say:

"There's a city a little way off."

"I 'spected that," returned Dorothy; "for the fox-people warned us
there was one on this road. It's filled with stupid beasts of some
sort, but we musn't be afraid of 'em 'cause they won't hurt us."

"All right," said Button-Bright; but Polychrome didn't know whether it
was all right or not.

"It's a big city," she said, "and the road runs straight through it."

"Never mind," said the shaggy man; "as long as I carry the Love Magnet
every living thing will love me, and you may be sure I shan't allow any
of my friends to be harmed in any way."

This comforted them somewhat, and they moved on again. Pretty soon
they came to a signpost that read:

"HAF A MYLE TO DUNKITON."

"Oh," said the shaggy man, "if they're donkeys, we've nothing to fear
at all."

"They may kick," said Dorothy, doubtfully.

"Then we will cut some switches, and make them behave," he replied. At
the first tree he cut himself a long, slender switch from one of the
branches, and shorter switches for the others.

"Don't be afraid to order the beasts around," he said; "they're used to
it."

Before long the road brought them to the gates of the city. There was
a high wall all around, which had been whitewashed, and the gate just
before our travelers was a mere opening in the wall, with no bars
across it. No towers or steeples or domes showed above the enclosure,
nor was any living thing to be seen as our friends drew near.

Suddenly, as they were about to boldly enter through the opening, there
arose a harsh clamor of sound that swelled and echoed on every side,
until they were nearly deafened by the racket and had to put their
fingers to their ears to keep the noise out.

It was like the firing of many cannon, only there were no cannon-balls
or other missiles to be seen; it was like the rolling of mighty
thunder, only not a cloud was in the sky; it was like the roar of
countless breakers on a rugged seashore, only there was no sea or other
water anywhere about.

They hesitated to advance; but, as the noise did no harm, they entered
through the whitewashed wall and quickly discovered the cause of the
turmoil. Inside were suspended many sheets of tin or thin iron, and
against these metal sheets a row of donkeys were pounding their heels
with vicious kicks.

The shaggy man ran up to the nearest donkey and gave the beast a sharp
blow with his switch.

"Stop that noise!" he shouted; and the