body!"

She pointed the parasol straight down, when a sharp tug from Sir
Hokus jerked them all back. They were going faster than the poor
Knight was growing, so Dorothy lowered the parasol half way, and
slowly they floated toward the earth, landing gently in one of the
flower beds of Ozma's lovely garden.

"Come along and meet the folks," said the Scarecrow as Dorothy closed
the parasol. But Sir Hokus clutched him in alarm.

"Hold! Hold!" gasped the Knight. "I've stopped growing, but if you
leave me I'll shoot up into the air again."

The Scarecrow and Dorothy looked at each other in dismay. Sure
enough, the Knight had stopped growing, and it was all they could do
to hold him down to earth, for the stubborn branch of beanstalk was
trying to straighten up. They had fallen quite a distance from the
palace itself, and all the people of Oz had their backs turned, so
had not seen their singular arrival.

"Hello!" called the Scarecrow loudly. Then "Help! Help!" as the
Knight jerked him twice into the air. But Ozma, Trot, Jack
Pumpkinhead and all the rest were staring upward and talking so
busily among themselves that they did not hear either Dorothy's or
the Scarecrow's cries. First one, then the other was snatched off his
feet, and although Sir Hokus, with tears in his eyes, begged them to
leave him to his fate, they held on with all their might. Just as it
looked as if they all three would fly into the air again, the little
Wizard of Oz happened to turn around.

"Look! Look!" he cried, tugging Ozma's sleeve.

"Why, it's Dorothy!" gasped Ozma, rubbing her eyes. "It's Dorothy
and--"

"Help! Help!" screamed the Scarecrow, waving one arm wildly. Without
waiting another second, all the celebrities of Oz came running toward
the three adventurers.

"Somebody heavy come take hold!" puffed Dorothy, out of breath with
her efforts to keep Sir Hokus on the ground.

The Ozites, seeing that help was needed at once, suppressed their
curiosity.

"I'm heavy," said Tik-Tok solemnly, clasping the Knight's arm. The
Tin Woodman seized his other hand, and Dorothy sank down exhausted on
the grass.

Princess Ozma pressed forward.

"What does it all mean? Where did you come from?" asked the little
Queen of Oz, staring in amazement at the strange spectacle before
her.

"And who is this medieval person?" asked Professor Wogglebug, pushing
forward importantly. (He had returned to the palace to collect more
data for the Royal Book