ointing to the south; "so stay where
you are and follow me." Then he walked away on his hands in exactly the
opposite direction from that he had indicated.

Bredenbutta followed him, and shortly after encountered several other
people, of just the same queer appearance as her conductor. They looked
out of their noses at her in great surprise, and, without speaking,
asked Upsydoun who she was.

"The Duchess Bredenbutta," he silently answered, "I found her where the
Rootbeer River bubbles up. Isn't she a queer-looking creature?"

"She is, indeed," they all answered, in a still chorus, and then they
followed the girl out of curiosity, as boys follow a band or a dancing
bear. When they reached the house of Upsydoun more than a hundred
inhabitants of Turvyland were at Bredenbutta's heels and Upsydoun's
thumbs.

She was welcomed very kindly, however, and the young man's mother
kissed the Duchess with her left ear, an act which was considered a
special mark of favor in Turvyland,

"Would you like to stand up and rest yourself until dinner-time?" asked
the lady when the girl had entered the parlor.

"No, thank you," replied Bredenbutta, who was very tired. Being
ignorant of their customs she did not know these people usually stood
up when they slept or rested. Her answer seemed to satisfy Upsydoun's
mother, who thought when she said "no" she meant "yes."

"You really don't look equal to lying down," she remarked, pleasantly;
"so you may stand until I call you to dinner, which will be in a long
time." Then she excused herself and walked backward out of the window,
which Bredenbutta noticed they all used instead of doors.

"Dear me," said the Duchess, when she was left alone; "I am sure I
shall never be able to understand these strange people. But I mean to
sit down, anyway, and if it really is a long time before dinner, I
shall probably starve in the meantime."

She had not rested more than a few minutes, however, before the lady
again put her foot through the window, and waving it invitingly toward
her exclaimed: "Go away to dinner."

"Go away!" replied the Duchess in dismay; "where shall I go to?"

"Why, to me, of course," answered Upsydoun's mother, dumbly; but she
winked her nose thoughtfully, as if she scarcely knew how to converse
with her strange visitor. Surely Bredenbutta ought to know that when
they said "go" in Turvyland, they meant "come."

In spite of her uncertainty, she followed her hostess, and when