and found the door of the room ajar, he trotted out
into the corridor and went down the stately marble stairs to the hall
of the palace, where he met Jellia Jamb.

"Where's Dorothy?" asked Toto.

"She's gone to the Winkie Country," answered the maid.

"When?"

"A little while ago," replied Jellia.

Toto turned and trotted out into the palace garden and down the long
driveway until he came to the streets of the Emerald City. Here he
paused to listen, and hearing sounds of cheering, he ran swiftly along
until he came in sight of the Red Wagon and the Woozy and the Lion and
the Mule and all the others. Being a wise little dog, he decided not
to show himself to Dorothy just then, lest he be sent back home, but he
never lost sight of the party of travelers, all of whom were so eager
to get ahead that they never thought to look behind them. When they
came to the gates in the city wall, the Guardian of the Gates came out
to throw wide the golden portals and let them pass through.

"Did any strange person come in or out of the city on the night before
last when Ozma was stolen?" asked Dorothy.

"No indeed, Princess," answered the Guardian of the Gates.

"Of course not," said the Wizard. "Anyone clever enough to steal all
the things we have lost would not mind the barrier of a wall like this
in the least. I think the thief must have flown through the air, for
otherwise he could not have stolen from Ozma's royal palace and
Glinda's faraway castle in the same night. Moreover, as there are no
airships in Oz and no way for airships from the outside world to get
into this country, I believe the thief must have flown from place to
place by means of magic arts which neither Glinda nor I understand."

On they went, and before the gates closed behind them, Toto managed to
dodge through them. The country surrounding the Emerald City was
thickly settled, and for a while our friends rode over nicely paved
roads which wound through a fertile country dotted with beautiful
houses, all built in the quaint Oz fashion. In the course of a few
hours, however, they had left the tilled fields and entered the Country
of the Winkies, which occupies a quarter of all the territory in the
Land of Oz but is not so well known as many other parts of Ozma's
fairyland. Long before night the travelers had crossed the Winkie
River near to the Scarecrow's Tower (which was now vacant) and had
entered the Rolling Prairie where few people live. T