A line of rabbit soldiers was drawn up before the palace entrance, andthey wore green and gold uniforms with high shakos upon their headsand held tiny spears in their hands. The Captain had a sword and awhite plume in his shako.

"Salute!" called the Keeper of the Wicket. "Salute Princess Dorothy,who comes from Ozma of Oz!"

"Salute!" yelled the Captain, and all the soldiers promptly saluted.

They now entered the great hall of the palace, where they met a gailydressed attendant, from whom the Keeper of the Wicket inquired if theKing were at leisure.

"I think so," was the reply. "I heard his Majesty blubbering andwailing as usual only a few minutes ago. If he doesn't stop actinglike a cry-baby I'm going to resign my position here and go to work."

"What's the matter with your King?" asked Dorothy, surprised to hearthe rabbit attendant speak so disrespectfully of his monarch.

"Oh, he doesn't want to be King, that's all; and he simply HAS to,"was the reply.

"Come!" said the Keeper of the Wicket, sternly; "lead us to hisMajesty; and do not air our troubles before strangers, I beg of you."

"Why, if this girl is going to see the King, he'll air his owntroubles," returned the attendant.

"That is his royal privilege," declared the Keeper.

So the attendant led them into a room all draped with cloth-of-goldand furnished with satin-covered gold furniture. There was a thronein this room, set on a dais and having a big, cushioned seat, and onthis seat reclined the Rabbit King. He was lying on his back, with hispaws in the air, and whining very like a puppy-dog.

"Your Majesty! your Majesty! Get up. Here's a visitor," called outthe attendant.

The King rolled over and looked at Dorothy with one watery pink eye.Then he sat up and wiped his eyes carefully with a silk handkerchiefand put on his jeweled crown, which had fallen off.

"Excuse my grief, fair stranger," he said, in a sad voice."You behold in me the most miserable monarch in all the world.What time is it, Blinkem?"

"One o'clock, your Majesty," replied the attendant to whom thequestion was addressed.

"Serve luncheon at once!" commanded the King. "Luncheon fortwo--that's for my visitor and me--and see that the human has somesort of food she's accustomed to."

"Yes, your Majesty," answered the attendant, and went away.

"Tie my shoe, Bristle," said the King to the Keeper of the Wicket."Ah me! how unhappy I am!"

"What seems to be worrying your Majesty?" asked Dorothy.

"Why, it's this king business, of course," he returned, while theKeeper tied his shoe. "I didn't want to be King of Bunnybury at all,and the rabbits all knew it. So they elected me--to save themselvesfrom such a dreadful fate, I suppose--and here I am, shut up in apalace, when I might be free and happy."

"Seems to me," said Dorothy, "it's a great thing to be a King."

"Were you ever a King?" inquired the monarch.

"No," she answered, laughing.

"Then you know nothing about it," he said. "I haven't inquired whoyou are, but it doesn't matter. While we're at luncheon, I'll tellyou all my troubles. They're a great deal more interesting thananything you can say about yourself."

"Perhaps they are, to you," replied Dorothy.

"Luncheon is served!" cried Blinkem, throwing open the door, and incame a dozen rabbits in livery, all bearing trays which they placedupon the table, where they arranged the dishes in an orderly manner.

"Now clear out--all of you!" exclaimed the King. "Bristle, you maywait outside, in case I want you."

When they had gone and the King was alone with Dorothy he came downfrom his throne, tossed his crown into a corner and kicked his erminerobe under the table.

"Sit down," he said, "and try to be happy. It's useless for me totry, because I'm always wretched and miserable. But I'm hungry,and I hope you are."

"I am," said Dorothy. "I've only eaten a wheelbarrow and a pianoto-day--oh, yes! and a slice of bread and butter that used to bea door-mat."

"That sounds like a square meal," remarked the King, seating himselfopposite her; "but perhaps it wasn't a square piano. Eh?"

Dorothy laughed.

"You don't seem so very unhappy now," she said.

"But I am," protested the King, fresh tears gathering in his eyes."Even my jokes are miserable. I'm wretched, woeful, afflicted,distressed and dismal as an individual can be. Are you notsorry for me?"

"No," answered Dorothy, honestly, "I can't say I am. Seems to me thatfor a rabbit you're right in clover. This is the prettiest littlecity I ever saw."

"Oh, the city is good enough," he admitted. "Glinda, the GoodSorceress, made it for us because she was fond of rabbits. I don'tmind the City so much, although I wouldn't live here if I had mychoice. It is being King that has absolutely ruined my happiness."

"Why wouldn't you live here by choice?" she asked.

"Because it is all unnatural, my dear. Rabbits are out of place insuch luxury. When I was young I lived in a burrow in the forest. Iwas surrounded by enemies and often had to run for my life. It washard getting enough to eat, at times, and when I found a bunch ofclover I had to listen and look for danger while I ate it. Wolvesprowled around the hole in which I lived and sometimes I didn't darestir out for days at a time. Oh, how happy and contented I was then!I was a real rabbit, as nature made me--wild and free!--and I evenenjoyed listening to the startled throbbing of my own heart!"

