Trot wakened just as the sun rose, and slipping out of the blankets,went to the edge of the Great Orchard and looked across the plain.Something glittered in the far distance. "That looks like anothercity," she said half aloud.

"And another city it is," declared Scraps, who had crept to Trot'sside unheard, for her stuffed feet made no sound. "The Sawhorse and Imade a journey in the dark while you were all asleep, and we foundover there a bigger city than Thi. There's a wall around it, too, butit has gates and plenty of pathways."

"Did you get in?" asked Trot.

"No, for the gates were locked and the wall was a real wall. So wecame back here again. It isn't far to the city. We can reach it intwo hours after you've had your breakfasts."

Trot went back, and finding the other girls now awake, told them whatScraps had said. So they hurriedly ate some fruit--there were plentyof plums and fijoas in this part of the orchard--and then they mountedthe animals and set out upon the journey to the strange city. Hankthe Mule had breakfasted on grass, and the Lion had stolen away andfound a breakfast to his liking; he never told what it was, butDorothy hoped the little rabbits and the field mice had kept out ofhis way. She warned Toto not to chase birds and gave the dog someapple, with which he was quite content. The Woozy was as fond offruit as of any other food except honey, and the Sawhorse never ate atall.

Except for their worry over Ozma, they were all in good spirits asthey proceeded swiftly over the plain. Toto still worried over hislost growl, but like a wise little dog kept his worry to himself.Before long, the city grew nearer and they could examine it withinterest.

In outward appearance the place was more imposing than Thi,and it was a square city, with a square, four-sided wall around it,and on each side was a square gate of burnished copper. Everythingabout the city looked solid and substantial; there were no bannersflying, and the towers that rose above the city wall seemed bare ofany ornament whatever.

A path led from the fruit orchard directly to one of the city gates,showing that the inhabitants preferred fruit to thistles. Our friendsfollowed this path to the gate, which they found fast shut. But theWizard advanced and pounded upon it with his fist, saying in a loudvoice, "Open!"

At once there rose above the great wall a row of immense heads, all ofwhich looked down at them as if to see who was intruding. The size ofthese heads was astonishing, and our friends at once realized thatthey belonged to giants who were standing within the city. All hadthick, bushy hair and whiskers, on some the hair being white and onothers black or red or yellow, while the hair of a few was justturning gray, showing that the giants were of all ages. Howeverfierce the heads might seem, the eyes were mild in expression, as ifthe creatures had been long subdued, and their faces expressedpatience rather than ferocity.

"What's wanted?" asked one old giant in a low, grumbling voice.

"We are strangers, and we wish to enter the city," replied the Wizard.

"Do you come in war or peace?" asked another.

"In peace, of course," retorted the Wizard, and he added impatiently,"Do we look like an army of conquest?"

"No," said the first giant who had spoken, "you look like innocenttramps; but you never can tell by appearances. Wait here until wereport to our masters. No one can enter here without the permissionof Vig, the Czarover."

"Who's that?" inquired Dorothy.

But the heads had all bobbed down and disappeared behind the walls, so there was no answer. They waited a long time before the gate rolled back with a rumbling sound, and aloud voice cried, "Enter!" But they lost no time in taking advantageof the invitation.

On either side of the broad street that led into the city from thegate stood a row of huge giants, twenty of them on a side and allstanding so close together that their elbows touched. They woreuniforms of blue and yellow and were armed with clubs as big around astreetrunks. Each giant had around his neck a broad band of gold,riveted on, to show he was a slave.

As our friends entered riding upon the Lion, the Woozy, the Sawhorseand the Mule, the giants half turned and walked in two files on eitherside of them, as if escorting them on their way. It looked to Dorothyas if all her party had been made prisoners, for even mounted on theiranimals their heads scarcely reached to the knees of the marchinggiants. The girls and Button-Bright were anxious to know what sort ofa city they had entered, and what the people were like who had madethese powerful creatures their slaves. Through the legs of the giantsas they walked, Dorothy could see rows of houses on each side of thestreet and throngs of people standing on the sidewalks, but the peoplewere of ordinary size and the only remarkable thing about them was thefact that they were dreadfully lean and thin. Between their skin andtheir bones there seemed to be little or no flesh, and they weremostly stoop-shouldered and weary looking, even to the littlechildren.

