of them," said the shaggy man.

"Five," declared Polychrome.

"Six," said Dorothy.

"Lots of 'em!" cried Button-Bright; and so there were--quite a row of
the two-sided black and white creatures sitting on the rocks all around.

Toto stopped barking and ran between Dorothy's feet, where he crouched
down as if afraid. The creatures did not look pleasant or friendly, to
be sure, and the shaggy man's donkey face became solemn, indeed.

"Ask 'em who they are, and what they want," whispered Dorothy; so the
shaggy man called out in a loud voice:

"Who are you?"

"Scoodlers!" they yelled in chorus, their voices sharp and shrill.

"What do you want?" called the shaggy man.

"You!" they yelled, pointing their thin fingers at the group; and they
all flopped around, so they were white, and then all flopped back
again, so they were black.

"But what do you want us for?" asked the shaggy man, uneasily.

"Soup!" they all shouted, as if with one voice.

"Goodness me!" said Dorothy, trembling a little; "the Scoodlers must be
reg'lar cannibals."

"Don't want to be soup," protested Button-Bright, beginning to cry.

"Hush, dear," said the little girl, trying to comfort him; "we don't
any of us want to be soup. But don't worry; the shaggy man will take
care of us."

"Will he?" asked Polychrome, who did not like the Scoodlers at all, and
kept close to Dorothy.

"I'll try," promised the shaggy man; but he looked worried.

Happening just then to feel the Love Magnet in his pocket, he said to
the creatures, with more confidence:

"Don't you love me?"

"Yes!" they shouted, all together.

"Then you mustn't harm me, or my friends," said the shaggy man, firmly.

"We love you in soup!" they yelled, and in a flash turned their white
sides to the front.

"How dreadful!" said Dorothy. "This is a time, Shaggy Man, when you
get loved too much."

"Don't want to be soup!" wailed Button-Bright again; and Toto began to
whine dismally, as if he didn't want to be soup, either.

"The only thing to do," said the shaggy man to his friends, in a low
tone, "is to get out of this pocket in the rocks as soon as we can, and
leave the Scoodlers behind us. Follow me, my dears, and don't pay any
attention to what they do or say."

With this, he began to march along the road to the opening in the rocks
ahead, and the others kept close behind him. But the Scoodlers closed
up in front, as if to bar their way, and so the shaggy man stoo