ll try to find a way
out of our difficulties."

The Silver Islanders listened respectfully and after a little arguing
among themselves backed out of the throne room. To tell the truth,
they were anxious to spread abroad the tale of the morning's
happenings.

Princess Orange Blossom, however, refused to depart. Magic or no
magic, she had come to marry the Emperor, and she would not leave
till the ceremony had been performed.

"But my dear old Lady, would you wish to marry a Scarecrow?" coaxed
the Emperor.

"All men are Scarecrows," snapped the Princess sourly.

"Then why marry at all?" rumbled the Cowardly Lion, making a playful
leap at her palanquin. This was too much. The Princess swooned on the
spot, and the Scarecrow, taking advantage of her unconscious
condition, ordered her chair bearers to carry her away as far and as
fast as they could run.

"Now," said the Scarecrow when the last of the company had
disappeared, "let us talk this over."

CHAPTER 21

THE ESCAPE FROM THE SILVER ISLAND

"Well!" gasped Dorothy, fanning herself with her hat, "I never was so
s'prised in my life!"

"Nor I," exclaimed the Scarecrow. "The Grand Gheewizard will be suing
you for parassault and battery. But how did it happen?"

"Well," began Dorothy, "as soon as the parasol opened, I flew up so
fast that I could hardly breathe. Then, after I'd gone ever so far,
it came to me that if the parasol went up when it was up, it would
come down when it was down. I couldn't leave you all in such a fix--
so I closed it, and--"

"Came down!" finished the Scarecrow with a wave of his hand. "You
always do the right thing in the right place, my dear."

"It was lucky I hit the vase, wasn't it?" sighed Dorothy. "But I'm
rather sorry about the Princes."

"Served 'em right," growled the Cowardly Lion. "They'll make very
good pigs!"

"But who's to rule the island?" demanded Sir Hokus, turning his gaze
reluctantly from the smoking dragonskin.

"This will require thought," said the Scarecrow pensively. "Let us
all think."

"I doubt that I can ever think again." The Doubtful Dromedary wagged
his head from side to side in a dazed fashion.

"Just leave it to our dear Karwan Bashi." The Comfortable Camel
nodded complacently at the Knight and began plucking sly wisps from
the Scarecrow's boot top. For a short time there was absolute
silence.

Then Sir Hokus, who had been thinking tremendously with his elbows on
his knees, burst out, "