More and more, Dorothy wondered how and why the great giants had eversubmitted to become slaves of such skinny, languid masters, but therewas no chance to question anyone until they arrived at a big palacelocated in the heart of the city. Here the giants formed lines to theentrance and stood still while our friends rode into the courtyard ofthe palace. Then the gates closed behind them, and before them was askinny little man who bowed low and said in a sad voice, "If you willbe so obliging as to dismount, it will give me pleasure to lead youinto the presence of the World's Most Mighty Ruler, Vig the Czarover."

"I don't believe it!" said Dorothy indignantly.

"What don't you believe?" asked the man.

"I don't believe your Czarover can hold a candle to our Ozma."

"He wouldn't hold a candle under any circumstances, or to any livingperson," replied the man very seriously, "for he has slaves to do suchthings and the Mighty Vig is too dignified to do anything that otherscan do for him. He even obliges a slave to sneeze for him, if ever hecatches cold. However, if you dare to face our powerful ruler, followme."

"We dare anything," said the Wizard, "so go ahead."

Through several marble corridors having lofty ceilings they passed,finding each corridor and doorway guarded by servants. But theseservants of the palace were of the people and not giants, and theywere so thin that they almost resembled skeletons. Finally, theyentered a great circular room with a high, domed ceiling, where theCzarover sat on a throne cut from a solid block of white marble anddecorated with purple silk hangings and gold tassels.

The ruler of these people was combing his eyebrows when our friendsentered the throne room and stood before him, but he put the comb inhis pocket and examined the strangers with evident curiosity. Then hesaid, "Dear me, what a surprise! You have really shocked me. For nooutsider has ever before come to our City of Herku, and I cannotimagine why you have ventured to do so."

"We are looking for Ozma, the Supreme Ruler of the Land of Oz,"replied the Wizard.

"Do you see her anywhere around here?" asked the Czarover.

"Not yet, Your Majesty, but perhaps you may tell us where she is."

"No, I have my hands full keeping track of my own people. I find themhard to manage because they are so tremendously strong."

"They don't look very strong," said Dorothy. "It seems as if a goodwind would blow 'em way out of the city if it wasn't for the wall."

"Just so, just so," admitted the Czarover. "They really look thatway, don't they? But you must never trust to appearances, which havea way of fooling one. Perhaps you noticed that I prevented you frommeeting any of my people. I protected you with my giants while youwere on the way from the gates to my palace so that not a Herku gotnear you."

"Are your people so dangerous, then?"asked the Wizard.

"To strangers, yes. But only because they are so friendly. For ifthey shake hands with you, they are likely to break your arms or crushyour fingers to a jelly."

"Why?" asked Button-Bright.

"Because we are the strongest people in all the world."

"Pshaw!"exclaimed the boy. "That's bragging. You prob'ly don't knowhow strong other people are. Why, once I knew a man in Philadelphi'who could bend iron bars with just his hands!"

"But mercy me, it's no trick to bend iron bars," said His Majesty."Tell me, could this man crush a block of stone with his bare hands?"

"No one could do that," declared the boy.

"If I had a block of stone, I'd show you," said the Czarover, lookingaround the room. "Ah, here is my throne. The back is too high,anyhow, so I'll just break off a piece of that." He rose to his feetand tottered in an uncertain way around the throne. Then he took holdof the back and broke off a piece of marble over a foot thick."This," said he, coming back to his seat, "is very solid marble andmuch harder than ordinary stone. Yet I can crumble it easily with myfingers, a proof that I am very strong."

Even as he spoke, he began breaking off chunks of marble and crumblingthem as one would a bit of earth. The Wizard was so astonished thathe took a piece in his own hands and tested it, finding it very hardindeed.

Just then one of the giant servants entered and exclaimed, "Oh, YourMajesty, the cook has burned the soup! What shall we do?"

"How dare you interrupt me?".

"asked the Czarover, and grasping theimmense giant by one of his legs, he raised him in the air and threwhim headfirst out of an open window. "Now, tell me," he said, turningto Button-Bright, "could your man in Philadelphia crumble marble inhis fingers?"

."I guess not," said Button-Bright, much impressed by the skinnymonarch's strength.

"What makes you so strong?" inquired Dorothy.

"It's the zosozo," he explained, "which is an invention of my own. Iand all my people eat zosozo, and it gives us tremendous strength.Would you like to eat some?"

