," said the Scarecrow. "Therefore it will be our duty
to make him give up the throne."

"How?" asked Trot.

"Give me time to think," was the reply. "That's what my brains are for.
I don't know whether you people ever think, or not, but my brains are
the best that the Wizard of Oz ever turned out, and if I give them
plenty of time to work, the result usually surprises me."

"Take your time, then," suggested Trot. "There's no hurry."

"Thank you," said the straw man, and sat perfectly still for half an
hour. During this interval the grasshopper whispered in Trot's ear, to
which he was very close, and Trot whispered back to the grasshopper
sitting upon her shoulder. Pon cast loving glances at Gloria, who paid
not the slightest heed to them.

Finally the Scarecrow laughed aloud.

"Brains working?" inquired Trot.

"Yes. They seem in fine order to-day. We will conquer King Krewl and
put Gloria upon his throne as Queen of Jinxland."

"Fine!" cried the little girl, clapping her hands together gleefully.
"But how?"

"Leave the how to me," said the Scarecrow proudly. "As a conqueror I'm
a wonder. We will, first of all, write a message to send to King Krewl,
asking him to surrender. If he refuses, then we will make him
surrender."

"Why ask him, when we know he'll refuse?" inquired Pon.

"Why, we must be polite, whatever we do," explained the Scarecrow. "It
would be very rude to conquer a King without proper notice."

They found it difficult to write a message without paper, pen and ink,
none of which was at hand; so it was decided to send Pon as a
messenger, with instructions to ask the King, politely but firmly, to
surrender.

Pon was not anxious to be the messenger. Indeed, he hinted that it
might prove a dangerous mission. But the Scarecrow was now the
acknowledged head of the Army of Conquest, and he would listen to no
refusal. So off Pon started for the King's castle, and the others
accompanied him as far as his hut, where they had decided to await the
gardener's boy's return.

I think it was because Pon had known the Scarecrow such a short time
that he lacked confidence in the straw man's wisdom. It was easy to
say: "We will conquer King Krewl," but when Pon drew near to the great
castle he began to doubt the ability of a straw-stuffed man, a girl, a
grasshopper and a frozen-hearted Princess to do it. As for himself, he
had never thought of defying the King before.

That was why the gardener's boy was no