“Good gracious!” exclaimed Betsy, approaching him. “Who are you, and where did you come from?”
“Me? Oh, I’m Shaggy Man,” said he, taking another bite of the apple. “Just dropped in for a short call. Excuse my seeming haste.”
“Why, I s’pose you couldn’t help the haste,” said Betsy.
“No. I climbed an apple tree, outside; branch gave way and—here I am.”
As he spoke the Shaggy Man finished his apple, gave the core to Hank—who ate it greedily—and then stood up to bow politely to Betsy and the Roses.
The Royal Gardener had been frightened nearly into fits by the crash of glass and the fall of the shaggy stranger into the bower of Roses, but now he peeped out from behind a bush and cried in his squeaky voice:
“You’re breaking the Law! You’re breaking the Law!”
Shaggy stared at him solemnly.
“Is the glass the Law in this country?” he asked.