rees ahead of
us; and, if I do, we are not far from the home of my friend Jinjur."

"Who is Jinjur?" asked Woot, the Green Monkey.

"Haven't you heard of Jinjur?" exclaimed the Scarecrow, in surprise.

"No," said Woot. "Is Jinjur a man, a woman, a beast or a bird?"

"Jinjur is a girl," explained the Scarecrow Bear. "She's a fine girl,
too, although a bit restless and liable to get excited. Once, a long
time ago, she raised an army of girls and called herself 'General
Jinjur.' With her army she captured the Emerald City, and drove me out
of it, because I insisted that an army in Oz was highly improper. But
Ozma punished the rash girl, and afterward Jinjur and I became fast
friends. Now Jinjur lives peacefully on a farm, near here, and raises
fields of cream-puffs, chocolate-caramels and macaroons. They say she's
a pretty good farmer, and in addition to that she's an artist, and
paints pictures so perfect that one can scarcely tell them from nature.
She often repaints my face for me, when it gets worn or mussy, and the
lovely expression I wore when the Giantess transformed me was painted
by Jinjur only a month or so ago."

"It was certainly a pleasant expression," agreed Woot.

"Jinjur can paint anything," continued the Scarecrow Bear, with
enthusiasm, as they walked along together. "Once, when I came to her
house, my straw was old and crumpled, so that my body sagged
dreadfully. I needed new straw to replace the old, but Jinjur had no
straw on all her ranch and I was really unable to travel farther until
I had been restuffed. When I explained this to Jinjur, the girl at once
painted a straw-stack which was so natural that I went to it and
secured enough straw to fill all my body. It was a good quality of
straw, too, and lasted me a long time."

This seemed very wonderful to Woot, who knew that such a thing could
never happen in any place but a fairy country like Oz.

The Munchkin Country was much nicer than the Gillikin Country, and all
the fields were separated by blue fences, with grassy lanes and paths
of blue ground, and the land seemed well cultivated. They were on a
little hill looking down upon this favored country, but had not quite
reached the settled parts, when on turning a bend in the path they were
halted by a form that barred their way.

A more curious creature they had seldom seen, even in the Land of Oz,
where curious creatures abound. It had the head of a young
man--evidently a Munchkin--with a