lls him the funniest
ornament in all the palace. It will hurt my poor friend's pride to be
laughed at," continued the Scarecrow, sadly.

"We will make rath-er ab-surd or-na-ments, our-selves, to-mor-row,"
observed the machine, in his monotonous voice.

Just then Dorothy ran into their room, in a state of great anxiety,
crying:

"Where's Billina? Have you seen Billina? Is she here?"

"No," answered the Scarecrow.

"Then what has become of her?" asked the girl.

"Why, I thought she was with you," said the Scarecrow. "Yet I do not
remember seeing the yellow hen since she picked up the crumbs of cake."

"We must have left her in the room where the King's throne is," decided
Dorothy, and at once she turned and ran down the hall to the door
through which they had entered. But it was fast closed and locked on
the other side, and the heavy slab of rock proved to be so thick that
no sound could pass through it. So Dorothy was forced to return to her
chamber.

The Cowardly Lion stuck his head into her room to try to console the
girl for the loss of her feathered friend.

"The yellow hen is well able to take care of herself," said he; "so
don't worry about her, but try to get all the sleep you can. It has
been a long and weary day, and you need rest."

"I'll prob'ly get lots of rest tomorrow, when I become an orn'ment,"
said Dorothy, sleepily. But she lay down upon her couch, nevertheless,
and in spite of all her worries was soon in the land of dreams.

14. Dorothy Tries to be Brave

Meantime the Chief Steward had returned to the throne room, where he
said to the King:

"You are a fool to waste so much time upon these people."

"What!" cried his Majesty, in so enraged a voice that it awoke Billina,
who was asleep under his throne. "How dare you call me a fool?"

"Because I like to speak the truth," said the Steward. "Why didn't you
enchant them all at once, instead of allowing them to go one by one
into the palace and guess which ornaments are the Queen of Ev and her
children?"

"Why, you stupid rascal, it is more fun this way," returned the King,
"and it serves to keep me amused for a long time."

"But suppose some of them happen to guess aright," persisted the
Steward; "then you would lose your old ornaments and these new ones,
too."

"There is no chance of their guessing aright," replied the monarch,
with a laugh. "How could they know that the Queen of Ev and her family
are all orname