n with fresh, cool water from the brook. Unc put the
other piece of bread in his jacket pocket, after which he again said,
as he walked out through the doorway: "Come."

Ojo was well pleased. He was dreadfully tired of living all alone in
the woods and wanted to travel and see people. For a long time he had
wished to explore the beautiful Land of Oz in which they lived. When
they were outside, Unc simply latched the door and started up the path.
No one would disturb their little house, even if anyone came so far
into the thick forest while they were gone.

At the foot of the mountain that separated the Country of the Munchkins
from the Country of the Gillikins, the path divided. One way led to the
left and the other to the right--straight up the mountain. Unc Nunkie
took this right-hand path and Ojo followed without asking why. He knew
it would take them to the house of the Crooked Magician, whom he had
never seen but who was their nearest neighbor.

All the morning they trudged up the mountain path and at noon Unc and
Ojo sat on a fallen tree-trunk and ate the last of the bread which the
old Munchkin had placed in his pocket. Then they started on again and
two hours later came in sight of the house of Dr. Pipt.

It was a big house, round, as were all the Munchkin houses, and painted
blue, which is the distinctive color of the Munchkin Country of Oz.
There was a pretty garden around the house, where blue trees and blue
flowers grew in abundance and in one place were beds of blue cabbages,
blue carrots and blue lettuce, all of which were delicious to eat. In
Dr. Pipt's garden grew bun-trees, cake-trees, cream-puff bushes, blue
buttercups which yielded excellent blue butter and a row of
chocolate-caramel plants. Paths of blue gravel divided the vegetable
and flower beds and a wider path led up to the front door. The place
was in a clearing on the mountain, but a little way off was the grim
forest, which completely surrounded it.

Unc knocked at the door of the house and a chubby, pleasant-faced
woman, dressed all in blue, opened it and greeted the visitors with a
smile.

"Ah," said Ojo; "you must be Dame Margolotte, the good wife of Dr.
Pipt."

"I am, my dear, and all strangers are welcome to my home."

"May we see the famous Magician, Madam?"

"He is very busy just now," she said, shaking her head doubtfully. "But
come in and let me give you something to eat, for you must have
traveled far in order to get our