busy
ruling all this Land of Oz that we can't always be together."

"I know, dear. My first duty is to my subjects, and I think it would be
a delight to us all to have Betsy with us. There's a pretty suite of
rooms just opposite your own where she can live, and I'll build a
golden stall for Hank in the stable where the Sawhorse lives. Then
we'll introduce the mule to the Cowardly Lion and the Hungry Tiger, and
I'm sure they will soon become firm friends. But I cannot very well
admit Betsy and Hank into Oz unless I also admit Shaggy's brother."

"And, unless you admit Shaggy's brother, you will keep out poor Shaggy,
whom we are all very fond of," said the Wizard.

"Well, why not ad-mit him?" demanded Tik-Tok.

"The Land of Oz is not a refuge for all mortals in distress," explained
Ozma. "I do not wish to be unkind to Shaggy Man, but his brother has no
claim on me."

"The Land of Oz isn't crowded," suggested Dorothy.

"Then you advise me to admit Shaggy's brother?" inquired Ozma.

"Well, we can't afford to lose our Shaggy Man, can we?"

"No, indeed!" returned Ozma. "What do you say, Wizard?"

"I'm getting my magic ready to transport them all."

"And you, Tik-Tok?"

"Shag-gy's broth-er is a good fel-low, and we can't spare Shag-gy."

"So, then; the question is settled," decided Ozma. "Perform your magic,
Wizard!"

He did so, placing a silver plate upon a small standard and pouring
upon the plate a small quantity of pink powder which was contained in a
crystal vial. Then he muttered a rather difficult incantation which the
sorceress Glinda the Good had taught him, and it all ended in a puff of
perfumed smoke from the silver plate. This smoke was so pungent that it
made both Ozma and Dorothy rub their eyes for a moment.

"You must pardon these disagreeable fumes," said the Wizard. "I assure
you the smoke is a very necessary part of my wizardry."

"Look!" cried Dorothy, pointing to the Magic Picture; "they're gone!
All of them are gone."

Indeed, the picture now showed the same rocky landscape as before, but
the three people and the mule had disappeared from it.

"They are gone," said the Wizard, polishing the silver plate and
wrapping it in a fine cloth, "because they are here."

At that moment Jellia Jamb entered the room.

"Your Highness," she said to Ozma, "the Shaggy Man and another man are
in the waiting room and ask to pay their respects to you. Shaggy is
crying like a baby, but he says they are