And now the Patchwork Girl came dancing out of the wall again. "Comeon!" she called. "It isn't there.

There isn't any wall at all."

"What? No wall?" exclaimed the Wizard.

"Nothing like it," said Scraps. "It's a make-believe. You see it,but it isn't. Come on into the city; we've been wasting our time."With this, she danced into the wall again and once more disappeared.Button-Bright, who was rather venture-some, dashed away after her andalso became invisible to them. The others followed more cautiously,stretching out their hands to feel the wall and finding, to theirastonishment, that they could feel nothing because nothing opposedthem. They walked on a few steps and found themselves in the streetsof a very beautiful city. Behind them they again saw the wall, grimand forbidding as ever, but now they knew it was merely an illusionprepared to keep strangers from entering the city.

But the wall was soon forgotten, for in front of them were a number ofquaint people who stared at them in amazement as if wondering wherethey had come from. Our friends forgot their good manners for a timeand returned the stares with interest, for so remarkable a people hadnever before been discovered in all the remarkable Land of Oz. Theirheads were shaped like diamonds, and their bodies like hearts. Allthe hair they had was a little bunch at the tip top of theirdiamond-shaped heads, and their eyes were very large and round, andtheir noses and mouths very small. Their clothing was tight fittingand of brilliant colors, being handsomely embroidered in quaintdesigns with gold or silver threads; but on their feet they woresandals with no stockings whatever. The expression of their faces waspleasant enough, although they now showed surprise at the appearanceof strangers so unlike themselves, and our friends thought they seemedquite harmless.

"I beg your pardon," said the Wizard, speaking for his party, "forintruding upon you uninvited, but we are traveling on importantbusiness and find it necessary to visit your city. Will you kindlytell us by what name your city is called?"

They looked at one another uncertainly, each expecting some other toanswer. Finally, a short one whose heart-shaped body was very broadreplied, "We have no occasion to call our city anything. It is wherewe live, that is all."

"But by what name do others call your city?"asked the Wizard.

"We know of no others except yourselves," said the man. And then heinquired, "Were you born with those queer forms you have, or has somecruel magician transformed you to them from your natural shapes?"

"These are our natural shapes," declared the Wizard, "and we considerthem very good shapes, too."

The group of inhabitants was constantly being enlarged by others whojoined it. All were evidently startled and uneasy at the arrival ofstrangers. "Have you a King?"asked Dorothy, who knew it was betterto speak with someone in authority.

But the man shook his diamond-like head. "What is a King?" he asked.

"Isn't there anyone who rules over you?"inquired the Wizard.

"No," was the reply, "each of us rules himself, or at least tries todo so. It is not an easy thing to do, as you probably know."

The Wizard reflected.

"If you have disputes among you," said he aftera little thought, "who settles them?"

"The High Coco-Lorum," they answered in a chorus.

"And who is he?"

"The judge who enforces the laws," said the man who had first spoken.

"Then he is the principal person here?"continued the Wizard.

"Well, I would not say that," returned the man in a puzzled way. "TheHigh Coco-Lorum is a public servant. However, he represents the laws,which we must all obey."

"I think," said the Wizard, "we ought to see your High Coco-Lorum andtalk with him. Our mission here requires us to consult one high inauthority, and the High Coco-Lorum ought to be high, whatever else heis."

The inhabitants seemed to consider this proposition reasonable, forthey nodded their diamond-shaped heads in approval. So the broad onewho had been their spokesman said, "Follow me," and turning led theway along one of the streets. The entire party followed him, thenatives falling in behind. The dwellings they passed were quitenicely planned and seemed comfortable and convenient. After leadingthem a few blocks, their conductor stopped before a house which wasneither better nor worse than the others. The doorway was shaped toadmit the strangely formed bodies of these people, being narrow at thetop, broad in the middle and tapering at the bottom. The windows weremade in much the same way, giving the house a most peculiarappearance. When their guide opened the gate, a music box concealedin the gatepost began to play, and the sound attracted the attentionof the High Coco-Lorum, who appeared at an open window and inquired,"What has happened now?"

But in the same moment his eyes fell upon the strangers and hehastened to open the door and admit them--all but the animals, whichwere left outside with the throng of natives that had now gathered.For a small city there seemed to be a large number of inhabitants, butthey did not try to enter the house and contented themselves withstaring curiously at the strange animals. Toto followed Dorothy.

Our friends entered a large room at the front of the house, where theHigh Coco-Lorum asked them to be seated. "I hope your mission here isa peaceful one," he said, looking a little worried, "for the Thistsare not very good fighters and object to being conquered."

"Are your people called Thists?" asked Dorothy.

