lay with. So the Wizard
pretended to take one of the piglets out of the hair of the Princess
(while really he slyly took it from his inside pocket) and Ozma smiled
joyously as the creature nestled in her arms, and she promised to have
an emerald collar made for its fat neck and to keep the little squealer
always at hand to amuse her.

Afterward it was noticed that the Wizard always performed his famous
trick with eight piglets, but it seemed to please the people just as
well as if there had been nine of them.

In his little room back of the Throne Room the Wizard had found a lot
of things he had left behind him when he went away in the balloon, for
no one had occupied the apartment in his absence. There was enough
material there to enable him to prepare several new tricks which he had
learned from some of the jugglers in the circus, and he had passed part
of the night in getting them ready. So he followed the trick of the
nine tiny piglets with several other wonderful feats that greatly
delighted his audience and the people did not seem to care a bit
whether the little man was a humbug Wizard or not, so long as he
succeeded in amusing them. They applauded all his tricks and at the
end of the performance begged him earnestly not to go away again and
leave them.

"In that case," said the little man, gravely, "I will cancel all of my
engagements before the crowned heads of Europe and America and devote
myself to the people of Oz, for I love you all so well that I can deny
you nothing."

After the people had been dismissed with this promise our friends
joined Princess Ozma at an elaborate luncheon in the palace, where even
the Tiger and the Lion were sumptuously fed and Jim the Cab-horse ate
his oatmeal out of a golden bowl with seven rows of rubies, sapphires
and diamonds set around the rim of it.

In the afternoon they all went to a great field outside the city gates
where the games were to be held. There was a beautiful canopy for Ozma
and her guests to sit under and watch the people run races and jump and
wrestle. You may be sure the folks of Oz did their best with such a
distinguished company watching them, and finally Zeb offered to wrestle
with a little Munchkin who seemed to be the champion. In appearance he
was twice as old as Zeb, for he had long pointed whiskers and wore a
peaked hat with little bells all around the brim of it, which tinkled
gaily as he moved. But although the Munchkin was hardly ta