us resume our walk."

As they turned away Betsy said wonderingly:

"Do all the animals in Oz talk as we do?

"Almost all," answered Dorothy. "There's aYellow Hen here, and she can talk, and so can herchickens; and there's a Pink Kitten upstairs in myroom who talks very nicely; but I've a littlefuzzy black dog, named Toto, who has been with mein Oz a long time, and he's never said a singleword but 'Bow-wow!'"

"Do you know why?" asked Ozma.

"Why, he's a Kansas dog; so I s'pose he'sdifferent from these fairy animals," repliedDorothy.

"Hank isn't a fairy animal, any more than Toto,"said Ozma, "yet as soon as he came under the spellof our fairyland he found he could talk. It wasthe same way with Billina, the Yellow Hen whom youbrought here at one time. The same spell hasaffected Toto, I assure you; but he's a wiselittle dog and while he knows everything that issaid to him he prefers not to talk."

"Goodness me!" exclaimed Dorothy. "I nevers'pected Toto was fooling me all this time." Thenshe drew a small silver whistle from her pocketand blew a shrill note upon it. A moment laterthere was a sound of scurrying foot-steps, and ashaggy black dog came running up the path

Dorothy knelt down before him and shaking herfinger just above his nose she said:

"Toto, haven't I always been good to you?"

Toto looked up at her with his bright black eyesand wagged his tail.

"Bow-wow!" he said, and Betsy knew at once thatmeant yes, as well as Dorothy and Ozma knew it,for there was no mistaking the tone of Toto'svoice.

"That's a dog answer," said Dorothy. "How wouldyou like it, Toto, if I said nothing to you but'bow-wow'?"

Toto's tail was wagging furiously now, butotherwise he was silent.

"Really, Dorothy," said Betsy, "he can talk withhis bark and his tail just as well as we can.Don't you understand such dog language?"

"Of course I do," replied Dorothy. "But Toto'sgot to be more sociable. See here, sir!" shecontinued, addressing the dog, "I've just learned,for the first time, that you can say words--if youwant to. Don't you want to, Toto?"

"Woof!" said Toto, and that meant no.

"Not just one word, Toto, to prove you're asany other animal in Oz?"

"Woof!"

"Just one word, Toto--and then you may runaway."

He looked at her steadily a moment.

"All right. Here I go!" he said, and darted awayas swift as an arrow.

Dorothy clapped her hands in delight, whileBetsy and Ozma both laughed heartily at herpleasure and the success of her experiment. Arm inarm they sauntered away through the beautifulgardens of the palace, where magnificent flowersbloomed in abundance and fountains shot theirsilvery sprays far into the air. And by and by, asthey turned a corner, they came upon Shaggy Manand his brother, who were seated together upon agolden bench.

The two arose to bow respectfully as the Rulerof Oz approached them.

"How are you enjoying our Land of Oz?" Ozmaasked the stranger.

"I am very happy here, Your Highness," repliedShaggy's brother. "Also I am very grateful to youfor permitting me to live in this delightfulplace."

"You must thank Shaggy for that," said Ozma."Being his brother, I have made you welcome here."

"When you know Brother better," said Shaggyearnestly, "you will be glad he has become one ofyour loyal subjects. I am just getting acquaintedwith him myself and I find much in his characterto admire."

Leaving the brothers, Ozma and the girlscontinued their walk. Presently Betsy exclaimed:

"Shaggy's brother can't ever be as happy in Ozas I am. Do you know, Dorothy, I didn't believeany girl could ever have such a good time--anywhere--as I'm having now?"

"I know," answered Dorothy. "I've felt that waymyself, lots of times.

"I wish," continued Betsy, dreamily, "that everylittle girl in the world could live in the Land ofOz; and every little boy, too!"

Ozma laughed at this.

"It is quite fortunate for us, Betsy, that yourwish cannot be granted," said she, "for all thatarmy of girls and boys would crowd us so that wewould have to move away.

"Yes," agreed Betsy, after a little thought, "Iguess that's true."