reated more as a guest than a criminal.
There were many windows and they had no locks. There were three doors to
the room and none were bolted. He cautiously opened one of the doors and
found it led into a hallway. But he had no intention of trying to
escape. If his jailor was willing to trust him in this way he would not
betray her trust, and moreover a hot supper was being prepared for him
and his prison was very pleasant and comfortable. So he took a book from
the case and sat down in a big chair to look at the pictures.

This amused him until the woman came in with a large tray and spread a
cloth on one of the tables. Then she arranged his supper, which proved
the most varied and delicious meal Ojo had ever eaten in his life.

Tollydiggle sat near him while he ate, sewing on some fancy work she
held in her lap. When he had finished she cleared the table and then
read to him a story from one of the books.

[Illustration]

"Is this really a prison?" he asked, when she had finished reading.

"Indeed it is," she replied. "It is the only prison in the Land of Oz."

"And am I a prisoner?"

"Bless the child! Of course."

"Then why is the prison so fine, and why are you so kind to me?" he
earnestly asked.

Tollydiggle seemed surprised by the question, but she presently
answered:

"We consider a prisoner unfortunate. He is unfortunate in two
ways--because he has done something wrong and because he is deprived of
his liberty. Therefore we should treat him kindly, because of his
misfortune, for otherwise he would become hard and bitter and would not
be sorry he had done wrong. Ozma thinks that one who has committed a
fault did so because he was not strong and brave; therefore she puts him
in prison to make him strong and brave. When that is accomplished he is
no longer a prisoner, but a good and loyal citizen and everyone is glad
that he is now strong enough to resist doing wrong. You see, it is
kindness that makes one strong and brave; and so we are kind to our
prisoners."

Ojo thought this over very carefully. "I had an idea," said he, "that
prisoners were always treated harshly, to punish them."

"That would be dreadful!" cried Tollydiggle. "Isn't one punished enough
in knowing he has done wrong? Don't you wish, Ojo, with all your heart,
that you had not been disobedient and broken a Law of Oz?"

"I--I hate to be different from other people," he admitted.

"Yes; one likes to be respected as highly as his ne