oodman, and the shaggy man had arrived
and the chariot had gone around to the back of the palace, Billina going
with the Lion and Tiger to see her chickens after her absence from them.
But Toto stayed close beside Dorothy.

[Illustration: "O, JELLIA JAMB! I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU"]

"Come in, please," said Jellia Jamb; "it shall be our pleasant duty to
escort all of you to the rooms prepared for your use."

The shaggy man hesitated. Dorothy had never known him to be ashamed of
his shaggy looks before, but now that he was surrounded by so much
magnificence and splendor the shaggy man felt sadly out of place.

Dorothy assured him that all her friends were welcome at Ozma's palace,
so he carefully dusted his shaggy shoes with his shaggy handkerchief and
entered the grand hall after the others.

[Illustration]

Tik-tok lived at the Royal Palace and the Tin Woodman always had the
same room whenever he visited Ozma, so these two went at once to remove
the dust of the journey from their shining bodies. Dorothy also had a
pretty suite of rooms which she always occupied when in the Emerald
City; but several servants walked ahead politely to show the way,
although she was quite sure she could find the rooms herself. She took
Button-Bright with her, because he seemed too small to be left alone in
such a big palace; but Jellia Jamb herself ushered the beautiful
Daughter of the Rainbow to her apartments, because it was easy to see
that Polychrome was used to splendid palaces and was therefore entitled
to especial attention.

The Shaggy Man's Welcome

[Illustration]

The shaggy man stood in the great hall, his shaggy hat in his hands,
wondering what would become of him. He had never been a guest in a fine
palace before; perhaps he had never been a guest anywhere. In the big,
cold, outside world people did not invite shaggy men to their homes, and
this shaggy man of ours had slept more in hay-lofts and stables than in
comfortable rooms. When the others left the great hall he eyed the
splendidly dressed servants of the Princess Ozma as if he expected to be
ordered out; but one of them bowed before him as respectfully as if he
had been a prince, and said:

"Permit me, sir, to conduct you to your apartments."

The shaggy man drew a long breath and took courage.

"Very well," he answered; "I'm ready."

[Illustration]

Through the big hall they went, up the grand staircase carpeted thick
with velvet, and so along a