"But my dear old Lady, would you wish to marry a Scarecrow?" coaxed the Emperor.
"All men are Scarecrows," snapped the Princess sourly.
"Then why marry at all?" rumbled the Cowardly Lion, making a playful leap at her palanquin. This was too much. The Princess swooned on the spot, and the Scarecrow, taking advantage of her unconscious condition, ordered her chair bearers to carry her away as far and as fast as they could run.
"Now," said the Scarecrow when the last of the company had disappeared, "let us talk this over."
[CHAPTER 21]
THE ESCAPE FROM THE SILVER ISLAND
"Well!" gasped Dorothy, fanning herself with her hat, "I never was so s'prised in my life!"
"Nor I," exclaimed the Scarecrow. "The Grand Gheewizard will be suing you for parassault and battery. But how did it happen?"