"Yes. I thought you knew that. And we call our city Thi."

"Oh!"

."We are Thists because we eat thistles, you know," continued the HighCoco-Lorum.

"Do you really eat those prickly things?"inquired Button-Brightwonderingly.

"Why not?" replied the other. "The sharp points of the thistlescannot hurt us, because all our insides are gold-lined."

"Gold-lined!"

"To be sure. Our throats and stomachs are lined with solid gold, andwe find the thistles nourishing and good to eat. As a matter of fact,there is nothing else in our country that is fit for food. All aroundthe City of Thi grow countless thistles, and all we need do is to goand gather them. If we wanted anything else to eat, we would have toplant it, and grow it, and harvest it, and that would be a lot oftrouble and make us work, which is an occupation we detest."

"But tell me, please," said the Wizard, "how does it happen that yourcity jumps around so, from one part of the country to another?"

"The city doesn't jump. It doesn't move at all," declared the HighCoco-Lorum. "However, I will admit that the land that surrounds ithas a trick of turning this way or that, and so if one is standingupon the plain and facing north, he is likely to find himself suddenlyfacing west or east or south. But once you reach the thistle fields,you are on solid ground."

"Ah, I begin to understand," said the Wizard, nodding his head. "ButI have another question to ask: How does it happen that the Thistshave no King to rule over them?"

"Hush!"whispered the High Coco-Lorum, looking uneasily around to makesure they were not overheard. "In reality, I am the King, but thepeople don't know it. They think they rule themselves, but the factis I have everything my own way. No one else knows anything about ourlaws, and so I make the laws to suit myself. If any oppose me orquestion my acts, I tell them it's the law and that settles it. If Icalled myself King, however, and wore a crown and lived in royalstyle, the people would not like me and might do me harm. As the HighCoco-Lorum of Thi, I am considered a very agreeable person."

"It seems a very clever arrangement," said the Wizard. "And now, asyou are the principal person in Thi, I beg you to tell us if the RoyalOzma is a captive in your city."

"No," answered the diamond-headed man. "We have no captives. Nostrangers but yourselves are here, and we have never before heard ofthe Royal Ozma."

"She rules over all of Oz," said Dorothy, "and so she rules your cityand you, because you are in the Winkie Country, which is a part of theLand of Oz."

"It may be," returned the High Coco-Lorum, "for we do not studygeography and have never inquired whether we live in the Land of Oz ornot. And any Ruler who rules us from a distance and unknown to us iswelcome to the job. But what has happened to your Royal Ozma?"

"Someone has stolen her," said the Wizard. "Do you happen to have anytalented magician among your people, one who is especially clever, youknow?"

"No, none especially clever. We do some magic, of course, but it isall of the ordinary kind. I do not think any of us has yet aspired tostealing Rulers, either by magic or otherwise."

"Then we've come a long way for nothing!"exclaimed Trot regretfully.

"But we are going farther than this," asserted the Patchwork Girl,bending her stuffed body backward until her yarn hair touched thefloor and then walking around on her hands with her feet in the air.

The High Coco-Lorum watched Scraps admiringly.

"You may go fartheron, of course," said he, "but I advise you not to. The Herkus liveback of us, beyond the thistles and the twisting lands, and they arenot very nice people to meet, I assure you."

"Are they giants?" asked Betsy.

"They are worse than that," was the reply. "They have giants fortheir slaves and they are so much stronger than giants that the poorslaves dare not rebel for fear of being torn to pieces."

"How do you know?" asked Scraps.

"Everyone says so," answered the High Coco-Lorum.

"Have you seen the Herkus yourself?"inquired Dorothy.

"No, but what everyone says must be true, otherwise what would be theuse of their saying it?"

"We were told before we got here that you people hitch dragons to yourchariots," said the little girl.

"So we do," declared the High Coco-Lorum. "And that reminds me that Iought to entertain you as strangers and my guests by taking you for aride around our splendid City of Thi." He touched a button, and aband began to play. At least, they heard the music of a band, butcouldn't tell where it came from. "That tune is the order to mycharioteer to bring around my dragon-chariot," said the HighCoco-Lorum. "Every time I give an order, it is in music, which is amuch more pleasant way to address servants than in cold, stern words."

"Does this dragon of yours bite?"asked Button-Bright.

"Mercy no! Do you think I'd risk the safety of my innocent people byusing a biting dragon to draw my chariot? I'm proud to say that mydragon is harmless, unless his steering gear breaks, and he wasmanufactured at the famous dragon factory in this City of Thi. Herehe comes, and you may examine him for yourselves."

