e saw a sign on a house that read: "Madam de Fayke,
Hoofist," and she asked their conductor:

"What's a 'hoofist,' please?"

"One who reads your fortune in your hoofs," replied the grey donkey.

"Oh, I see," said the little girl. "You are quite civilized here."

"Dunkiton," he replied, "is the center of the world's highest
civilization."

They came to a house where two youthful donkeys were whitewashing the
wall, and Dorothy stopped a moment to watch them. They dipped the ends
of their tails, which were much like paint-brushes, into a pail of
whitewash, backed up against the house, and wagged their tails right and
left until the whitewash was rubbed on the wall, after which they dipped
these funny brushes in the pail again and repeated the performance.

"That must be fun," said Button-Bright.

"No; it's work," replied the old donkey; "but we make our youngsters do
all the whitewashing, to keep them out of mischief."

"Don't they go to school?" asked Dorothy.

"All donkeys are born wise," was the reply, "so the only school we need
is the school of experience. Books are only fit for those who know
nothing, and so are obliged to learn things from other people."

[Illustration]

"In other words, the more stupid one is the more he thinks he knows,"
observed the shaggy man. The grey donkey paid no attention to this
speech because he had just stopped before a house which had painted over
the doorway a pair of hoofs, with a donkey tail between them and a rude
crown and sceptre above.

"I'll see if his magnificent Majesty King Kik-a-bray is at home," said
he. He lifted his head and called "Whee-haw! whee-haw! whee-haw!" three
times, in a shocking voice, turning about and kicking with his heels
against the panel of the door. For a time there was no reply; then the
door opened far enough to permit a donkey's head to stick out and look
at them.

It was a white head, with big, awful ears and round, solemn eyes.

"Have the foxes gone?" it asked, in a trembling voice.

"They haven't been here, most stupendous Majesty," replied the grey one.
"The new arrivals prove to be travelers of distinction."

"Oh," said the King, in a relieved tone of voice. "Let them come in."

He opened the door wide, and the party marched into a big room, which,
Dorothy thought, looked quite unlike a king's palace. There were mats of
woven grasses on the floor and the place was clean and neat; but his
Majesty had no other furniture at all--