d evidently
been eating when he fell, and so little was he jarred or flustered by
the accident that he continued to munch this apple as he calmly looked
around him.

"Good gracious!" exclaimed Betsy, approaching him. "Who are you, and
where did you come from?"

"Me? Oh, I'm Shaggy Man," said he, taking another bite of the apple.
"Just dropped in for a short call. Excuse my seeming haste."

"Why, I s'pose you couldn't help the haste," said Betsy.

"No. I climbed an apple tree, outside; branch gave way and--here I am."

As he spoke the Shaggy Man finished his apple, gave the core to
Hank--who ate it greedily--and then stood up to bow politely to Betsy
and the Roses.

The Royal Gardener had been frightened nearly into fits by the crash of
glass and the fall of the shaggy stranger into the bower of Roses, but
now he peeped out from behind a bush and cried in his squeaky voice:

"You're breaking the Law! You're breaking the Law!"

Shaggy stared at him solemnly.

"Is the glass the Law in this country?" he asked.

"Breaking the glass is breaking the Law," squeaked the Gardener,
angrily. "Also, to intrude in any part of the Rose Kingdom is breaking
the Law."

"How do you know?" asked Shaggy.

"Why, it's printed in a book," said the Gardener, coming forward and
taking a small book from his pocket. "Page thirteen. Here it is: 'If
any stranger enters the Rose Kingdom he shall at once be condemned by
the Ruler and put to death.' So you see, strangers," he continued
triumphantly, "it's death for you all and your time has come!"

But just here Hank interposed. He had been stealthily backing toward
the Royal Gardener, whom he disliked, and now the mule's heels shot out
and struck the little man in the middle. He doubled up like the letter
"U" and flew out of the door so swiftly--never touching the
ground--that he was gone before Betsy had time to wink.

But the mule's attack frightened the girl.

"Come," she whispered, approaching the Shaggy Man and taking his hand;
"let's go somewhere else. They'll surely kill us if we stay here!"

"Don't worry, my dear," replied Shaggy, patting the child's head. "I'm
not afraid of anything, so long as I have the Love Magnet."

"The Love Magnet! Why, what is that?" asked Betsy.

"It's a charming little enchantment that wins the heart of everyone who
looks upon it," was the reply. "The Love Magnet used to hang over the
gateway to the Emerald City, in the Land of Oz; but when I st