"I've often thought," said Dorothy, who was busily eating, "that itwould be fun to be a rabbit."

"It IS fun--when you're the genuine article," agreed his Majesty."But look at me now! I live in a marble palace instead of a hole inthe ground. I have all I want to eat, without the joy of hunting forit. Every day I must dress in fine clothes and wear that horriblecrown till it makes my head ache. Rabbits come to me with all sortsof troubles, when my own troubles are the only ones I care about.When I walk out I can't hop and run; I must strut on my rear legs andwear an ermine robe! And the soldiers salute me and the band playsand the other rabbits laugh and clap their paws and cry out: 'Hail tothe King!' Now let me ask you, as a friend and a young lady of goodjudgment: isn't all this pomp and foolishness enough to make a decentrabbit miserable?"

"Once," said Dorothy, reflectively, "men were wild and unclothed andlived in caves and hunted for food as wild beasts do. But they gotciv'lized, in time, and now they'd hate to go back to the old days."

"That is an entirely different case," replied the King. "None of youHumans were civilized in one lifetime. It came to you by degrees.But I have known the forest and the free life, and that is why Iresent being civilized all at once, against my will, and being made aKing with a crown and an ermine robe. Pah!"

"If you don't like it, why don't you resign?" she asked.

"Impossible!" wailed the Rabbit, wiping his eyes again with hishandkerchief. "There's a beastly law in this town that forbids it.When one is elected a King, there's no getting out of it."

"Who made the laws?" inquired Dorothy.

"The same Sorceress who made the town--Glinda the Good. She built thewall, and fixed up the City, and gave us several valuable enchantments,and made the laws. Then she invited all the pink-eyed white rabbitsof the forest to come here, after which she left us to our fate."

"What made you 'cept the invitation, and come here?" asked the child.

"I didn't know how dreadful city life was, and I'd no idea I would beelected King," said he, sobbing bitterly. "And--and--now I'm It--witha capital I--and can't escape!"

"I know Glinda," remarked Dorothy, eating for dessert a dish ofcharlotte russe, "and when I see her again, I'll ask her to putanother King in your place."

"Will you? Will you, indeed?" asked the King, joyfully.

"I will if you want me to," she replied.

"Hurroo--huray!" shouted the King; and then he jumped up from thetable and danced wildly about the room, waving his napkin like a flagand laughing with glee.

After a time he managed to control his delight and returned to the table.

"When are you likely to see Glinda?" he inquired.

"Oh, p'raps in a few days," said Dorothy.

"And you won't forget to ask her?"

"Of course not."

"Princess," said the Rabbit King, earnestly, "you have relieved me of agreat unhappiness, and I am very grateful. Therefore I propose toentertain you, since you are my guest and I am the King, as a slightmark of my appreciation. Come with me to my reception hall."

He then summoned Bristle and said to him: "Assemble all the nobilityin the great reception hall, and also tell Blinkem that I wanthim immediately."

The Keeper of the Wicket bowed and hurried away, and his Majestyturned to Dorothy and continued: "We'll have time for a walk in thegardens before the people get here."

The gardens were back of the palace and were filled with beautifulflowers and fragrant shrubs, with many shade and fruit trees andmarble-paved walks running in every direction. As they entered thisplace Blinkem came running to the King, who gave him several ordersin a low voice. Then his Majesty rejoined Dorothy and led her throughthe gardens, which she admired very much.

"What lovely clothes your Majesty wears!" she said, glancing at therich blue satin costume, embroidered, with pearls in which the Kingwas dressed.

"Yes," he returned, with an air of pride, "this is one of my favoritesuits; but I have a good many that are even more elaborate. We haveexcellent tailors in Bunnybury, and Glinda supplies all the material.By the way, you might ask the Sorceress, when you see her, to permitme to keep my wardrobe."

"But if you go back to the forest you will not need clothes," she said.

"N--o!" he faltered; "that may be so. But I've dressed up so longthat I'm used to it, and I don't imagine I'd care to run around nakedagain. So perhaps the Good Glinda will let me keep the costumes."

"I'll ask her," agreed Dorothy.

Then they left the gardens and went into a fine, big reception hall,where rich rugs were spread upon the tiled floors and the furniturewas exquisitely carved and studded with jewels. The King's chair wasan especially pretty piece of furniture, being in the shape of asilver lily with one leaf bent over to form the seat. The silverwas everywhere thickly encrusted with diamonds and the seat wasupholstered in white satin.

"Oh, what a splendid chair!" cried Dorothy, clasping her hands admiringly.

"Isn't it?" answered the King, proudly. "It is my favorite seat, and Ithink it especially becoming to my complexion. While I think of it, Iwish you'd ask Glinda to let me keep this lily chair when I go away."

"It wouldn't look very well in a hole in the ground, would it?"she suggested.

"Maybe not; but I'm used to sitting in it and I'd like to take itwith me," he answered. "But here come the ladies and gentlemen of thecourt; so please sit beside me and be presented."