giants who were standing within the city. All had thick,
bushy hair and whiskers, on some the hair being white and on others
black or red or yellow, while the hair of a few was just turning gray,
showing that the giants were of all ages. However fierce the heads
might seem, the eyes were mild in expression, as if the creatures had
been long subdued, and their faces expressed patience rather than
ferocity.

"What's wanted?" asked one old giant in a low, grumbling voice.

"We are strangers, and we wish to enter the city," replied the Wizard.

"Do you come in war or peace?" asked another.

"In peace, of course," retorted the Wizard, and he added impatiently,
"Do we look like an army of conquest?"

"No," said the first giant who had spoken, "you look like innocent
tramps; but you never can tell by appearances. Wait here until we
report to our masters. No one can enter here without the permission of
Vig, the Czarover."

"Who's that?" inquired Dorothy.

But the heads had all bobbed down and disappeared behind the walls, so
there was no answer. They waited a long time before the gate rolled
back with a rumbling sound, and a loud voice cried, "Enter!" But they
lost no time in taking advantage of the invitation.

On either side of the broad street that led into the city from the gate
stood a row of huge giants, twenty of them on a side and all standing
so close together that their elbows touched. They wore uniforms of
blue and yellow and were armed with clubs as big around as treetrunks.
Each giant had around his neck a broad band of gold, riveted on, to
show he was a slave.

As our friends entered riding upon the Lion, the Woozy, the Sawhorse
and the Mule, the giants half turned and walked in two files on either
side of them, as if escorting them on their way. It looked to Dorothy
as if all her party had been made prisoners, for even mounted on their
animals their heads scarcely reached to the knees of the marching
giants. The girls and Button-Bright were anxious to know what sort of
a city they had entered, and what the people were like who had made
these powerful creatures their slaves. Through the legs of the giants
as they walked, Dorothy could see rows of houses on each side of the
street and throngs of people standing on the sidewalks, but the people
were of ordinary size and the only remarkable thing about them was the
fact that they were dreadfully lean and thin. Between their skin and
their bones