They heard a low rumble and a shrill squeaking sound, and going out tothe front of the house, they saw coming around the corner a car drawnby a gorgeous jeweled dragon, which moved its head to right and leftand flashed its eyes like headlights of an automobile and uttered agrowling noise as it slowly moved toward them. When it stopped beforethe High Coco-Lorum's house, Toto barked sharply at the sprawlingbeast, but even tiny Trot could see that the dragon was not alive.Its scales were of gold, and each one was set with sparkling jewels,while it walked in such a stiff, regular manner that it could benothing else than a machine. The chariot that trailed behind it waslikewise of gold and jewels, and when they entered it, they foundthere were no seats. Everyone was supposed to stand up while riding.The charioteer was a little, diamond-headed fellow who straddled theneck of the dragon and moved the levers that made it go.

"This," said the High Coco-Lorum pompously, "is a wonderful invention.We are all very proud of our auto-dragons, many of which are in use byour wealthy inhabitants. Start the thing going, charioteer!"

The charioteer did not move.

"You forgot to order him in music,"suggested Dorothy.

"Ah, so I did."

He touched a button and a music box in the dragon'shead began to play a tune. At once the little charioteer pulled overa lever, and the dragon began to move, very slowly and groaningdismally as it drew the clumsy chariot after it. Toto trotted betweenthe wheels. The Sawhorse, the Mule, the Lion and the Woozy followedafter and had no trouble in keeping up with the machine. Indeed, theyhad to go slow to keep from running into it. When the wheels turned,another music box concealed somewhere under the chariot played alively march tune which was in striking contrast with the draggingmovement of the strange vehicle, and Button-Bright decided that themusic he had heard when they first sighted this city was nothing elsethan a chariot plodding its weary way through the streets.

All the travelers from the Emerald City thought this ride the mostuninteresting and dreary they had ever experienced, but the HighCoco-Lorum seemed to think it was grand. He pointed out the differentbuildings and parks and fountains in much the same way that theconductor does on an American "sightseeing wagon" does, and beingguests they were obliged to submit to the ordeal. But they became alittle worried when their host told them he had ordered a banquetprepared for them in the City Hall. "What are we going to eat?"askedButton-Bright suspiciously.

"Thistles," was the reply. "Fine, fresh thistles, gathered this veryday."

Scraps laughed, for she never ate anything, but Dorothy said in aprotesting voice, "OUR insides are not lined with gold, you know."

"How sad!"exclaimed the High Coco-Lorum, and then he added as anafterthought, "but we can have the thistles boiled, if you prefer."

I'm 'fraid they wouldn't taste good even then," said little Trot."Haven't you anything else to eat?"

The High Coco-Lorum shook his diamond-shaped head.

"Nothing that I know of," said he. "But why should we have anything else when we have so many thistles? However, if you can't eat whatwe eat, don't eat anything. We shall not be offended, and the banquet will be just as merry and delightful."

Knowing his companions were all hungry, the Wizard said, "I trust youwill excuse us from the banquet, sir, which will be merry enoughwithout us, although it is given in our honor. For, as Ozma is not inyour city, we must leave here at once and seek her elsewhere."

"Sure we must!" Dorothy, and she whispered to Betsy and Trot,"I'd rather starve somewhere else than in this city, and who knows, wemay run across somebody who eats reg'lar food and will give us some."

So when the ride was finished, in spite of the protests of the HighCoco-Lorum, they insisted on continuing their journey. "It will soonbe dark," he objected.

"We don't mind the darkness," replied the Wizard.

"Some wandering Herku may get you."

"Do you think the Herkus would hurt us?"asked Dorothy.

"I cannot say, not having had the honor of their acquaintance. Butthey are said to be so strong that if they had any other place tostand upon they could lift the world."

"All of them together?"asked Button-Bright wonderingly.

"Any one of them could do it," said the High Coco-Lorum.

"Have you heard of any magicians being among them?"asked the Wizard, knowing that only a magician could have stolen Ozma in the way she had been stolen.

"I am told it is quite a magical country," declared the HighCoco-Lorum, "and magic is usually performed by magicians. But I havenever heard that they have any invention or sorcery to equal ourwonderful auto-dragons."

They thanked him for his courtesy, and mounting their own animals rodeto the farther side of the city and right through the Wall of Illusionout into the open country. "I'm glad we got away so easily," saidBetsy. "I didn't like those queer-shaped people."

"Nor did I," agreed Dorothy. "It seems dreadful to be lined withsheets of pure gold and have nothing to eat but thistles."

"They seemed happy and contented, though," remarked the Wizard, "andthose who are contented have nothing to regret and nothing more towish for."