When noon came they opened the Fox-King's basket of luncheon, andfound a nice roasted turkey with cranberry sauce and some slices ofbread and butter. As they sat on the grass by the roadside theshaggy man cut up the turkey with his pocket-knife and passed slicesof it around.

"Haven't you any dewdrops, or mist-cakes, or cloudbuns?" askedPolychrome, longingly.

"'Course not," replied Dorothy. "We eat solid things, down here onthe 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 athin slice of the white breast of turkey which the shaggy man cut forher, as well as a bit of bread and butter. When she tasted itPolychrome thought the turkey was good--better even thanmist-cakes; but a little satisfied her hunger and she finished with atiny sip of cold tea.

"That's about as much as a fly would eat," said Dorothy, who wasmaking a good meal herself. "But I know some people in Oz who eatnothing at all."

"Who are they?" inquired the shaggy man.

"One is a scarecrow who's stuffed with straw, and the other a woodmanmade 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, takinga drink of cold tea.

"I don't know just what to 'spect," answered the child, seriously; "butI've noticed if I happen to get lost I'm almost sure to come to theLand 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 loveliestsmile you ever saw--only it's painted on and he can't help it."

Luncheon being over they started again upon their journey, the shaggyman, Dorothy and Button-Bright walking soberly along, side by side, andthe Rainbow's Daughter dancing merrily before them.

Sometimes she darted along the road so swiftly that she was nearly outof sight, then she came tripping back to greet them with her silverylaughter. 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 usthere was one on this road. It's filled with stupid beasts of somesort, 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 itwas 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 LoveMagnet every living thing will love me, and you may be sure I shan'tallow any of my friends to be harmed in any way."

This comforted them somewhat, and they moved on again. Pretty soonthey came to a signpost that read:

"HAF A MYLE TO DUNKITON."

"Oh," said the shaggy man, "if they're donkeys, we've nothing to fearat 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 ofthe branches, and shorter switches for the others.

"Don't be afraid to order the beasts around," he said; "they're usedto it."

Before long the road brought them to the gates of the city. There wasa high wall all around, which had been whitewashed, and the gate justbefore our travelers was a mere opening in the wall, with no barsacross 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 everyside, until they were nearly deafened by the racket and had to puttheir fingers to their ears to keep the noise out.

It was like the firing of many cannon, only there were no cannon-ballsor other missiles to be seen; it was like the rolling of mightythunder, only not a cloud was in the sky; it was like the roar ofcountless breakers on a rugged seashore, only there was no sea orother water anywhere about.

They hesitated to advance; but, as the noise did no harm, they enteredthrough the whitewashed wall and quickly discovered the cause of theturmoil. Inside were suspended many sheets of tin or thin iron, andagainst these metal sheets a row of donkeys were pounding their heelswith vicious kicks.

The shaggy man ran up to the nearest donkey and gave the beast a sharpblow with his switch.

"Stop that noise!" he shouted; and the donkey stopped kicking themetal sheet and turned its head to look with surprise at the shaggyman. He switched the next donkey, and made him stop, and then thenext, so that gradually the rattling of heels ceased and the awfulnoise subsided. The donkeys stood in a group and eyed the strangerswith 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 makesthem 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 towardButton-Bright. "We saw him coming and thought the whole army of foxeswas marching to attack us."

"Button-Bright isn't a fox," explained the shaggy man. "He's onlywearing 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 worryfor nothing."

The other donkeys by this time were sitting up and examining thestrangers with big, glassy eyes. They made a queer picture, indeed;for they wore wide, white collars around their necks and the collarshad many scallops and points. The gentlemen-donkeys wore highpointed caps set between their great ears, and the lady-donkeys woresunbonnets with holes cut in the top for the ears to stick through.But they had no other clothing except their hairy skins, although manywore gold and silver bangles on their front wrists and bands ofdifferent metals on their rear ankles. When they were kicking theyhad braced themselves with their front legs, but now they all stood orsat upright on their hind legs and used the front ones as arms.Having no fingers or hands the beasts were rather clumsy, as you mayguess; but Dorothy was surprised to observe how many things they coulddo 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 collarsand caps gave them a neat, if whimsical, appearance.

"This is a nice way to welcome visitors, I must say!" remarked theshaggy man, in a reproachful tone.

"Oh, we did not mean to be impolite," replied a grey donkey which hadnot spoken before. "But you were not expected, nor did you send inyour visiting cards, as it is proper to do."

"There is some truth in that," admitted the shaggy man; "but, nowyou 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 shaggyman with great respect. Said the grey one:

"You shall be taken before his great and glorious Majesty KingKik-a-bray, who will greet you as becomes your exalted stations."

"That's right," answered Dorothy. "Take us to some one whoknows 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 EncyclopediaDonkaniara you will find I'm correct. But come; I will myself leadyou before our splendid, exalted, and most intellectual ruler."

All donkeys love big words, so it is no wonder the grey one used somany of them.