ooking with great curiosity into the hole which the boy
was digging, and growing more and more excited every minute, perhaps
thinking that Button-Bright was after some wild animal. The little dog
began barking loudly and jumped into the hole himself, where he began to
dig with his tiny paws, making the earth fly in all directions. It
spattered over the boy. Dorothy seized him and raised him to his feet,
brushing his clothes with her hand.

"Stop that, Toto!" she called. "There aren't any mice or woodchucks in
that hole, so don't be foolish."

Toto stopped, sniffed at the hole suspiciously, and jumped out of it,
wagging his tail as if he had done something important.

"Well," said the shaggy man, "let's start on, or we won't get anywhere
before night comes."

"Where do you expect to get to?" asked Dorothy.

"I'm like Button-Bright; I don't know," answered the shaggy man, with a
laugh. "But I've learned from long experience that every road leads
somewhere, or there wouldn't be any road; so it's likely that if we
travel long enough, my dear, we will come to some place or another in
the end. What place it will be we can't even guess at this moment, but
we're sure to find out when we get there."

"Why, yes," said Dorothy; "that seems reas'n'ble, Shaggy Man."

[Illustration]

A Queer Village

[Illustration]

Button-bright took the shaggy man's hand willingly; for the shaggy man
had the Love Magnet, you know, which was the reason Button-Bright had
loved him at once. They started on, with Dorothy on one side, and Toto
on the other, the little party trudging along more cheerfully than you
might have supposed. The girl was getting used to queer adventures,
which interested her very much. Wherever Dorothy went Toto was sure to
go, like Mary's little lamb. Button-Bright didn't seem a bit afraid or
worried because he was lost, and the shaggy man had no home, perhaps,
and was as happy in one place as in another.

Before long they saw ahead of them a fine big arch spanning the road,
and when they came nearer they found that the arch was beautifully
carved and decorated with rich colors. A row of peacocks with spread
tails ran along the top of it, and all the feathers were gorgeously
painted. In the center was a large fox's head, and the fox wore a shrewd
and knowing expression and had large spectacles over its eyes and a
small golden crown with shiny points on top of its head.

While the travellers were looking