but no one paid any attention to
her. Ojo kept close to the Scarecrow and the Scarecrow kept close to
Dorothy; but the little girl turned to the queer creatures and asked:
"Who are you?"
They answered this question all together, in a sort of chanting chorus,
the words being as follows:
"We're the jolly Tottenhots;
We do not like the day,
But in the night 'tis our delight
To gambol, skip and play.
"We hate the sun and from it run,
The moon is cool and clear,
So on this spot each Tottenhot
Waits for it to appear.
"We're ev'ry one chock full of fun,
And full of mischief, too;
But if you're gay and with us play
We'll do no harm to you.
"Glad to meet you, Tottenhots," said the Scarecrow solemnly. "But you
mustn't expect us to play with you all night, for we've traveled all
day and some of us are tired."
"And we never gamble," added the Patchwork Girl. "It's against the Law."
These remarks were greeted with shouts of laughter by the impish
creatures and one seized the Scarecrow's arm and was astonished to find
the straw man whirl around so easily. So the Tottenhot raised the
Scarecrow high in the air and tossed him over the heads of the crowd.
Some one caught him and tossed him back, and so with shouts of glee
they continued throwing the Scarecrow here and there, as if he had been
a basket-ball.
Presently another imp seized Scraps and began to throw her about, in
the same way. They found her a little heavier than the Scarecrow but
still light enough to be tossed like a sofa-cushion, and they were
enjoying the sport immensely when Dorothy, angry and indignant at the
treatment her friends were receiving, rushed among the Tottenhots and
began slapping and pushing them until she had rescued the Scarecrow and
the Patchwork Girl and held them close on either side of her. Perhaps
she would not have accomplished this victory so easily had not Toto
helped her, barking and snapping at the bare legs of the imps until
they were glad to flee from his attack. As for Ojo, some of the
creatures had attempted to toss him, also, but finding his body too
heavy they threw him to the ground and a row of the imps sat on him and
held him from assisting Dorothy in her battle.
The little brown folks were much surprised at being attacked by the
girl and the dog, and one or two who had been slapped hardest began to
cry. Then suddenly they gave a shout, all together, and disapp
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