tands the house, so you may walk around the Wall
of Solid Air, but you can't get to the house."

"Who put the air wall around the house?" was the Scarecrow's question.

"Nimmie Amee did that."

"Nimmie Amee!" they all exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes," answered the rabbit. "She used to live with an old Witch, who was
suddenly destroyed, and when Nimmie Amee ran away from the Witch's
house, she took with her just one magic formula--pure sorcery it
was--which enabled her to build this air wall around her house--the
house yonder. It was quite a clever idea, I think, for it doesn't mar
the beauty of the landscape, solid air being invisible, and yet it keeps
all strangers away from the house."

"Does Nimmie Amee live there now?" asked the Tin Woodman anxiously.

"Yes, indeed," said the rabbit.

"And does she weep and wail from morning till night?" continued the
Emperor.

"No; she seems quite happy," asserted the rabbit.

The Tin Woodman seemed quite disappointed to hear this report of his old
sweetheart, but the Scarecrow reassured his friend, saying:

[Illustration]

"Never mind, your Majesty; however happy Nimmie Amee is now, I'm sure
she will be much happier as Empress of the Winkies."

"Perhaps," said Captain Fyter, somewhat stiffly, "she will be still more
happy to become the bride of a Tin Soldier."

"She shall choose between us, as we have agreed," the Tin Woodman
promised; "but how shall we get to the poor girl?"

Polychrome, although dancing lightly back and forth, had listened to
every word of the conversation. Now she came forward and sat herself
down just in front of the Blue Rabbit, her many-hued draperies giving
her the appearance of some beautiful flower. The rabbit didn't back away
an inch. Instead, he gazed at the Rainbow's Daughter admiringly.

"Does your burrow go underneath this Wall of Air?" asked Polychrome.

"To be sure," answered the Blue Rabbit; "I dug it that way so I could
roam in these broad fields, by going out one way, or eat the cabbages in
Nimmie Amee's garden by leaving my burrow at the other end. I don't
think Nimmie Amee ought to mind the little I take from her garden, or
the hole I've made under her magic wall. A rabbit may go and come as he
pleases, but no one who is bigger than I am could get through my
burrow."

"Will you allow us to pass through it, if we are able to?" inquired
Polychrome.

"Yes, indeed," answered the Blue Rabbit. "I'm no especial friend of
Nimmie Am