that favor."

"Tell me! Are Trot and Pon around here?" inquired the grasshopper, its
small voice trembling with excitement.

The Scarecrow did not answer at once, for both his eyes were staring
straight upward at a beautiful face that was slightly bent over his
head. It was, indeed, Princess Gloria, who had wandered to this spot,
very much surprised when she heard the Scarecrow's head talk and the
tiny gray grasshopper answer it.

"This," said the Scarecrow, still staring at her, "must be the Princess
who loves Pon, the gardener's boy."

"Oh, indeed!" exclaimed the grasshopper--who of course was Cap'n
Bill--as he examined the young lady curiously.

"No," said Gloria frigidly, "I do not love Pon, or anyone else, for the
Wicked Witch has frozen my heart."

"What a shame!" cried the Scarecrow. "One so lovely should be able to
love. But would you mind, my dear, stuffing that straw into my body
again?"

The dainty Princess glanced at the straw and at the well-worn blue
Munchkin clothes and shrank back in disdain. But she was spared from
refusing the Scarecrow's request by the appearance of Trot and Pon, who
had hidden in some bushes just over the brow of the hill and waited
until old Blinkie had passed them by. Their hiding place was on the
same side as the witch's blind eye, and she rushed on in the chase of
the girl and the youth without being aware that they had tricked her.

Trot was shocked at the Scarecrow's sad condition and at once began
putting the straw back into his body. Pon, at sight of Gloria, again
appealed to her to take pity on him, but the frozen-hearted Princess
turned coldly away and with a sigh the gardener's boy began to assist
Trot.

Neither of them at first noticed the small grasshopper, which at their
appearance had skipped off the Scarecrow's nose and was now clinging to
a wisp of grass beside the path, where he was not likely to be stepped
upon. Not until the Scarecrow had been neatly restuffed and set upon
his feet again--when he bowed to his restorers and expressed his
thanks--did the grasshopper move from his perch. Then he leaped lightly
into the path and called out:

"Trot--Trot! Look at me. I'm Cap'n Bill! See what the Wicked Witch has
done to me."

The voice was small, to be sure, but it reached Trot's ears and
startled her greatly. She looked intently at the grasshopper, her eyes
wide with fear at first; then she knelt down and, noticing the wooden
leg, she began to weep sorr