s too bad," said the Scarecrow. "What seems to be the trouble?"

"Why, one of them made a very insulting remark about my people. He said
we were lacking in understanding, because we had only one leg to a
person. I can't see that legs have anything to do with understanding
things. The Horners each have two legs, just as you have. That's one
leg too many, it seems to me."

"No," declared Dorothy, "it's just the right number."

"You don't need them," argued the Hopper, obstinately. "You've only one
head, and one body, and one nose and mouth. Two legs are quite
unnecessary, and they spoil one's shape."

"But how can you walk, with only one leg?" asked Ojo.

"Walk! Who wants to walk?" exclaimed the man. "Walking is a terribly
awkward way to travel. I hop, and so do all my people. It's so much
more graceful and agreeable than walking."

"I don't agree with you," said the Scarecrow. "But tell me, is there
any way to get to the Horner Country without going through the city of
the Hoppers?"

"Yes; there is another path from the rocky lowlands, outside the
mountain, that leads straight to the entrance of the Horner Country.
But it's a long way around, so you'd better come with me. Perhaps they
will allow you to go through the gate; but we expect to conquer them
this afternoon, if we get time, and then you may go and come as you
please."

They thought it best to take the Hopper's advice, and asked him to lead
the way. This he did in a series of hops, and he moved so swiftly in
this strange manner that those with two legs had to run to keep up with
him.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The Joking Horners

It was not long before they left the passage and came to a great cave,
so high that it must have reached nearly to the top of the mountain
within which it lay. It was a magnificent cave, illumined by the soft,
invisible light, so that everything in it could be plainly seen. The
walls were of polished marble, white with veins of delicate colors
running through it, and the roof was arched and fantastic and beautiful.

Built beneath this vast dome was a pretty village--not very large, for
there seemed not more than fifty houses altogether--and the dwellings
were of marble and artistically designed. No grass nor flowers nor
trees grew in this cave, so the yards surrounding the houses carved in
designs both were smooth and bare and had low walls around them to mark
their boundaries.

In the streets and the yards of the hou