coat with
shaggy edges was decorated with diamond buttons; the velvet breeches had
jeweled buckles at the knees and shags all around the bottoms. On his
breast hung a medallion bearing a picture of Princess Dorothy of Oz, and
in his hand, as he stood looking at Ojo, was a sharp knife shaped like a
dagger.

"Oh!" exclaimed Ojo, greatly astonished at the sight of this stranger;
and then he added: "Who has saved me, sir?"

"Can't you see?" replied the other, with a smile; "I'm the Shaggy Man."

"Yes; I can see that," said the boy, nodding. "Was it you who rescued me
from the leaf?"

"None other, you may be sure. But take care, or I shall have to rescue
you again."

Ojo gave a jump, for he saw several broad leaves leaning toward him; but
the Shaggy Man began to whistle again, and at the sound the leaves all
straightened up on their stems and kept still.

The man now took Ojo's arm and led him up the road, past the last of the
great plants, and not till he was safely beyond their reach did he cease
his whistling.

"You see, the music charms 'em," said he. "Singing or whistling--it
doesn't matter which--makes 'em behave, and nothing else will. I always
whistle as I go by 'em and so they always let me alone. To-day as I went
by, whistling, I saw a leaf curled and knew there must be something
inside it. I cut down the leaf with my knife and--out you popped. Lucky
I passed by, wasn't it?"

"You were very kind," said Ojo, "and I thank you. Will you please rescue
my companions, also?"

"What companions?" asked the Shaggy Man.

"The leaves grabbed them all," said the boy. "There's a Patchwork Girl
and--"

"A what?"

"A girl made of patchwork, you know. She's alive and her name is Scraps.
And there's a Glass Cat--"

"Glass?" asked the Shaggy Man.

"All glass."

"And alive?"

"Yes," said Ojo; "she has pink brains. And there's a Woozy--"

"What's a Woozy?" inquired the Shaggy Man.

"Why, I--I--can't describe it," answered the boy, greatly perplexed.
"But it's a queer animal with three hairs on the tip of its tail that
won't come out and--"

"What won't come out?" asked the Shaggy Man; "the tail?"

"The hairs won't come out. But you'll see the Woozy, if you'll please
rescue it, and then you'll know just what it is."

[Illustration]

"Of course," said the Shaggy Man, nodding his shaggy head. And then he
walked back among the plants, still whistling, and found the three
leaves which were curled around Ojo'