his shaggy boots and his shaggy clothing,
and bathed in the pool with rare enjoyment. After he had dried himself
with the soft towels he went into the dressing-room and took fresh linen
from the drawers and put it on, finding that everything fitted him
exactly. He examined the contents of the closets and selected an elegant
suit of clothing. Strangely enough, everything about it was shaggy,
although so new and beautiful, and he sighed with contentment to realize
that he could now be finely dressed and still be the Shaggy Man. His
coat was of rose-colored velvet, trimmed with shags and bobtails, with
buttons of blood-red rubies and golden shags around the edges. His vest
was a shaggy satin of a delicate cream color, and his knee-breeches of
rose velvet trimmed like the coat. Shaggy creamy stockings of silk, and
shaggy slippers of rose leather with ruby buckles, completed his
costume, and when he was thus attired the shaggy man looked at himself
in a long mirror with great admiration. On a table he found a
mother-of-pearl chest decorated with delicate silver vines and flowers
of clustered rubies, and on the cover was a silver plate engraved with
these words:

THE SHAGGY MAN:
HIS BOX OF ORNAMENTS

The chest was not locked, so he opened it and was almost dazzled by the
brilliance of the rich jewels it contained. After admiring the pretty
things, he took out a fine golden watch with a big chain, several
handsome finger-rings, and an ornament of rubies to pin upon the breast
of his shaggy shirt-bosom. Having carefully brushed his hair and
whiskers all the wrong way, to make them look as shaggy as possible, the
shaggy man breathed a deep sigh of joy and decided he was ready to meet
the Royal Princess as soon as she sent for him. While he waited he
returned to the beautiful sitting room and ate several of the
red-cheeked apples to pass away the time.

Meanwhile Dorothy had dressed herself in a pretty gown of soft grey
embroidered with silver, and put a blue-and-gold suit of satin upon
little Button-Bright, who looked as sweet as a cherub in it. Followed
by the boy and Toto--the dog with a new green ribbon around his
neck--she hastened down to the splendid drawing-room of the palace,
where, seated upon an exquisite throne of carved malachite and nestled
amongst its green satin cushions was the lovely Princess Ozma, waiting
eagerly to welcome her friend.

[Illustration]

Princess Ozma of Oz

[Illustration]