"No thank you," replied the girl. "I--I don't want to get so thin."

"Well, of course one can't have strength and flesh at the same time,"said the Czarover. "Zosozo is pure energy, and it's the only compoundof its sort in existence. I never allow our giants to have it, youknow, or they would soon become our masters, since they are biggerthat we; so I keep all the stuff locked up in my private laboratory.Once a year I feed a teaspoonful of it to each of my people--men,women and children--so every one of them is nearly as strong as I am.Wouldn't YOU like a dose, sir?" he asked, turning to the Wizard.

"Well," said the Wizard, "if you would give me a little zosozo in abottle, I'd like to take it with me on my travels. It might come inhandy on occasion."

"To be sure. I'll give you enough for six doses," promised theCzarover.

"But don't take more than a teaspoonful at a time. Once Uguthe Shoemaker took two teaspoonsful, and it made him so strong thatwhen he leaned against the city wall, he pushed it over, and we had tobuild it up again."

"Who is Ugu the Shoemaker?"

Button-Bright curiously, for he now remembered that the bird and the rabbit had claimed Ugu the Shoemaker had enchanted the peach he had eaten.

"Why, Ugu is a great magician who used to live here. But he's goneaway now," replied the Czarover.

"Where has he gone?" asked the Wizard quickly.

"I am told he lives in a wickerwork castle in the mountains to thewest of here. You see, Ugu became such a powerful magician that hedidn't care to live in our city any longer for fear we would discoversome of his secrets. So he went to the mountains and built him asplendid wicker castle which is so strong that even I and my peoplecould not batter it down, and there he lives all by himself."

"This is good news," declared the Wizard, "for I think this is justthe magician we are searching for. But why is he called Ugu theShoemaker?"

"Once he was a very common citizen here and made shoes for a living,"replied the monarch of Herku. "But he was descended from the greatestwizard and sorcerer who ever lived in this or in any other country,and one day Ugu the Shoemaker discovered all the magical books andrecipes of his famous great-grandfather, which had been hidden away inthe attic of his house. So he began to study the papers and books andto practice magic, and in time he became so skillful that, as I said,he scorned our city and built a solitary castle for himself."

"Do you think" asked Dorothy anxiously, "that Ugu the Shoemaker wouldbe wicked enough to steal our Ozma of Oz?"

"And the Magic Picture?" asked Trot.

"And the Great Book of Records of Glinda the Good?"asked Betsy.

"And my own magic tools?" asked the Wizard.

" replied the Czarover, "I won't say that Ugu is wicked,exactly, but he is very ambitious to become the most powerful magicianin the world, and so I suppose he would not be too proud to steal anymagic things that belonged to anybody else--if he could manage to doso."

"But how about Ozma? Why would he wish to steal HER?"questionedDorothy.

"Don't ask me, my dear. Ugu doesn't tell me why he does things, Iassure you."

Then we must go and ask him ourselves," declared the little girl.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," advised the Czarover, lookingfirst at the three girls and then at the boy and the little Wizard andfinally at the stuffed Patchwork Girl. "If Ugu has really stolen yourOzma, he will probably keep her a prisoner, in spite of all yourthreats or entreaties. And with all his magical knowledge he would bea dangerous person to attack. Therefore, if you are wise, you will gohome again and find a new Ruler for the Emerald City and the Land ofOz. But perhaps it isn't Ugu the Shoemaker who has stolen your Ozma."

"The only way to settle that question," replied the Wizard, "is to goto Ugu's castle and see if Ozma is there. If she is, we will reportthe matter to the great Sorceress Glinda the Good, and I'm pretty sureshe will find a way to rescue our darling ruler from the Shoemaker."

"Well, do as you please," said the Czarover, "but if you are alltransformed into hummingbirds or caterpillars, don't blame me for notwarning you."

They stayed the rest of that day in the City of Herku and were fed atthe royal table of the Czarover and given sleeping rooms in hispalace. The strong monarch treated them very nicely and gave theWizard a little golden vial of zosozo to use if ever he or any of his

Even at the last, the Czarover tried to persuade them not to go near Ugu the Shoemaker, but they were resolved on the venture,and the next morning bade the friendly monarch a cordial goodbye and, mounting upon their animals, left the Herkus and the City of Herku and headed for the mountains that lay to the west.